Rattlesnake Creek Discovery

WEN's First Summer Camp: A Reflection

     The 2018 Rattlesnake Creek Discovery Summer Camp, in partnership with the Missoula International School, was a full week of fun, play, and learning. Six children attended Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-3 p.m. On the first day, the Rattlesnake Creek explorers collected macro-invertebrates from two different locations, then learned how to identify and draw these aquatic insects.

    Tuesday was introduction to bug anatomy, and more exploration north of the Pavilion. The explorers ventured off into the riparian area along Rattlesnake Creek and discovered interesting critters. The day ended with a cool down in the creek!

     On day three, we mapped Rattlesnake Creek and created our own maps of Greenough Park. We also measured the velocity of the Creek with our sticks and painted rocks with Pam Ward (our guest instructor from Sussex School). Lastly, we rounded out the day with Bull trout game fun!

    Thursday we did a water cycle game and journaled about being a water drop. Cas Smith (our hydro-geologist guest presenter) taught a lesson on groundwater, which included exploring various wells in Greenough Park. The afternoon concluded with watercolor painting and Lego building.

     On our last day, the children collected sticks as we hiked and explored through Greenough, and then we used those sticks to construct “dreamboats”. Afterwards, we launched our boats down the Creek. Finally, we celebrated this special week-long summer camp with a macro-invertebrate mayhem game, and said farewell to the Rattlesnake Creek.

     As the partner of an ex-river guide, I've heard (and fallen in love with) a phrase that seems to capture the spirit of this camp, "Let's just read and run." Read the river, then run it accordingly. While developing the Rattlesnake Creek Explorations Camp, we built a structured schedule which we followed every morning. I was an afternoon volunteer and witnessed firsthand how the overall mood vacillated in the full-belly, post-lunch afternoon heat. The children would either rally energetically after a quick dip in the creek, or feel lethargic. 

     
     It seemed that they fed off of each other's energy, without any verbal communication. It was so fun to read them, and then help steer the afternoon schedule according to their wants and needs. We had so much fun every afternoon. Whether we were taking a break from the heat and painting rocks inside an MIS classroom, focusing on a groundwater lesson, or playing with spray-bottles at the Greenough playground- this camp was totally kid-centric. It was so fulfilling to help facilitate the creation of positive summer memories for these six, very awesome kids. 

 

This camp couldn't have happened without the leaders from the Missoula International School and Watershed Education Network: John Walker and Deb Fassnacht. Special thanks to our guest instructors Pam Ward and Cas Smith! Shout-out to our volunteers: Madeline Wilber, Cassie Sevigny, Markus Boyer, and Eli Santos.

I look back on this summer camp fondly, and consider it a huge success. We at WEN are looking forward to Summer 2019, and the possibility of offering more camps like this. 

Thanks for reading, and happy first day of Fall!

Katrina Thorness

Watershed Education Network

Communications Coordinator

802 East Front St.

Missoula, MT. 59802

Ph (406) 541-9287

E: water@montanawatershed.org

www.MontanaWatershed.org

Check us out on facebook for updates. 

Katrina is a part-time Communications Coordinator who is focusing on becoming a 'Jane of All Trades' in life, and for WEN. She assists with program development, and has worked on projects for YCC, AIS, and School Stream Monitoring. One of Katrina's life goals is to continue nurturing a community of outdoor learning in the region.

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.

Science In The Name of Fun

Volunteer Coordinator Will Ridlehoover braves the clark fork in the name of science!

Adversity often inspires ingenuity. At least it did with Will and I on the Clark Fork last Sunday.
Our weekly Stream Team outing focused on a section of the river just down-stream from the Madison Street bridge, and as with any wide river, the physical attributes of the Clark Fork presented certain challenges for data collection that had to be overcome.

The Stream Team typically examines three major characteristics of the river. Chemical, biological and physical attributes are measured in order to give us an accurate picture as to the character and health of the river. The physical examination is comprised of factors such as water velocity, bank width, water depth and overall morphology or the "shape" of that river's section. All factors are easy to measure in small streams, but a several hundred foot wide river presents a few challenges of equipment and logistics. Luckily, Will and I were feeling particularly industrious that day, and he had some swimming trunks in his car.

Typically the river's depth and width area easily measured with a depth pole and survey line respectively, but the fast moving and especially deep water combined with the extremely wide section we chose to measure made our typical methods impractical. So with a few handfuls of rocks inside of the nylon bag of a throw rope and the use of a sharpie I fashioned a makeshift depth gauge inspired by my youth on the Mississippi river and the endless reminders of how Samuel Clemens chose his famous pseudonym. In the mean time, Will paddled his way across the river with the aid of an inner-tube to fix a static line to the opposite bank and returned to begin the measurement process. Using the static line to hold his position in the river, Will worked his way across and dropped our makeshift depth gauge every "tube width" (3 foot 2 inches) and sounded off a reading to be recorded on shore. Sixty five readings later, we determined the width to be no less than 205.83 feet across and an average depth of around 3.5 feet.

While this data was useful and important to record for many reasons that any WEN volunteer can explain,  the process of collecting it was important for some reasons you may not expect. Namely, it was hilarious. As Will worked his way slowly across the clark fork, the rest of the team recorded the data and chuckled at the increasingly louder depth reports echoing across the water, and the impressed expressions upon the faces of passers by. We always have fun on Stream Team, but when afforded the opportunity to innovate, be bold, and a little bit silly with like minded folks on the banks of a neighborhood river the experience becomes that much more powerful and rewarding. I can't wait for next week, maybe we'll find a way to build a submarine from Tupperware containers and driftwood.

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Clinton Begley
OfficeCoordinator
Watershed Education Network

Our Favorite Photos

The photo is one of my favorites. At no more than 5 years old, clad in blue corduroys and a striped red shirt, I stand off balance on the rocky shore and focus on counting the skips my carefully selected stone makes across the river. Just one skip. Behind me, on an upside down bucket, sits my grandpa. With suspenders on, and aluminum can in hand, he counts along with me. I'm fond of the photo for many reasons, but recently I was reminded how much it is simply a great capture of how lucky I was so grow up spending time at the river.

Missouri's North River  | 1986

 
The reminder came this week when a kindergartner, spoon in hand over a plastic tub crawling with aquatic macroinvertebrates fresh from the Clark Fork asked me: "how did we get so many crawdads in here?" The question was a perfectly rational question to ask. It is the fact that I had the responsibility and privilege of answering it that made me realize just how important the roles of WEN educators really are. And, in the absence of an organization like WEN in my home town, how lucky I was to have that role filled by my family when I was a kid.

Growing up with a small river flowing through our family farm, and the great Mississippi charging south just a dozen blocks away from our house in town I had no shortage of opportunities to experience a river. But most importantly, my family was always there to introduce me to those opportunities, the fun of the river, and it's significance. But not every kid is as lucky as I was, and the opportunities in our own back yards mean nothing without guidance and introduction from thoughtful families, friends and community organizations.

Clark Fork River | This Week

We had a dozen or so pairs of wide eyes, and highly raised hands at Clark Fork this week. But most importantly we had a dozen or so smiles as the four and five year old's caught and counted mayflies, stoneflies and caddisflies on the bank of an important river in their own back yard. Because while the youngsters may not retain the exact reason that these creatures are important to their ecosystem, they will certainly remember why the ecosystem was important to them on that warm September morning at the river.

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By Clinton Begley
Office Coordinator
Watershed Education Network