Northeast Removes Invasive Species From Tick Neck Park

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Northeast High School students removed 433 pounds of invasive species from Tick Neck Park as part of their science classes.

Eradication Nation is part of the new environmental science curriculum in Anne Arundel County Public Schools. The project requires students to learn about invasive species in their area and remove it from the community.

“Students researched invasive species in Maryland in general, and then we narrowed it down to the invasive species that we have in our backyard,” said Josh Anoff, a science teacher at NHS.

As part of the project, a variety of professionals came in to assist students: Sarah Lank, a volunteer with Arlington Echo; park rangers Christopher Hughes and Chris Winton; Master Gardener Nancy Allred; and Devyn Croghan, who works for Anne Arundel County Weed Resistance.

Anoff said working with these professionals made “all of the difference” for students. Though teachers build relationships with their students, learning about the difference they were making from professionals had a bigger impact on students.

“You’re being told how many trees you saved by a park ranger, someone who you look at as the authority in saving plants,” Anoff said. “It made a much bigger deal to them. It was a lot more important to them to do it because they saw exactly how they were helping.”

Sam Keshishian, a ninth-grader at NHS, agreed that he liked working with the professionals.

“They were able to help us with determining how to safely take off vines from the trees without harming the trees,” Sam said. “They were also able to help us with identifying which plants were native and which plants were invasive.”

In all, roughly 210 students across 20 classes helped remove invasive species from Tick Neck Park.

With this project, Anoff said he could really see how excited and engaged students were with the lesson.

“Before they went outside, the lesson was just that: another lesson. They were very neutral on it,” Anoff said. “Once we told them about the project and that we were actually going to be going outside and doing this, we saw a lot more students get excited about it and get more invested.”

Ninth-grader Abbey Lancaster said she liked being able to clean up “our own backyard.”

“This project was important to me because we were able to help clean up our community,” Abbey said. “By getting rid of trash and invasive species, we were able to create a more inviting area, both for people and for other native plants and animals.”

Students have similar projects every quarter that connects what they’re learning to how they can make a difference in the Chesapeake Bay region. In the first quarter, students studied earth space science and chemistry, and they focused on air quality. In the second quarter while learning about pollution and how it affects the bay, students learned about how different types of runoff have different impacts on living organisms in the bay. Finally, in the fourth quarter, students will create solar panel cars to learn about reducing emissions.

“The special thing about this project was helping our environment,” Sam said. “By getting rid of invasive species in Tick Neck Park, we were able to help make the area better for the native plants and animals.”

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