Two hundred years ago, 85% of Iowa was covered with prairie. That percentage represents 30 million acres of tallgrass prairie! Today, only 0.1% of Iowa’s original prairie remains. Many cities, parks, and private citizens are working to reintroduce native prairie areas back to our state because of the tremendous benefits prairies provide. Prairie grasses and native wildflowers help create Iowa’s rich soils, provide wildlife habitat for hundreds of animal species (including pollinators!), and are extremely useful in protecting water quality.
Video Resources
Elementary
- Litany of the Prairie (5.5 min. music video)
- EPISODE 2 - Adventures of the Conservation Pack (3 min. video)
- EPISODE 16 - Adventures of the Conservation Pack (3 min. video)
- Land Formation in Iowa (4 min. video)
Middle School & High School
- Please the Bees (5 min. music video)
- Slow Jam Prairie Strips (5.5 min.)
Enhanced Learning Activities
Grades K-2
- What Am I?
- Prairie Roots
- Home on the Prairie Worksheet
- Prairie Food Chain Worksheet
- Predator and Prey on the Prairie Worksheet
Grades 3-5
- Prairie Root Systems
- Prairie Food Web
- Prairie Plants Worksheet
- Herbivores, Carnivores, and Omnivores Worksheet
- Niches on the Prairie Worksheet
- Prairies, Wetlands and Croplands: Keys to the Future Lie in the Past
Middle School & High School
Additional Resources on PRAIRIES
Elementary
- Build-A-Prairie Game (University of Minnesota)
- DIY: Make your own prairie seed “bombs”
- “Plant a Pocket of Prairie” book by Phyllis Root
- Iowa’s Biological Communities Series: Iowa Prairies (PDF booklet from Iowa Association of Naturalists)
- Prairies, Wetlands and Croplands: Keys to the Future Lie in the Past (Iowa Learning Farms, PDF handbook full of enhanced learning activities for students)
Middle School & High School
- Iowa DNR Prairie Resource Center
- Iowa Prairie Network
- Iowa Prairie Plants Online Database (University of Iowa)
- Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge
- Plant Iowa Native (University of Northern Iowa)
- Proof: Digging Deep Reveals the Intricate World of Roots (National Geographic)
- The Importance of Native Prairie (Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation)
- Small Changes, Big Impacts: Prairie Conservation Strips
- STRIPs Project (Iowa State University)
- Video: A Difference You Can See with Lisa Schulte Moore (Iowa State University)