This CURE aims to engage and empower students to create and disseminate the knowledge to create native flower mini meadows. Students will learn the importance of their local native plants. Native mini meadows in urban and suburban gardens may mitigate destroyed and fragmented native plant habitat and support pollinator biodiversity and rewilding efforts. Many native seeds are not straightforward to germinate and successfully establish. Creating knowledge on local native flowering plant combinations that flower throughout the season can improve the odds of native plant uptake by gardeners. Students define environmental factors from their own area that could affect germination, do a search of possible local wildflower species and their flowering timing. Student groups test and optimize conditions for germination. Test conditions are chosen by students, those may include cold exposure, acid or mechanical scarification, high temperature or heat on sets of 100 seeds. Experiments will be done in the lab and if possible, also on a small experimental plot. A poster presentation is the group project result, a ???how to??? native mini-meadow tri-fold brochure with a timeline is the final class product. Students do literature research, learn basic taxonomy, learn experimental design, and apply the scientific method. This is an affordable CURE that fosters community engagement and native plant awareness.
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