Plants Will Help With Soil Run-Off

A team of middle school students from Lynch Middle School in Farmington recently spent a Saturday planting 300 native species along the banks of the creek that runs through Walker Park in Fayetteville.

The project was designed to help with soil run- off during heavy rains.

Plants were selected based on their ability to anchor soil and support local wildlife. A submersible pump was also purchased to enable the students to use water from the creek to support the establishment of the plants.

The students — Cate Bruner, Noah Dewey and Haley Wolff — serve on Team Envo and their project to plant native species is the result of a competition sponsored by the U.S. Army and administered by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA).

Team Envo submitted a project to the 14th annual eCybermission competition for the 2015-16 school year. The competition is a web- based science, technology, engineering and math ( STEM) program and is designed to cultivate student interest in STEM by encouraging students in grades six through nine to develop solutions to realworld problems in their local communities.

Team Envo was selected as the Arkansas first place team. They progressed to the regional competition, where they were awarded first place for region 10, and a trip to Washington, D.C., to compete in the national competition in June 2016.

As part of the competition, five grants were to be awarded to national finalist and regional finalist teams to allow them to implement their projects. The grants were awarded to teams selected by national judges based on evaluation of their project plans. Team Envo was one of the five teams to receive a STEM-in-Action grant.

During the 2016-17 school year, Team Envo worked together with advisor Melissa Miller, a Lynch Middle School science teacher, to develop a plan to combat soil runoff in the local streams following periods of heavy rain by planting vegetation with spreading roots that will anchor the soil.

With the grant, the team planned to improve the riparian zone around the creek running through a city park. The students met with Kristina Jones, Volunteer & Community Programs Coordinator for the city of Fayetteville Parks & Recreation, and Colin Massey, University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, to plan the project to coincide with work being done to remove invasive species along the banks of a stream running through Walker Park.

Students will continue to monitor the plants over the next two months until school is out for the summer.

COURTESY PHOTO Cate Bruner and Haley Wolff, members of Team Envo with Lynch Middle School in Farmington, plant native species along the creek running through Walker Park in Fayetteville.