MUSCATINE, Iowa — You never know what you’ll attract when you put raw chicken liver in a medicine bottle and leave it in a pond overnight.

Students in one Muscatine High School science class were hoping to catch flat worms Wednesday when they set their traps  in the pond behind their school.

But after going back to check on the experiment, teacher Joshua Hanna realized the traps were both a success and a failure.

“Looks like we got everything except what we came here for,”  said Hanna, after joining the students in inspecting their vials of tiny tadpoles and snails.

It didn’t take long for Hanna, whose work in his first year at MHS is bringing the school statewide recognition, to find uses for the MHS pond, which provides a home for amphibians and attracts birds.

He knew it would also attract the attention of students who enjoy hands-on learning.

“This is more entertaining than doing things in the classroom,” said sophomore Jenny Cartagena.

MHS principal Bob Weaton said Hanna’s efforts to make science relevant to everyday life is one reason Hanna was named teacher of the month in April.

“Josh understands the importance of creating a hands-on learning environment for the kids,” said Weaton. “He is one of our really good, young educators.”

Hanna, who taught in Davenport for three years before coming to Muscatine, has made Iowa’s natural environment a focus for his students during his first year at MHS. Hanna, who holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Northern Iowa, used a curriculum prepared by the Tall Grass Prairie Center at that university.

Learning more about preserving Iowa’s unique natural environment is  engaging more thought on the part of Hanna’s students.

“Prairies are really important to our environment,” said Kadie Harden, a sophomore. “We should try to preserve the little bit we have left. This is all new to me but it’s been easier to learn with the activities Mr. Hanna has in this class.”

Big kids and little kids

Hanna, who is  working on his master’s degree at the University of Northern Iowa, said the Tall Grass Prairie curriculum is built around issues related to Iowa’s natural environment and resources.

One of those resources is the state’s children.

Hanna said some of his students volunteered to work with students in grades kindergarten through fifth-grade in the Muscatine Community School District’s center for after school and morning programs, CAMP, at Jefferson Elementary School.

“We were finishing up a unit on basic ecology with Iowa prairies and oak savannahs using the Tall Grass Prairie Center curriculum, and I thought it would be neat for my high school students to practice what they learned with elementary students,” said Hanna.

Students who signed up on a volunteer basis, carpooled  to Jefferson after school where they worked on several projects together.

A lesson in recycling involved making folders from paper grocery bags.

All the students learned more about identifying native plants by

planting native seeds in terrariums made from water bottles.

 “We might want to create more prairie lands by learning what plants are native to Iowa and planting them along the roadsides,” suggested sophomore Rebecca Sloat.

The MHS students read to the children from the Dr. Seuss book, “The Lorax,” which teaches lessons about preserving the earth’s natural resources and making life easier for animals, birds and fish.

“I really liked ‘The Lorax,’” said sophomore Kayla Gaunt. “I enjoyed discussing the morals and motivators of the story with the kids.”

Kelsey Kaste, also a sophomore, said working with the children gave her a new perspective.

“It almost makes you understand it better yourself,” she said.

Back in the class

An issue surrounding the Rochester Cemetery in neighboring Cedar County presented teaching opportunity.

Hanna, who read about the cemetery issue in the newspaper, learned that there were plants growing over the tombstones that  some people wanted removed while others didn’t want to disturb the prairie landscape.

The argument attracted people to both sides for a variety of reasons: Some had ancestors buried at the cemetery and felt cleaning it up was a sign of respect, while some area naturalists insisted that the prairie plants growing there represented Iowa’s vanishing prairies. Hanna said naturalists estimate that only 1 percent of Iowa’s prairies and oak savannahs remain.

Hanna’s students held a mock debate on the issue during class that left some lasting impressions.

“The prairies and oak savannahs are our heritage as Iowans,” said sophomore Rebecca Sloat.

Confirmation

 Hanna and MHS sophomore Steven Bieber  made a video of the projects his students worked on in class and this week, and this week, Hanna learned MHS was selected as the winner of the Iowa Math and Science Coalition video competition.

“The video also highlights some of the amazing resources we have here for our students,” said Hanna, referring to the MHS pond and the Muscatine County Conservation Board’s Environmental Learning Center and Discovery Park, which is  near MHS. 

“I want to show students that what they are doing is really good,” said Hanna.

Weaton said Hanna and Hanna’s students will be recognized by the Muscatine School Board at its regular Monday meeting May 11, which begins at 7 p.m.