Washington Middle School’s flagship program is underway!

Washington Middle School on Thursday October 1^st kicked off its first flagship program event and WEN was able to participate! This week’s lesson was based on the different types of aquatic macro invertebrates that inhabit our local streams and rivers.  Students were not only taught the general importance of macros as indicator species of pollutants but students also received an in depth lesson on the different feeding groups within our local macro invertebrate community.

                Students were informed of two ways to categorize macroinvertebrates: how the food is obtained and or the type of food that is consumed.  While both are proven to be accurate, macros are omnivores and may feed on different food sources seasonally. Therefore we focus on how food is obtained by macros as means for categorizing. Macro invertebrates are divided into five primary categories.  Scrapers, shredders, collectors, engulf- predators and piercers.

                As a way to test the ability of macros to break down and consume detritus, students in pairs collected leaves and created leaf packs. Leaf packs are roughly softball sized and are contained by netting with small holes to allow macros to freely move in and out of leaf packs.

                The leaf packs are currently submerged at student chosen locations in ponds near Washington Middle School. We will revisit Washington Middle School’s flagship program this week after having collected the leaf packs. In class students will weigh their leaf packs and compare them to the pre-pond submersion weight that was obtained last Thursday.  After comparing the two weights, students will consider the influence that macros had on the total weight changes and rate of consumption.

                Thanks to all of our students, Washington Middle School’s flagship program coordinator Mike Lessard and the faculty that helps keep applied science in the classroom! 

Trickles and Sparkles : An April Stream Team Excursion

     Last weekend Becca and three brave volunteers headed out to a stream in Lolo on a chilly, overcast Saturday. Halfway along the drive, cell phone service slipped away, and soon after we turned off the main road, so did the pavement. Becca gritted her teeth and clutched the steering wheel, trying to convince the car to drive steady and straight, rather than slide off in the mud. However, the mud could've been thicker, the grooves in the road deeper, and the pellets of rain harder, and we made it safely to our destination.

      The infrequently used trail to the river led through a patch of woods, full of plants soaking up the remnants of the recent April rainfall. The colors brightened with the moisture. The trail stopped abruptly at the water's edge, and we skirted carefully under some low hanging branches of pine to the small clearing (pictured left) where we set our supplies.

     The small trees stretched their brilliant burgundy new growth out to us, each branchlet tipped with a soft yellow-green bud. The floor was scattered with white trilliums, reminding me of home. (In Washington, 5th grade camp took us to the Olympic Peninsula, where they were everywhere.)

The stream was quite gorgeous, frothy and glittery. I put on the waders I had found in the basement (an adult pair this time, so I wouldn't have to cram into the kid overall-waders! They were patched up in places, but that means the holes were all sealed off, right?)

 

     While setting up the transect I noticed a gradually cold trickle on the back of my leg. It was just the water rushing past running off with my body heat, I thought at first. The waders don't have much insulation. But the cold feeling persisted, and dominated one leg more than the other... I turned my head for the fifth or sixth time and noticed a large rip down the back of the wader. To my great disappointment, the waders I had put my faith and excitement in had let me down. As long as I faced upstream, the front of my leg would mostly block the current from seeping in until we finished measuring the stream's width. Then I could put on the back-up, slightly-too-big waders I had brought just in case.

     When Becca and I reached the center of the stream I noticed some strange lights on a boulder resting on the riverbed. They weren't flickering with the current, so it wasn't just sunlight reflecting off the surface of the water. Next to the boulder was a smaller stone, riddled with tinier lights. I made note of the location in my head so I could return later.

    I made it to shore, not too soaked, and only on one leg, and walked over to the pile of waders. I picked one up, and set it aside. It was the left boot and I needed the right boot. I picked up the other one and.... it was a left boot too! Since it was too big for my foot, I decided I could probably wear it on the wrong foot and it wouldn't be too uncomfortable. It would fit, at least, and was better than having a leak. Becca graciously let me borrow her spare wool socks.

 

    I went back into the river and found the rock I had kept in mind. It did indeed sparkle.

   By this point the next task was pebble count. Becca had brought gloves for us this time, hoping to spare our hands the frozen, numb experience of Stream Teams past. I went to put a pair on and I had the opposite problem as the waders. I had two right hand gloves! The gloves turned out to be ineffective anyway, as the water was deeper than they were long, and just poured in through the top. Also like the waders, the rubber was not very insulating. Becca and Jeremy gave up on the gloves, while I stayed near the shore where it was shallow and only dipped my right hand in to pick up rocks. During this procedure we found that the stream was littered with glittering rocks.

 

    We concluded the expedition as always, with thermoses of hot water, little cups, and packets of instant hot chocolate. Despite unexpected gear malfunctions, we got the information we came for (plus a little fun), making this another successful, if extra interesting, Stream Team.

-Cassie Sevigny, WEN volunteer

Crawling and Flying through the Wild Walk Parade

     WEN volunteers collected at the Red X's April 19th for the Wild Walk Parade in downtown Missoula. Everyone was abuzz with excitement, including our Sussex Elementary School bugs and parents. Our painted river glistened and sparkled in the sun pouring down, thanks to the last minute addition of colorful mesh (the same used for my dragonfly wings).WEN's "float" was right behind the lively band, ready to lead the winding river of a parade through the streets lined with locals. A local reporter for the Missoulian even made rounds to speak with various WEN folks.

Photo courtesy of Jennie Pak

     On the left, the band is pictured preparing their musical instruments. On the right volunteers Sean and Cassie (myself) dance to the band's music while marching the WEN banner down the street.

     The parade flowed from the X's down Higgins, making a slight curve to stream down to the Pavilion next to the Clark Fork. The festivities did not stop upon arrival though, as there were booths with wildlife information, live music, and hot food. Even Big Dipper ice cream made an appearance to refresh the festival-goers.

     Below are volunteer Al Pak and director Deb  modeling their completed costumes -- a caddisfly and dragonfly, respectively -- and the sunlight shining through Becca's stonefly wings onto the sidewalk.

Photo courtesy of Jennie Pak

Photo courtesy of Jennie Pak

As the first real project I've organized with WEN, I consider our Wild Walk experience a splashing success!
-Cassie Sevigny

Waterbugs Emerge from their Lairs for Upcoming Wildwalk

WEN is participating in the Wild Walk this year, put on by the Roxy Theater as part of their International Wildlife Film Festival. The parade will feature many different creatures from organizations around town. Since we love rivers, WEN has asked volunteers to root around in the waters of their imaginations to find costume ideas in their bug-catching nets!

At each costume building day, books full of detailed bug pictures were provided to assist the inspiration process (and so costumes could be accurate, if one so chose). Deb and I gathered materials that could be useful, and I left out some preliminary drawings of costume parts that could be built with these materials in case people had trouble. After waving their bug nets around all this, volunteers made like caddisflies and brought together their preferred materials into a cohesive bug costume.


Here are some examples of the costume-building process:

I chose to be dragonfly (then I get to wear pretty, colorful wings).

Sean, another WEN volunteer, made some wings as an extra costume for anyone who wanted to participate in the parade but couldn't make it to a costume-building day.

Below are some pictures of volunteer Sara making her water beetle costume and, speaking of caddisflies, Al creating her caddisfly nymph costume.

 Some mini bugs from Sussex Elementary School will be crawling out to join us on the day of the parade, as well as our volunteers' own little waterbugs!

Al making paper sticks.

 




We've got a couple more sessions left to finish up! Saturday (April 11) we will once again be in the conference center, and will start working on our representation of the river and decorating a small wagon.

Saturday, April 18th is our last day to work on projects, and then the parade is April 19th!

-Cassie, WEN volunteer

Two Sussex students working on their costumes

Chief Charlo Get Excited at Rattlesnake Creek

With our gear carefully situated, listening to the quiet of the Rattlesnake Creek, we awaited the students of Chief Charlo Elementary. The school bus entered the parking lot of Greenough Park and the 5th graders rambled out, talking excitedly among themselves. The volunteers' anticipation mounted as the teacher, Kevin Cashman, lead the students across the bridge of the creek towards the workstations. And with a rush of joy and squeals of delight the kids were upon us, eager to dive into the world of macro-invertebrates. 

First, a little context. To conduct a biological assessment of the Rattlesnake Creek, 300 macro-invertebrates are gathered to determine if a stream is polluted. Macro-invertebrates are animals that do not have backbones, but are visible to the naked eye. Certain macro-invertebrates are sensitive to pollution in the streams, such as mayfly and stonefly nymphs, and their presence or absence can indicate the overall health of a stream. The Watershed Education Network collects this data to keep community members aware of the quality of the water, and to empower students to understand the importance of our watershed.

The students rushed over to the tables, bubbling with enthusiasm as Mr. Cashman directed the kids into their groups. "Tanagers, and Western Meadowlarks will go into the creek! The Clark's Nutcrackers and the Pileated Wodpeckers will collect the bugs!" And with that the 5th graders scrambled about to their respective stations.

The Tanagers, about six kids, pulled on waders and armed themselves with nets, then went to the waters edge where I told them about the crab walk. "First thing is safety", I call out, "and to be safe in the creek we will be doing the crab walk whenever we are walking in it". With exaggerated movements, I demonstrate the crab walk, where you walk sideways down the river so as to avoid slipping. The kids head into the water and I take them down to riffles where the macro-invertebrates hang out. Three of the 5th graders eagerly hold the nets, while three others stand a few feet in front and start the shimmy. The shimmying disrupts the insects, and are directed by the current of the creek into the awaiting nets. Giggles echo out of the cool afternoon as the kids trade places, the former getting ready to shimmy, and the latter taking the nets. With the nets full of bugs and debris, the Tanagers head up to tubs full of water waiting on the bank where the nets are upended. With the task of netting the bugs finished, the children take the waders off and get ready to start collecting the macro-invertebrates.

Spoons and ice cube trays have taken the place of nets and waders, as I tell the 5th graders to search for the bugs like a stork, calm and unhurried. The Tanagers set about with quite a many "oohs" and "ahs" as the macro-invertebrates that they worked so hard to collect flit about the tub, diving for the leaves and other debris. With steady hands, the kids dip the spoons in, carefully uncovering and lifting the bugs out of the tubs and into the ice cube trays. "One macro-invertebrate per cube", I tell the Tanagers, as spoons laden with treasures appear out of the tub. Once a few fine specimens are found I take out the dichotomous key, an identification tool that consist of a series of choices that lead the user to the correct name and picture of an the macro-invertebrates that we are searching for. First, we look to see if the creatures have shells or not. "No shells!", the kids cry out. Second, we look to whether legs are involved with our little friends. "Legs!", the 5th graders say, and we continue down the key to the majority of the macro-invertebrates found in the stream being mayfly nymphs. After the Tanagers enthusiastically identify the creatures they are set free back into the Rattlesnake Creek.

Today was an exciting day for me. Experiencing the joy and vigor that a child greets its world with is uplifting to say the least. Moments of a persons existence are made when introduced early to the wonders of life. I feel very proud to hopefully be a part of something so significant. Being shown the beauty and life thriving silently in the river can be sometimes all it takes for a person to become acquainted with a sense of wonder that quietly guides them through life. Perhaps this placement of wonder actually took place, or perhaps a group of 25 children just had an absolute blast. Either one I will take. One thing for sure is that I look forward to more outdoor adventures with the Watershed Education Network, where we teach kids of the unseen world bustling in our streams.

-WEN Volunteer