For the first time since Hurricane Ian, students from The Sanibel School were recently able to use the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation’s Pick Preserve as a space to learn about environmental science, ecology and habitat management.

SCCF environmental educator Richard Finkel led the third- and fourth-grade classes to the preserve nature trail for a close-up look at Sanibel’s interior freshwater wetlands and mid-island ridges.

After studying the structure of plants and flowers in the classroom, the third-graders inventoried the different types of plants along the trail and wrote about their adaptations to fit into the native environment. The SCCF reported that the fourth-graders took note of how the ecosystem within the preserve has adapted to the stresses of Ian.

“Students assessed the general health of the freshwater wetland habitat and overall water quality by looking at its inhabitants,” Finkel said. “Small fish, beetle larvae, water beetles and fishing spiders were some of the life they recorded and wrote about from sampling the freshwater habitat.”