Students and faculty practiced dances like the “Bunny Hop” and the “Freddy” in an open field near Elwood Drive Sunday afternoon. But they weren’t there for a dance class — they were there to restore a prairie.

Fifteen people came out to help plant thousands of prairie grass seeds at the Elwood Prairie Restoration Site. Their job was to “dance” the seeds into the soil of the nearly seven acres that stretch from Lincoln Way to 6th Street.

“We are trying to reconstruct a diverse prairie here after it was destroyed [by settlement],” said Jim Colbert, an associate professor of botany. “The seeds need to be embedded in the soil in order to grow, that is why we are stomping them into the ground.”

For the last three years several student, city and state groups have been working to restore the prairie area. They have cleared thousands of trees and other non-native plants.

Planting began last spring.

“We mow it two to three times per summer, and within the next year we will burn it. The prairie species will survive the burning, but the non-natives will not,” Colbert said.

Cara Langfitt, freshman in animal ecology, has been working on the site all year. “I have helped with taking down trees and another seeding. I thought it sounded interesting to work on restoring a prairie,” she said.

Jim Pease, professor of natural resource ecology and management, said the prairie will not be finished for quite a while.

“It takes three years after planting for a prairie to look like prairie,” he said. “At the end of the first year it looks like nothing has been done because the grasses take a long time to take hold.”

He said the finished product will be worth the wait. “This will be a great outdoor teaching space for students,” he said. “They will be able to do everything from looking at a species composition to sampling different plant species and why they grow in the areas that they do.”

He also said the prairie will benefit more than just students. “Eighty-five percent of Iowa used to be covered by prairie. Today less than .1 percent is left.”

The funding for the restoration came from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service, Pease said. “We have spent about $3,500 on seed. We hope it’s enough seed, and if not, we’ll just have to plant some more.”