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Classroom applications: The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation (WWNFF) sponsored Environmental Science Institute in Costa Rica includes goals for the "inquiry-based" science classroom. Our study on the biodiversity impact of cattails is a good example for inquiry-based scientific endeavor. So for our discussion of classroom applications, it is worthwhile to consider some of the problems we encountered, and some of our successes.

Our study began with asking fifty questions that dealt with environmental issues in Palo Verde National Park. Following the WWNFF model, we individually wrote questions, and then crossed off those questions that were outside the scope of our resources and time. We then met as a group to choose one of the remaining questions. We quickly reached a consensus that our study should center on the impact of the cattails on the marsh biodiversity.

We then began planning our study, and after discussing our ideas with Dr. Tom Langen, we wrote an abstract. Following Dr. Langen’s suggestion, we used the interspersion method to establish our sampling sites. This proved to be a good choice as it enabled us to pair open areas of standing water with cattail stands.

We marked our study sites by tying colored ribbon on the foliage at each sampling location, and we encountered a problem with marking the cattail sites with ribbon high enough so that we could locate them again. During our first sampling session, we had a difficult time locating one site. However, we soon became familiar enough with the marsh to readily find all sites.

Another problem we had was that the dense stands of the cattails made it difficult to move the benthic dip net through the water column of these sampling locations. Also, sampling for terrestrial insects with the mesh net proved to be difficult in the tall, thick stands of cattail. The only solution to these problems associated with our experiment design was to duplicate our sampling techniques as closely as possible at each site.

The insects were sorted by order to establish a meaningful count, but we did not feel identification by species was necessary. The insects were collected into plastic bags and then sorted at the laboratory. The aquatic insects were sorted in a plastic tray using tweezers to move them about. As they were identified, they were removed from the tray and put in a bucket. The insects were then returned to the marsh.

Throughout the duration of our study, decisions were made in a democratic manner. Our team realized that a cooperative spirit was necessary for the efficient collection and assessment of data and the completion of our project in the time allotted. Additionally, this was a study in the field at Palo Verde National Park, and we only had access to one computer. This was a laptop with a touch pad that was difficult to use, so we struggled to complete the write-up under the time constraints. Nevertheless, we are proud of our finished product, and we feel that it was a worthwhile learning experience. We believe that both teachers and students can use our inquiry into the biodiversity impact of cattail when setting up their own inquiry.