The Glass Roots project brings a place-based education framework to 5th–8th grade students along the Mississippi Gulf Coast by connecting classroom science to real-world coastal challenges.The project introduces two locally limited resources, native marsh plants and sand, through the innovative use of recycled glass sand as a growing medium. As restoration needs continue to rise across the Gulf due to habitat loss, the availability of nursery-grown plants and clean sediment has increasingly become a limited resource. This project gives students firsthand experience with an emerging solution to these resource constraints. 

Across the three coastal counties, thirteen teachers are leading students in cultivating Distichlis spicata in school greenhouses while experimenting with varying soil-to-glass sand ratios, fertilizer levels, and salt concentrations to determine the best growing conditions with glass sand. This hands-on experience allows students to collect their own data, exploring how different conditions influence plant growth and resilience. Throughout the project, students are learning how coastal marshes provide critical ecosystem services, such as providing critical habitat for native species, storing carbon, filtering nutrients, and providing natural protection from rising seas. By growing plants for restoration in recycled glass sand and experimenting to find the optimal conditions, students play an active role in exploring sustainable solutions to coastal issues.

This presentation will highlight the implementation process, experiment outcomes, and results from the project’s first year, demonstrating how place-based implementation enhances student engagement, strengthens teacher collaboration, and deepens understanding of local environmental issues. The Glass Roots project serves as a model for integrating regional context into STEAM learning to cultivate environmental literacy and stewardship in Gulf Coast youth.