A class of eager 4th graders from the Ivanhoe Elementary School in Gary, Indiana, spent an action-packed morning at the US Steel Gary Works' official Wildlife Habitat Area on May 8.

The field trip was part of the Mighty Acorns Program sponsored by USS and the Indiana Dunes Environmental Learning Center. 

The Wildlife Habitat Area encompasses about 30 acres of native sand dunes and black oak savanna, plus previously disturbed industrial lands, on the east end of the 3,000-acre Gary Works along the shoreline of Lake Michigan. 

Helping the students were IDELC volunteers, staff from USS Gary Works, Elizabeth McCloskey from the Northern Indiana Ecological Services Suboffice, John Perrecone from USEPA's Great Lakes National Program Office, and Daniel Goldfarb from the Wildlife Habitat Council. 

The students were divided into three groups to either plant trees or go through several established IDELC curriculums, trading off every half hour.  McCloskey worked with the group planting pine trees in the disturbed former industrial portion of the Wildlife Habitat Area. 

Most of the students had never planted a tree before, and were thrilled to get their hands dirty - figuratively, since gloves and other safety equipment were provided. 

At the end of the busy morning the students were treated to fresh cookies and iced water before jouneying back to school.