Farming Prairie Flowers

This video shows Prairie Flower Farm, a northwest Iowa farm that grows native plants instead of corn or soybeans.

• Why don’t prairie flowers grow everywhere in Iowa?

• What does burning do?
• How does growing new prairie affect the environment?

Students could:

• Compare the biodiversity in a prairie environment to a typical corn or soybean field.
• Analyze data on water quality over time in areas with and without prairie.
• Research how native wildlife has been affected by depletion of prairie.
• Design posters educating the community on local prairie restoration projects.

• Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT | Living Roadway Trust Fund: Iowa DOT program to plant native plants alongside highways.
• Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation | Remnant Prairie: A Closer Look at Iowa's Rarest Landscape: Blog post on remnant prairie.
• PBS LearningMedia | FIND Iowa: Reconstructed and Remnant Prairies: Remnant prairies are rare in Iowa, but there are some significant efforts to reconstruct prairies there. Explore what it takes to reconstruct prairie.
• Iowa PBS | Iowa Land and Sky: Iowa Prairie Restoration: This video profiles a restored prairie and compares the biodiversity to Iowa’s largest remaining tract of original prairie, Broken Kettle Grasslands north of Sioux City.
• UNI Tallgrass Prairie Center: Information on prairies and restoration.
• Iowa Prairie Network: Organization dedicated to Iowa’s prairie heritage.