BioBlitz BG

 PRAIRIE PARTNERSHIP 

NWO has partnered with the Toledo Zoo and Aquarium and their Wild Toledo Project PRAIRIE: PRAiries that InvigoRate Inquiry LEarning initiative, an inquiry-based education program that prepares students and their teachers to learn about native prairie habitats found on an outdoor classroom built on their own school’s property. 

JOIN THE INITIATIVE 

The hope is that more schools in the region of northwest Ohio will become interested in this initiative that engages students to engage in experiential inquiry and citizen science activities to study prairie habitats, develop a stronger connection to the local ecology, contribute to existing knowledge through data collection, and view themselves as part of the solution to conservation-related problems and above all, climate resilience. 

PRAIRIE INSTALLATION 

Toledo Zoo staff will install urban or rural prairies on school property in the spring while providing curricula and support for teachers and students to learn the basic skills of taking care of their prairies. Students will be engaged and prepared to become prairie “ambassadors” and will ultimately participate in a “BioBlitz” in the fall, an event that focuses on finding and identifying as many species as possible in a specific area over a short period of time. 

BIOBLITZ BG 

In the fall of 2021, NWO, the Toledo Zoo and Bowling Green City Schools held the first annual “BioBlitz BG” at Wintergarden Park, with support from the BGSU College of Education and Human Development, Lubrizol, and the Bowling Green City Parks and Recreation Department. 

The goals for this event were simple: ENGAGE•LEARN•ACT! The participating students engage in exploration and investigation in nature and learned about both living and nonliving components of the local prairie ecosystem and what they and their families can proactively do to maintain its health. Students are inspired to take action to help protect and preserve both local prairies and planet Earth. 

TO INSTALL A SCHOOL PRAIRIE LOCALLY 

For more information on the Toledo Zoo Wild Toledo Project PRAIRIE initiative, please see: https://www.toledozoo.org/wildtoledo. 

Sponsored in Part by: