Big Cypress - The Western Everglades

Big Cypress, a.k.a., The Western Everglades, is a				relative humidity.
unique ecosystem in the world, because only here				The students test the soil as they did in the
one finds both the royal palm and the bald				cypress swamp. Here they find the soil is called
cypress growing together. Big Cypress begins				marl: greenish gray black, clumpy like clay and has
East of Ft. Myers in Lee County and goes West				periphyton. We then explain what periphyton. The
to the Miami-Dade County and South to the Gulf				lyrics of the song give a good explanation.
of Mexico. 729,000 acres have been set aside as				PERIPHYTON
Big Cypress National Preserve, part of the				Sung to tune of Davey Crockett
National Park System. Fakahatchee Strand State				Lyrics by John Pelley ©
Park, Picayune Strand State Park, Collier-Seminole				Chorus:
State Park, The Florida Panther Preserve, 10,000				C F C
Islands National Wildlife Refuge, and The				Peri Periphyton
Everglades National Park comprise other acreage				G7 C
set aside to preserve this fragile eco-system.				Queen of the Everglades.
The Big Cypress consists of five completely				C F C
different Eco-systems: Mangrove forest in the				Formed in the waters of the summer rains.
estuary, cypress swamp and strands (which are				G7
deeper areas), marl prairie, pinelands, and				Dried in the heat on the winter plains.
hardwood hammocks. Each Eco-system supports				C F Am6
different flora and fauna within an elevation of				Home to critters, great and small.
less than fifteen feet. Sometimes only inches				G7 C
separate one Eco-system from another.				Life giving refuge to them all.
We spend most of our time in Big Cypress				Chorus:
National Preserve, taking sixth graders from all of				Soaking up the water is its fame.
the schools in Collier County in the S.W.A.M.P				Allie the algae is its frame.
(Swamp Water and Me Program). Four times per				Green, or white, beige or brown,
week we take approximately forty students at a				Periphyton wears the crown.
time into three environments: swamp, prairie, and				Chorus:
pineland. They perform different scientific				Squeeze me, tease me when I'm wet.
experiments in each environment and record their				Never, never to forget
findings in their workbooks.				Little eggs within me lie.
The teacher divides each class into three smaller				Tho' I'm hard, when I'm dry.
groups of ten to fifteen students. We further				Chorus:
divide them into smaller groups of three to four				Remember me when you walk
students per group. Each group has a backpack				In the Prairie, as you talk.
filled with a workbook, pencils and all of the				I'm its lifeblood, water and me,
equipment needed to perform the various				In the grass, a great big sea.
experiments. Each of the groups starts in a				Once again we pick up our waling sticks and go up
different environment and then rotates to the				another Florida mountain of less than one foot
next one. We spend approximately three hours				into the pinelands. Here the vegetation is
with the students. A National Park Ranger teaches				dominated by Florida slash pine, which was used
the students and he/she has at least one				to make turpentine from its sap. Sabal palm, a.k.a.,
volunteer to help. We encourage the schools to				cabbage palms also dominate the area. Saw
bring chaperones too, who also help the pupils				palmetto fills out the most prominent of the
keep on task.				vegetation. Bears love to eat saw palmetto
Let us go on a typical program. We meet the				berries and rip apart the sabal palm for the heart
students at the EE center, where they all go to				of palm inside. Panthers den in the saw palmetto
the restroom, get orange vests to wear, name				fronds. Most animals find refuge in the pinelands,
tags to decorate. They then proceed to the back				because it is drier than the prairie or swamp.
porch where we have our skulls and skins display.				The soil in the pinelands is predominately sand:
All of the skulls are reproductions, but the skins				gray brown, gritty glittery and filled with pine
are from road kill. The skulls we have are				needles. Many of the trees show evidence of fire.
crocodile, alligator, black bear, Florida panther,				Big Cypress has a prescribed fire policy, whereby
bobcat, raccoon, fox, and otter. The skins are				the Preserve is set afire every three to five
alligator, bobcat, otter, fox, raccoon, squirrel, black				years. This area was torched eight months ago.
bear, and spotted skunk. The students are very				Fire allows the pinecones to release their seed, rid
curious and are surprised at the tiny brain that the				the undergrowth of dead material, nourishes the
alligator has.				soil, and allows new growth to thrive. Very few
After everyone has used the restroom, they go				animals are harmed, but thrive on the young
back on their bus and drive out to the lunch area.				shoots. Deer especially benefit from the fire with
They frequently see an alligator or two who				the fresh vegetation. Birds of prey are drawn to
reside in a pond near the site.				the smoke for easy meals of mice rats and other
Off we go to the cypress swamp. We walk single				small animals escaping the flames.
file through the gate and pause on the plug over				One final stop in the pinelands is to observe the
the man-made canal. We explain that the water				bones of a deer, which was killed years ago by a
comes from the rain, is fresh, and empties in the				Florida Panther. We explain how important the
Gulf of Mexico. Then we get our feet wet in the				panther is to the wildlife of Florida. The Panther is
swamp. Everyone is surprise how clear the water				an umbrella species. Many other animals depend
is as the wade in to knee level. After a few				on it for their food. Vultures, raccoons, bobcats,
minutes we get used to the coolness of the				mice, rats, various insects all help devour the kill.
water and proceed to our first experiment: track				Without the Panther many animals in Florida would
a Florida Panther with radio telemetry equipment.				not survive.
(Each group tracks a panther in the Eco-system				We return to the bus via the prairie and the
where they start) The panther is only a beanie				cypress swamp after three to four hours with
baby, because we would not want to disturb a				the students.
real sleeping panther. The telemetry equipment is				Summing up life in Big Cypress, the Western
real and the students are always excited about				Everglades are the lyrics to another song:
finding it.				FLORIDA ENVIRONMENTAL SONG
We then explain the use of landmarks for finding				(tune: The Lion Sleeps Tonight
the spot with the baby. We also teach the				Lyrics: John Pelley
students how to use a compass and the GPS. All				C F C
of this information is recorded in their workbooks.				Anhinga-wak, Anhinga-wak, An-
Then we observe the vegetation and the animals				G7hinga-wak, Anhinga-wak,
that are in the environment. Some of the				C F C
vegetation include bald cypress trees, knees and				Anhinga-wak, Anhinga-wak, An-
needles, serpent ferns, swamp ferns, swamp				G7hinga-wak, Anhinga-wak,
maple, sabal palm, air plants, pickeral weed, etc.				C
The students then answer the question: what				1. In the mangroves,
animals would eat what vegetation? What				F
vegetation would cover what animals? What has				The coastal mangroves,
man done to disturb the vegetation? What has				C G7
nature done to disturb the vegetation?				The sea cow swims tonight.
They go to the next page and record all of the				C
animals they have seen. The record the signs of				In the mangroves,
animals. What animals would be a predator of the				F
alligator or panther? What animals would be prey				The coastal mangroves,
to the alligator and panther?				C G7
They then test the water. They record its depth.				The sea cow swims tonight.
The measure its temperature with a				(Chorus)
thermometer. They check the dissolved oxygen				C F C
(DO) level and the pH (Potential for hydrogen)				Oooh, Anhinga-wak, Anhinga-wak
level. Finally they look at and describe the color of				G7away.
the water.				C F C
The final experiment in the swamp is soil testing.				Oooh, Anhinga-wak, Anhinga-wak
Once again using the depth stick, with lines every				G7away.
inch. They take a handful of soil; match its color				2. In the swamp lands,
against a color chart, feel the texture, smell it, and				The cypress swamp lands,
decide what kind of soil it is. In the swamp the soil				The gator waits tonight.
is peat.				In the swamp lands,
Vegetation, animal identification and soil testing is				The cypress swamp lands,
done in each of the other Eco-systems.				The gator waits tonight
If time permits, the student use fishing nets to				(Chorus)
catch some of the fish swimming around. They				3. In the prairie,
catch a variety: mosquito fish, kiley fish, chichlids,				The sawgrass prairie,
oscars, glass shrimp, crayfish, apple snails, etc.				The vulture flies tonight.
The next area they go to is the prairie. There the				In the prairie,
vegetation is the dwarf cypress, which is much				The sawgrass prairie,
older than the bald cypresses in the swamp.				The vulture flies tonight.
Other vegetation include saw grass, mulhy grass,				(Chorus)
wax myrtle, swamp lilies, etc. As the name implies				4. In the Pinelands,
the prairie is mainly grass.				The Mighty Pinelands,
In the prairie they check the weather. First they				The black bear sleeps tonight.
find the wind direction by holding up a piece of				In the Pinelands,
orange flagging and the record the wind direction,				The Mighty Pinelands,
by using a compass. Then they measure the wind				The black bear sleeps tonight.
speed with an anemometer. They then measure				(Chorus)
the humidity by wetting the wet bulb of a sling				5. In the hammock,
psychrometer. They swing it above their head for				The hardwood hammock,
one minute. Then they read the dry bulb				The panther stalks tonight.
temperature and the wet bulb temperature.				In the hammock,
Subtract one from the other to get the wet bulb				The hardwood hammock,
depression and then use a chart to get the				The panther stalks tonight.

Fishing Salmon

Big Cypress - The Western Everglades