Aspire School Rises to the Challenge of Developing a Floodplain

Photo by Cassie Sevigny

On a sunny winter’s day at McCauley Butte next to the Bitterroot River, I met with staff from the Watershed Education Network (WEN) and students and their educators from Aspire High School. Aspire is an “alternative” school based on experiential education and recently acquired a good portion of land on McCauley Butte and the Flat. Our group was assembled to council with Aspire students as they investigated a community resilience topic for the RISE Challenge Big Sky, hosted by Brightways Learning and WEN. The students were confronted with identifying a real-world environmental issue and developing a solution with an action plan to address this issue. These students chose to address how to use a riparian floodplain as a year-round outdoor classroom. 

I first learned about their project when Deb Fassnacht from WEN contacted the Missoula Conservation District (CD) to ask if we had any insight on what sort of structures could be constructed in the floodplain, and if a representative from the CD could come out and meet with the students. I was happy to oblige. 

The land Aspire school owns is the riparian area between the Butte and the Bitterroot River. The riparian area is beautiful from an ecological standpoint, and I would consider it high-value habitat. The area has beaver ponds and cottonwoods and hosts waterfowl, woodpeckers, and other wildlife.  The challenge for the students is this land is not only in the floodplain, but the floodway. The floodway doesn’t just get standing water covering it occasionally; flood water moves through these areas with a fair bit of velocity, like you-better-watch-out-for-ponderosa-pines-floating-through kind of velocity. Almost all planning and zoning regulations prohibit any development in the floodway.

The students knew they could not build a traditional structure or even a boardwalk in this area, so they were coming up with all sorts of ideas on how to create an attractive educational space on the property. As I covered some of the regulatory challenges the students faced, including a conservation easement that the previous owners put in place with the Five Valleys Land Trust, the students began discussing (more alternatives?) ideas. Their eyes lit up as they discussed solutions such as rope bridges, floating decks, and hanging platforms. While I could speak about zoning, floodplain regulation, and conservation easements generally, the Missoula Conservation District only has regulatory authority over 310 permits based on Montana’s Natural Streambed and land Preservation Act. 

A 310 permit is required to ensure that natural rivers and streams, and the lands and property immediately adjacent to them, are protected and preserved to be available in their natural or existing state. The interesting thing about this particular permit is that there is no automatic definable jurisdictional boundary. Often time the CD generally looks at the riparian buffer within 50 feet of a major navigable river, but any project that degrades environmental life support systems or causes unreasonable depletion and degradation of natural resources in a riparian corridor could come under 310 jurisdiction, and yet… almost no one knows a 310 permit application is needed for work near a river.

Radley and a student investigate a possible beaver breathing
hole in the ice. (Photo by Cassie Sevigny)

After talking 310 permitting and wandering the land, we headed back to our vehicles. I think I left the students with more questions than answers. I felt bad about that, but that is the nature of science and exploration. It was awesome to see students engaged in place-based education and the excitement of the students as they stood on a frozen beaver pond and talking about beaver ecology will stay with me for a long time. 

What will these students propose to do to make this floodplain a year-round classroom? Will they try to suspend fellow classmates from the trees? Will they float them over a beaver pond? I don’t know, but in any case, they are going to learn a lot about rivers, flood plains, and riparian areas, and how humans interact in these changing riverine environments.

-Radley Watkins

Resource Conservationist

Missoula Conservation District

Hellgate Elementary Exploration

October 15, 2019
By Bailey Bartell

Hey everyone! I felt incredibly lucky to go with Deb, the Executive Director of WEN, to the classroom as well as the field on this recent project that we accomplished. The WEN team and about 20 volunteers took the entirety of Hellgate Elementary’s second grade class to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) for a field trip. With support from the Hellgate PTA, WEN was able to reach close to 180 students in order to expose them to the river ecosystem. 

While in the classroom, Deb began the lesson connecting the students to the river by thinking about things they already know. We talked about what allows us to know that a river is healthy and what we wonder about rivers. We drew pictures of what a healthy river looks like and we collected some wonderful curiosities from the kids like: how far does the river go? Where does it come from? How do we know if it is clean? How do the bugs get there? In addition to introducing musings about the Clark Fork River, we played games and sang songs to help us learn how to identify a mayfly, stonefly and caddisfly. These were the same aquatic macroinvertebrates that we searched for during our field trip at Grant Creek.

On the mornings of our five field trip days, volunteers arrived to the RMEF early to collect insects from the creek for the students to search for in tubs and identify. I was able to guide the experience for students as they found and sorted these various aquatic macroinvertebrates. The level of excitement that was derived from each insect was contagious. Each time a student found a new insect, they would exclaim and treat it like a prize they won. This reaction came from all the students. It was really fun to watch the students who were hesitant in the beginning become excited and involved in the process of searching through the tubs of cold water, insects and detritus. The energy was palpable and helped to create an engaging and positive learning environment.

In addition to finding macroinvertebrates, the students wandered through the property on their riparian walk. They were introduced to the concept of what makes up a riparian area and the benefits of maintaining the natural spaces next to our water sources. We talked about what animals live there, what plants and space help to create a healthy riparian area and took time to connect to the place. We accomplished this by taking interactive walks around RMEF’s property. We listened to the creek sounds, made observations about the downed trees and tall grasses and became young scientists by drawing in our field journals to document our findings.

We ended our afternoons with an active game, Macroinvertebrate Mayhem, that models what happens to our rivers when heat and sediment are introduced to the cold mountain streams. The students were a caddisfly, stonefly, or mayfly and moved down a cold, clear river. As heat and sediment moved into the river as well, the cold water insects changed to warm water compatible insects. At the end, we discussed how the river goes through yearly cycles and why it is important to maintain healthy conditions of cold, clear rivers as much as possible.

I feel incredibly lucky to have witnessed the relationships built with WEN from introductions to waving goodbye after being told one thing that they learned while being with us.

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

Swan Field Trip

This last Tuesday, Kitty and I headed up to the Swan Valley in the early morning. We sleepily arrived and set up for the field trip and waited for the kids to arrive. As the students rolled out of the bus, their enthusiasm for the field trip was contagious. This group of students had been going out on our WEN field trips every spring and fall since they were in 3^rd grade, and were excited to learn more and build upon what they had already learned in the previous years. At the bug station, students excitedly ran over to me, eyeing the waders already. As we talked about the different kinds of aquatic macroinvertebrates in the river, I was surprised by how much the older students remembered. Finally, the students were able to get into the waders and collect the macroinvertebrates in the river. We found so many mayflys! We also found a couple of ‘mystery bugs’ that the students we able to identify through our dichotomous key. As they proudly told me what each bug was named, I was reminded that no matter how much we think we may know about something, we can always learn something new.

Bitterroot River Field Trip

Last week, WEN had a great time leading students from C.S. Porter to the Bitterroot River. We taught them all about the biological, physical, and chemical aspects of their nearby river. Take a look at the day through this video courtesy of Clinton Begley!

Miller Creek Field Trip

 Ever wonder what it is like to be at the river with WEN? Now you can feel like you are at the river's edge with us by watching this great video by WEN's AmeriCorps member Clinton Begley.

Miller Creek Field Trip

Boy Scouts at SKC!

 This past WEN led the Boy Scouts on an adventure to learn about aquatic macroinvertebrates around Salish Kootenai College. Check out our pictures!

Huston Thompson and Deb Fassncacht led the aquatic
macroinvertebrate station

Students play the Macroinvertebrate Mayham game

Students learn how their bug should move as a part of the
Macroinvertebrate Mayham game

Huston Thompson catches some Aquatic Macroinvertebrates

WEN heads to Victor School to teach about Groundwater

Like others before it, the early morning began with coffee. I sipped it slowly as we loaded the car. We had a large plastic model town called an Enviroscape, a groundwater flow model, and equipment to help 30 6th grades at Victor School build their own aquifer. Kitty, the Program director, and Hillary, WEN's summer VISTA and I hopped in the car and headed south into the Bitteroot Valley. We arrive in the small town of Victor with early, but circled a few blocks before we finally stopped at a gas station to ask for directions to the school. We pulled up and signed in, admiring the class photos dating back to 1927 on the walls. When we entered the classroom the happy teacher greeted us and we started setting up. The build your own aquifer activity was engaging. Students first tested how much water moved through one of the 4 substrates they had samples of : sand, gravel, dirt and clay. Then they took three of those substrates and made their own aquifer.

We then cleaned up the aquifer and set-up two stations: the groundwater flow model and Enviroscape. I lead the plastic Enviroscape town station while Kitty lead the groundwater flow model and Hillary took pictures. I was a bit apprehensive because it was almost summer and these kids were antsy. I started by introducing the town and talking about 4 types of pollution represented by the acronym ANTS: air, nutrient, toxic, and sediment pollution. Then I directed their attention to the plastic farm and asked why farms are good. The kids immediately started talking about pollution and I realized they hadn't been paying attention. I asked who knew someone who was a farmer and almost all the kids raised their hands. Then I asked again why farms are good. "Food!" shouted one student. "Yes food is very important and all food comes from farms" Then I asked, "What kind of pollution would you find on the farm?" The kids thought for a minute then one kid raised his hand and suggested smoke from the tractor. "Yes," I said reaching into a Ziploc bag I had hidden behind the Enviroscape. I pulled out a bottle of bubbles and asked, "who wants to show us air pollution?" Ten hands shot up in the air. I chose a student and watched as bubbles floated and landed all over the town. The students went on to talk about the benefits of suburbs, logging, factories and trucks. Then they guessed almost every type of pollution. They poured chocolate syrup on the road to represent someone pouring out oil, sprinkled chocolate chip dog poo, spread hot coco powder sediment and Kool-aid powder pesticides. Then I gave two students squirt bottles and the Enviroscape town had a rain storm. Exclamations of disgust rose from the students as dark, murky water flowed down the streams and into the lake. Then I discussed ways people and governments avoid these kinds of pollution through berms, fencing off cattle and other preventative measures.

When it came time to circle up Kitty asked what the students remembered from the field trip I was a bit nervous. They were obviously distracted by the proximity of summer break and I questioned how much they had learned. To my surprise many hands shot up in the air and they began talking about key points about aquifers, groundwater, and the Enviroscape lesson. They remembered that they should recycle oil and not pour it down a drain, and that you shouldn't let your dog poop in the river. I smiled. To hear those kids talk about what they'd learned I knew our lessons were not something they would soon forget. I sipped my last bit of coffee and felt energized, not from the coffee, but from the knowledge that we had made a difference in these students' lives.

Have you noticed something different about the Prairie?

Sussex School is working hard at the John Pierce Native Plant Prairie! This past Wednesday they continued weeding the area of invasives and began planting native plants. Come by and see the progress they have made in between the WEN office and the river trail!

 

 For more information about the Sussex School project or WEN's week curriculum, call 541-9287 or email water@montanawatershed.org

Sussex School Adopts John Pierce Native Prarie

Rivers and Plants go together! 

This past Wednesday, Pam and Lisa's class came to explore, observe and document the first signs of spring and new life in the Pierce Native Prairie. Throughout the spring the class will return to this prairie to help restore it to its natural state. While developing this stewardship, they will also learn a lot about native and invasive plants! 

Watch for more plant activities this spring with Sussex School and the Pierce Native Prairie!

Rattlesnake School Groundwater Presentation

This past week WEN did 4 groundwater presentations at Rattlesnake School! We taught two different classes in two-part presentations. The first field trip we led an interactive experiment where the students built their own aquifer and explored how water moved through different kinds of sediments. Next, we played the Groundwater Game so the students could see what it was like to be a raindrop moving through the ground (and get out some energy!).  The second day was a presentation of our Groundwater Flow Model which is continually fascinating to both the students and adults.  Check out the pictures below!

Students get ready for the Groundwater Game

Students write about their aquifer experiment

Students watch the water filter through
their aquifers they built

Students build their aquifer with WEN volunteer

For more information about our Groundwater Program, volunteer on a field trip, or schedule a field trip for your classroom, call 541-9287 or email us at water@montanawatershed.org

Groundwater Field Trip Pictures

Check out our pictures from our Groundwater Field Trip!

Deb presents the Groundwater Flow Model to fascinated students

Kitty Galloway explores groundwater layers with students

The Students get ready for the Groundwater Flow Game

Clay sticks close together!

The Groundwater experiment shows how
water moves through sediments

Do you want to learn more about your Groundwater Field Trips?  You can email WEN at water@montanawatershed.org or call us at 406-541-9287

Groundwater Field Trip!

Last Wednesday, I joined Deb, Erica, Kitty, and Stephanie at Garden City Montessori for WEN's ground water presentation. What a blast! The students were so engaged and enthusiastic to learn about ground water and Missoula's aquifer. I was happily surprised to see how knowledgeable the students already were about watersheds; one young student even described the movement of water through the landscape from rain to rivers and even included evaporation. Kitty Galloway coordinated some great activities for the kids including an interactive aquifer game. Students were designated as either boulders, sand, clay, or cobble and then the rest of the class acted as rain drops and moved through the different types of substrates as acted out by their classmates. Everyone loved the game and really understood how easy or difficult it is for water to move through different mediums in an aquifer. 

After the interactive aquifer game and a wonderful build your own aquifer activity, Deb wowed the students with the groundwater flow model. Everyone, including myself, was completely immersed in the groundwater flow model. With this awesome tool, Deb showed the students at Garden City Montessori how water moves through aquifers and how groundwater contamination can pollute our rivers and drinking water. I thought the demonstration was particularly helpful to show how the composition of an aquifer will determine the movement of water. It was such a wonderful time for everyone! The kids were so engaged and eager to learn about their aquifer and their teacher, Megan, was involved and continued their groundwater lesson with our Groundwater Flow Model, even as we were leaving. At the end, we packed up and headed back to the WEN office with big smiles and the warm feeling you get from being around kids and their complete enthusiasm for the world around them- including watersheds!

-Vija Pelekis

WEN Volunteer

Weed Field Trip!

Tuesday afternoon, I biked along the river to meet up with WEN for the to go teach the fourth and fifth graders of Sussex Elementary School about invasive weeds, and native plants. Even though it was a rainy, gloomy day, we arrived at the greenhouse near Fort Missoula to a group of happy, energetic kids. Leah Grunzke, of the Montana Natural History Museum was already busy telling the kids all about weeds that are invasive in the Missoula area, and answering their questions.

After the students (who had decided to go by the name the Hilarious Hedgehogs-why not?) shared some great stories and observations about weeds, we all climbed on the little Sussex bus and went over to the Nature Adventure Teaching Garden to see a native plant garden in action.

The students had become familiar with most of the invasive plants that now make up the area around Missoula in our previous trip to the loading dock and path area near the Osprey field. There, the students had split into groups, and with the help of WEN’s plant expert, Jesse Dwyer, WEN’s director, Josh Gubits, a few of WEN’sother staff members and volunteers, and the student’s teacher, Pam Ward, the students all were assigned plants to seek out and identify. Once the students had spotted their plants, they had to sketch them, and describe aspects of the plant so that they could teach their fellow classmates all about it. After each group shared a bit of information about their assigned weed, they got to see some examples of aquatic invasive weeds and hear about the effects of these weeds and how they might be spread. This really was a great way to introduce the students to the idea of sustaining a natural garden in the high desert area that we live in, and why native plants are so important to keep around.

Back at the Nature Adventure Teaching Garden with Leah, the students got to better understand the benefits of a natural garden, from the reduced need of water, to the benefits for the wildlife in the area (especially birds).  Leah now gave the “Hilarious Hedgehogs” their assignment, they were to explore the garden and find one plant that they thought was interesting that they could tell their classmates about. Immediately, some students ran up the small mound in the middle of the garden, some ran to the far end of the garden, and most ran to the giant hollow cotton tree that they had been anxiously eyeing since they first entered the garden. Five or ten minutes later, the group was called together, and some kids shared their favorite parts of the garden, and others shared what plants they found. One little girl in particular had found a Penstemon that was still in bloom!

The students climbed back onto the bus with a little more knowledge of the world around them, and it feels amazing to have been a small part of that. That’s why I can’t wait to return work with and learn alongside the Hilarious Hedgehogs of Sussex Elementary. Soon we’ll be hard at work on our own Native Plant Garden along the Clark Fork right in front of the WEN offices!

-Katie Foster 

Katie Foster is a stellar WEN volunteer and a student at the University of Montana