Summer 1999
This issue of Puddler celebrates the many amazing plants and animals that make wetlands their home, as well as the amazing history of some of North America's most common wetlands. It also continues a four-part series that encourages children to look more closely at nature's "small spaces"  (such as the water lily featured in this issue); these "mini habitats" often harbor surprising amounts of life.

Special Feature:

Wild Wetland Facts

Summary:
Wetlands are amazing places. They are more productive per square foot than any other type of ecosystem. Nearly 1,000 species of plants and animals make wetlands their home. These wetland citizens are also amazing, from bullfrogs that can jump 20 times their body length to ducks that fly faster than cars on the highway, to beavers that can fell a tree in the time it takes to brush one's teeth. Wetland habitats themselves are amazing too, providing natural flood control, shoreline protection, pollution control, recreation and commercial food crops.
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 K-3 Activity

 4-6 Activity

More About...:

"...Prairie Potholes: Wetlands With a Way Cool Past

Summary:
Prairie potholes are one of the most important types of freshwater wetlands found in North America. As their name suggests, they are located in the prairie states of North and South Dakota, Montana and Iowa. They are shallow holes that formed due to glacial action nearly 12,000 years ago. Receding glaciers left chunks of ice buried in the ground, which later melted, leaving millions of shallow depressions behind. At the time the potholes formed, strange Ice Age creatures such as mammoths, giant sloths and camels roamed North America. These creatures have since vanished, as have many of the potholes, having been converted to farm fields or filled in for other uses. However, the thousands of prairie potholes that still remain are home to more than half of the continent's breeding waterfowl population each summer.
 

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Young Naturalist

"A Closer Look: The Water Lily"
While many people enjoy seeing large animals in places like lakes and fields, smaller habitats can hide a surprising amount of life on a smaller scale. For example, in summertime, a water lily serves as nursery, restaurant, hiding place or rest stop for a variety of wetland animals large and small. When outdoors, it's worthwhile to take the time to study the lanscaped on a smaller scale, even if it's just a patch of flowers in the backyard, for signs of activity that might have been overlooked before.

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