Many people have heard about efforts to preserve wetlands but are not quite sure what wetlands really are.

Riverdeep's Wonderful Wetlands Xcursion is a virtual field trip to various Web sites that discuss these aquatic habitats and why they are important to the environment.

The Xcursion itinerary showcases maps of wetlands, soil diagrams, information on plants that thrive in wetlands, pictures of common wetland habitats such as bogs and swamps, and information on what citizens can do to protect wetlands.

The Xcursion Start Page contains the following questions. The page should be printed out so that answers to the questions can be written as the field trip progresses.

1. What are wetlands?
   
   
2. Name five types of wetlands.
   
   
3. Do wetlands have salt water or fresh water?
   
   
4. What is special about the soil in wetlands?
   
   
5. What adaptations have plants made to wetlands conditions?
   
   
6. Name five animals that live in wetlands.
   
   
7. Name five things that wetlands do for the environment.
   
   
8. Name five things you can do to stop the destruction of wetlands.

After taking the Riverdeep Xcursion and watching the videos to the right and above, it should be clear why wetlands are critical. Among other benefits, they improve water quality, provide habitat for wildlife, prevent erosion, and minimize flood damage.

Yet despite regulations to protect them, wetlands continue to disappear due to land development. The United States has lost half of its original wetlands, and more than 100,000 acres of wetlands continue to be lost each year.

Some developers, architects, and farmers believe that certain wetlands should be developed, especially if doing so would provide jobs and boost the area's economy.

Others argue that homes must be built to accommodate the population spillover from overcrowded cities. Some developers even favor eliminating wetlands protection entirely.

It is always important to consider both sides of an issue before developing an opinion. The videos to the right represent the concerns of real estate developers.

Watching all the videos in this story will prepare students to respond to the following situation with a persuasive essay:

• Suppose that the county in which you live was considering a proposal to allow a real estate developer to build an entertainment complex on local wetlands. The complex would contain a skate park, a movie theater, and a shopping mall. Would you support the proposal? Why or why not?

You can learn the fundamentals of writing a persuasive essay by going to Riverdeep's Write for Your Life Persuasive Essay.

The videos in this story are part of a Riverdeep product called Write for Your Life, which is a practical exploration of the writing process presented genre-by-genre in an interactive setting. Write for Your Life is available as part of an online Riverdeep Language Arts subscription and on CD.