Wetland Loss Jenga/Kerplunk Game
Objective: Students will review causes of wetland loss and visualize changes in wetlands
using either Kerplunk and/or Jenga.
The object of the game is to remove a game piece representing landloss without collapsing
the structure. The team that loses pulled the “last straw” of a series of natural and human
causes of wetland loss. Was this last action the only action responsible for the resultant
catastrophe?
Kerplunk: Marbles represent marsh and the sticks represent causes of loss. Students should
notice as the play continues that pieces of marsh (marbles) disappear making the whole
area/volume of viable marsh smaller, similar to what we see today. However, the final
collapse is a possible outcome without action.
Jenga: The block structure represents a healthy intact marsh. As each piece (of marsh) is
removed students should notice “holes” in the structure much like inland marshes appear
today in their deteriorating state.
Procedure: Divide students into groups of four or six depending on class size. Each student
plays with a partner as a team. Each group receives Kerplunk or Jenga game pieces. Choose
preferred play procedure.
 Set up the game for play.
Procedure 1: Drawing cards
 Print statements on cardstock to make a deck of cards.
 Shuffle deck of cards and place face down.
 Each team takes one turn at a time.
 To play, student picks a card and reads the statement of loss and removes a game
piece unless directed to skip a turn. The piece is set aside.
 The next team plays and play continues until wetland system collapses.
Procedure 2: Set of statements
 Teacher or a student reads aloud one cause of loss at a time from the sheet of
statements for the entire class and each team takes their turn.
 Each team takes one turn at a time and removes one game piece of their choosing
until the system collapses.
Wrap up
Discuss with students how these games illustrate the gradual loss of wetlands and the severe
nature of the problem over time. Did every team collapse at the same time? Why or why not.
Can you apply this to different areas of the coast? Discuss whether wetlands would be
deteriorating without human causes.
Game developed by Dianne Lindstedt and Allison Stevens.
Contact dlindst@lsu.edu, www.LaMER.lsu.edu
Statements for Kerplunk/Jenga Wetland Loss Game
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Over the last 250 years Louisiana wetlands have been drained dredged, filled, leveed,
leveled and flooded.
Levees along the Mississippi River were built in earnest after the 1927 flood thus
eliminating the periodic flooding of wetlands with freshwater and sediment that
builds land in southeast Louisiana.
Many petroleum industry canals are dredged during the 1950’s through the 1970’s for
exploration and development of the resource.
Navigation channels such as MRGO, Houma Navigation Canal and Barataria
Waterway cut through Louisiana marshes having direct and indirect affects on
wetland loss.
Subsidence is a natural process in Louisiana wetlands. It is a part of the delta cycle.
Hurricanes and storms may breach barrier islands decreasing protection of inland
wetlands from waves and storm surge.
Since they were built the levees along the Mississippi River deprive wetlands from
receiving nourishing sediments and freshwater from the river every year.
Nutria eat outs denude from 35,000 to 100,000 acres of marsh per year leaving these
areas vulnerable to accelerated erosion, subsidence and scouring.
Wetlands have been destroyed by converting them into dry land for agriculture.
Barrier island projects widen and increase elevation of some barrier islands. Skip a
turn.
Over time sediments compact and the land subsides under its own weight thus
decreasing wetland elevations. Without over bank flooding wetland elevations cannot
keep up with the rate of subsidence.
Between 1990 and 2000 wetlands loss in Louisiana was about 24 square miles per
year.
Global sea level is on the rise, threatening low lying areas with more frequent
flooding.
Wetlands have been drained and filled for coastal development such as camps,
homes, businesses and industry.
Over time boat wakes wash against spoil banks and natural waterways slowly eroding
the edge. This process can cause canals to double in width within 20 years.
Access canals for oil and gas development removes sediment, destroys wetlands
where dredge material is deposited and changes overland flow.
In Little Vermillion Bay hurricane flooding in 2005 from Katrina and Rita creates
land at the Little Vermillion Sediment Trapping project. Skip a turn.
Louisiana loses about one football field of wetlands every 38 minutes.
Hurricanes and storms alter the shoreline decreasing protection of inland wetlands.
Oil and gas canals with spoil banks can impound large areas of wetlands and cause
either continuous flooding or no flooding.
Dams and locks in the upper Mississippi River trap sediment thus reducing the
sediment load that is transported to the lower river.
From 1986-2006, 598 coastal restoration projects have been constructed in Louisiana
wetlands. Skip a turn
Game developed by Dianne Lindstedt and Allison Stevens.
Contact dlindst@lsu.edu, www.LaMER.lsu.edu
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Hurricanes and storms can move inland sediments and may deposit it on the salt
marsh surface.
Louisiana marshes continue to be deprived of nourishing sediments since levees on
the Mississippi River were built.
Global warming of the Earth’s atmosphere may cause polar ice caps to melt causing
increases in sea level rise worldwide.
Dredging navigation channels removes sediment from wetlands, alters hydrology and
allows salt water to be transported further up the estuary than previously.
Natural subsidence rates increase when an area is not nourished by yearly influx of
water and sediments.
Hurricanes and storms can transform inland marshes to open water, breach barrier
islands, and cause shoreline erosion.
Spoil banks block natural flow of water and sediments over the marsh surface
depriving them of water, nutrients and sediments.
Wetland loss in Louisiana is caused by both natural and human induced activities.
Dredge materials deposited on marshes buries them and destroys them.
The Atchafalaya River Delta lobe is the only area where Louisiana wetlands are
increasing in size. Skip a turn.
The introduction of salt water into fresh and brackish wetlands through canals can
weaken or kill local vegetation decreasing their ability to trap sediments and
gradually transforming the area into open water.
Hurricanes and storms may increase flooding and bring salt water further inland.
During storms pounding waves erode mud and sand and currents carry sand and mud
away from the shoreline.
Dredging for navigation and oil and gas production destroys wetlands by removing
land and creating open water.
Hurricane Katrina negatively affected 217 square miles of wetlands in southeast
Louisiana to open water. Scientists do not know if this is a permanent change in
landscape.
Oil and gas extraction practices can lead to additional local subsidence in an already
naturally subsiding marsh.
Spoil banks destroy marsh vegetation by converting them to higher drier land, thus
disrupting hydrology and preventing over bank flow.
The 76 mile long and 650 foot wide Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) is
completed in 1965. Today it is 1,500 feet wide.
Game developed by Dianne Lindstedt and Allison Stevens.
Contact dlindst@lsu.edu, www.LaMER.lsu.edu