This digital story was created in conjunction with the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program and its Stories from Main Street student documentary initiative, called "Stories: Yes." The project encourages students and their mentors to research and record stories about small-towns and rural neighborhoods, waterways, personal memories, cultural traditions, work histories, as well as thoughts about American democracy. These documentaries are then shared on Smithsonian websites and social media.
During 2018, students from the Ocean Springs School District in Mississippi came to the Pascagoula River Audubon Center to learn about the ecology of their local waterways and the dangers of invasive species. They combined this environmental education with creativity and developed their own performance called "The Singing River has the Blues."
Speaker 1: Students from the Ocean Springs school district in Oceans Spring Mississippi are learning about invasive species in and around the Pascagoula River, our landmark waterway. Today, they've come to the Pascagoula River Audubon Center, in Moss Point Mississippi.
Speaker 2: Or you could walk-
Speaker 3: So this is salvinia minima, and it's harmful to the river because it blocks out the sunlight to fish, animals, creatures, plants, and anything else that lives in the water.
Speaker 4: We did an experiment on it. So we put it in cups, and we filled the cups up with freshwater, and the water got saltier and saltier, and then we figured out that it likes zero salt, likes freshwater, and the saltwater makes it die.
Speaker 2: My prediction of when it was going to die was five parts per thousand, because I knew that even if there's the slightest change in any animal or plant's habitat, it would be hard to live, and eventually they would die. So I guessed five parts.
Speaker 5: And how salvinia minima got into the ocean is some boats and trailers picked up the salvinia minima, and it got stuck to them; and whenever they were driving around or going in the water they spread it.
Speaker 6: Hi there. We're the original cast of The Singing River Has the Blues. We will-
Speaker 1: These young conservationists put together a skit to demonstrate the relationship between invasive and native species.
Speaker 6: Please keep in mind that we have not rehearsed in three months, and our summer just began on May 23rd. After our introduction, we will show you the highlights of our show, The Singing River has the Blues.
Speaker 7: I'm the yellow blotched, sawback reptile, YBSMT.
Speaker 8: I am the bald cypress tree.
Speaker 3: I am the salvinia weevil.
Speaker 9: I am the white-tailed deer.
Speaker 10: I am the gray squirrel.
Speaker 11: I am the popcorn tree.
Speaker 12: I am cogon grass.
Speakers: We are salvinia minima.
Speaker 7: Five, six, five six here we go now.
Asset ID: 8600
For a complete transcript, please visit the Museum on Main Street website: www.museumonmainstreet.org
