Habitat
The habitat committee works to maintain and improve the natural resources surrounding our school. Workman has a prairie habitat located behind the school and a Monarch Butterfly Way Station. Each spring we host a Scout Conservation Day and participate in the Rouge River Rescue.
The Workman Habitat is a certified national wildlife habitat through the National Wildlife Federation. The prairie habitat hosts native grasses and wildflowers, including black-eyed Susans, hairy beard tongues, milk weeds, fleabane, evening primrose, rough blazing star, coreopsis and New England Asters. The pond is home to many frogs and a family of muskrats. Herons and other birds feed on the tadpoles in the springtime. Sand pipers hide their eggs in the gravel paths and butterflies use the milk weeds for habitats. Bat and bird houses provide shelter while a newly installed bird feeder provides seeds for the many birds in the habitat The Monarch Butterfly Way Station is located by the 4th and 5th grade wing of the school. This area contains plants that are used by monarch butterflies during their migration. Milkweeds provide shelter and breeding locations during the spring and summer while nectar from the flowers provide food. Without these sites, monarchs cannot make the fall migration to Mexico. A green roof installed on the gazebo provides water filtration for the watershed and prevents run-off. The rain barrel and pump allow students to water the rooftop plants and discuss water conservation. Plans are underway for creating field guides for the habitat’s walking paths and installing a weather station for student use. We also accept plant donations for the butterfly garden. If you are interested in helping with any of these projects, please contact the committee chair. |
Science Hands on Museum Night
Science Fair
We also sponsor a K-5 Science Fair in the spring. Students design and carry out research on a scientific question of their choosing. The results are presented in an non juried poster night.
All participants receive participation certificates. The ingenuity and creativeness of our Workman scientists is amazing! Committee volunteers are needed to help organize, set up and take down the posters as well as distribute the participation awards on the day of the fair. |