Armstrong students take science class outdoors

Grade 11 science students from Pleasant Valley Secondary venture to some wetlands just off the city’s downtown core

A group of Grade 11 science students from Pleasant Valley Secondary School traded their classroom for a walk to the wetlands in late November — learning first-hand about one of Armstrong’s most important ecosystems.

Their destination was a small wetland along Okanagan Street in downtown Armstrong and the site of an enhancement project by the City of Armstrong and the Armstrong Wetlands Association (AWA).

The student visit was organized by their teacher Luke Harding from PVSS and biologist Michele Hill of the AWA.

After answering some insightful student questions about the wetland’s role in the local environment, Hill shared details of the AWA’s plans to enhance the Okanagan Street site and increase biodiversity with features like a pond and hummock (a piece of forested ground above a marsh).

“This wetland is currently dominated by densely packed cattails,” she explained. “Creating open water and varying the topography should attract more bird and amphibian species.”

Opportunities for student participation in the project were also discussed. The AWA will be enlisting student and community help when it’s time to plant the hummock and other disturbed soils with native grasses, trees and shrubs in the spring and summer of 2025.

As part of the visit, some students ventured into the boggy terrain to walk the perimeter of the planned pond excavation.

Future class visits are planned for the spring with the expressed hope of seeing some of the new landscape features in place.

Leslie Barton is a member of the Armstrong Wetlands Association

_{Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.}