Last week, we were privileged to invite some of the lovely members of the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) into our classroom for a virtual field trip to the local bog.

As we are learning about habitats in our first Science unit, this was a perfect way to connect with a local environmentally significant area. 

We are looking at some of the captured creatures you can find in bog water samples. Can you spot the tadpole?

What’s a bog?

A bog is a wetland that accumulates peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses, and in a majority of cases, sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands.

Fun Facts About a Bog:

• It is nutrient-poor
• It is highly acidic
• the soil is spongy 
• Bogs are formed from parts of glaciers melting over time

We prepared ourselves by watching a few learning videos introducing us to the bog and then we connected LIVE for a 30 minute session. If you’d like to watch the videos, here they are:

We learned so many different things! Here’s some of the topics or ideas covered in the 30 minutes we spent live with them:

• biodiversity in the bog
• carnivorous plants and animals that exist there
• How does a bog help us?
• How did the indigenous peoples use peat and sphagnum moss?
• What is the life cycle of a bog? How did it begin?

Here’s some of the plants we learned about:

• leatherleaf
• bog cranberry
• round-leafed sundew (this is a carnivorous plant!)
• black spruce tree
• Tamarack tree
• sphagnum moss
• Northern pitcher plant (this is a carnivorous plant!)

Our local bog called the Sifton Bog is not far. Perhaps you can visit it with your family! It’s such a beautiful place so close to home.

Have you ever visited a bog? What do you still wonder about?