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Science Activities

The Free State Prairie was originally conceived of as an outdoor laboratory for science exploration.  The Next Generation Science Standards call for phenomena based, real-world integration of engineering and science practices with cross-cutting concepts to connect science content to everyday life.  The prairie environment provides endless opportunities to observe, question, and gather data about the natural world.  We thank Carol Williamson for providing this document that aligns prairie explorations with the NGSS standards.

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Species-Area Curves

Creating species-area curves to compare native and non-native biodiversity

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Endophytic Fungi Survey

Culturing endophytic fungi to examine the effect of different seeding treatments on the restored prairie.

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Insect Survey

Zach Falin, Collections Manager in KU Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum led a pre-prairie survey of insects at the site in 2013.  Biology students conduct insect surveys each year.

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KU Researchers visit classes

Dr. Craig Freeman, Kansas Biological Survey and Biodiversity Institute, teaches Free State students about prairie plants.

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Building Sketching Skills for Observation

Learn and practice sketching techniques to improve observation skills.

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Collecting Native Seeds

to Germinate

Every year students collect prairie seeds from the Demonstration Garden in the fall to germinate and grow in the spring.

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Peer Mentors give summer

prairie tours

During June of 2021, a group of  rising seniors served as peer mentors and led freshmen on their first tour of the prairie.  

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Free State Prairie Project

In the fall of 2021, Sara Abeita  created a website where students can share their novel, prairie

research projects. Each year students will add to their data to the website.

Free State Prairie is open to the public every day between dawn and dusk. The prairie is located on the NW corner of the property behind the football stadium.  Enter through the main athletics entrance and follow the wide sidewalk around behind the stadium.  At the end of the sidewalk, head across the lawn to the northwest toward the shelter and shed.

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Free State Prairie

Lawrence Free State High School

4700 Overland Dr.

Lawrence,  KS  66049

freestateprairie@gmail.com 

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