Nice weather brought school students from Snyder-Girotti Summer Camp out to Bristol Marsh to engage in a day of environmental education and artistry with Heritage Conservancy! Fifty students between fifth and eighth grade took the ten-minute walk to the marsh to visit three stations that each enhanced the students’ connection with nature in varying ways.

Many of the students had already had the chance to visit the first station, EnviroScape, in the past, so we took this opportunity to reinforce their understanding of watersheds and their impact. Here, the students learned how the activities in which we partake on land have an effect on the water we drink, and they also learned what they can do in their own daily routines to better protect the health of the Delaware River.

The History and Land Development Station was next on the agenda. A picture is worth a thousand words, so the students were shown aerial photographs comparing 1930s Bristol to that of the 2000s. The students were then divided into groups–environmentalists, local business owners, and middle school students–in order to discuss what would happen if a theoretical amusement park were built on the marsh and the impact such a project would have on the environment.

Finally, the students channeled Monet as they sat by the river and the marsh for the final station, Nature Inspiring Art. Their task was to use art to express something in nature that inspires them. Many of the students drew their own interpretations of the river and its neighboring trees, while one boy was more inspired by bugs and drew every one he saw! Not only did this activity provide a creative outlet, but it was a calming and reflective way to end a thought-provoking morning on the marsh.

We were happy to offer this opportunity to connect the campers with nature!