Scituate 6th Graders Become Hosts for Local Pollinators!
The 6th graders in Mrs. Read’s Gates Middle School Science classes participated in the NSRWA pilot program, “Grow Native” Scituate. Through grant support from the Scituate Education Foundation (SEF), the NSRWA was able to purchase over one hundred native flowering plant kits to provide to the 6th graders at Gates. The plants were purchased from Blue Stem Natives, a local native plant nursery in Norwell.
Through this program, the students discovered the importance of native plants to pollinators in our local ecosystems and communities. “Who here has ever eaten a fruit before?”, asked NSRWA Educator Brian Taylor as he introduced the students to the topic of pollination. “Scientists say that 1 out of every 3 bites of food we take are the direct result of pollinators.” As part of the program, the students were also able to play a pollinator dash game, participated in watershed and water saving activities, and even dissected a flower!
Not only are native plants important to our local ecosystem by supporting our pollinator species like butterflies, moths, and bees, they are also drought tolerant. This means they don’t need extra water to grow. These plants are adapted to survive in our New England climate, so having yards with more native plants, and less lawn is great for the environment, as well as our precious water resources. Planting native flowering species is a win-win for us and our community. Based on the success of the Grow Native Scituate program, the NSRWA hopes to expand its reach and offer environmental and water conservation education to more schools throughout the watershed area.
Help provide environmental education programs like this one and more. Donate today at nsrwa.org.
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The North and South Rivers Watershed Association is a non-profit membership organization that takes environmental action locally and focuses on the preservation, restoration, maintenance and conservation of our water resources. For more information or to become a member of the NSRWA, visit nsrwa.org
The Scituate Education Foundation benefits the community by funding innovative educational programs with the support of a diverse group of public and private organizations. For more information, visit www.scituateeducationfoundation.org
Blue Stem Natives, in Norwell, strives to produce and provide local ecotype, high-demand native plants for the New England region. Their mission is to help everyone, regardless of land ownership, create wildlife friendly green spaces, using plants native to our area. For more information, visit www.bluestemnatives.com