Soil and Water With KidsFood Chain, Adaptations, Human Impact, Water Cycle, Ecosystems: Find Them in a Nearby Stream! It’s cold outside, but this is the best time to plan for your Spring lessons and Ecology Club activities. Good preparations for integrating stream activities into your lessons will give you confidence in your knowledge, make the outing problem-free, and give your students the background to understand the activities and ask intelligent questions. Biological stream monitoring offers many opportunities to cover science, math, social studies, and language arts SOLs. You will be surprised which students blossom while observing the habitat, collecting and identifying the macroinvertebrate (usually insects, crustaceans, and worms) samples, and measuring pH, water and air temperatures, and water flow. The first step is for you to study the method of collecting and types of critters which might be found in the stream. Some macroinvertebrates tolerate toxins, low oxygen levels, sediment, or temperatures better than others. Finding a variety of sensitive critters indicates good water quality. A collection of just a few types of more tolerant species is a warning sign of recent water quality problems. In both cases, asking “Why?” will lead to better predictions, observations, and discovery. Finding a stream on school grounds or within walking distance and getting permission from your principal are the next steps. Scientific monitoring should be done four times per year, and takes at least one hour to complete each time. This could require creative planning. Once you have learned stream monitoring protocol and received permission, it’s time to prepare your students. Each student should understand the procedures and the concept of “diversity equals good water.” Groups of students can prepare to do a specialized activity while at the site, such as: · Take pH, air and water temperature, and flow measurements. · Record observations of water appearance, stream bed composition, land uses in the watershed, and other habitat assessments. · Sample macroinvertebrates. · ID and record the organisms found. · Sketch the site/samples, or write narratives about the site and activity There are two protocols used frequently in Prince William County. The Save Our Stream/Izaak Walton (SOS) method, and the Audubon Naturalist Society (ANS) method. Both are acceptable and count the same organisms. In the past there have been many teacher training sessions on the SOS protocol. The District Education Specialist can provide information/forms, videos, and equipment to support SOS. The ANS free workshops on macroinvertebrate identification start February 13. If you have been trained in SOS, this class will still help you improve your organism ID skills. The ANS “Intro to Water Quality Monitoring” class is January 19 (Call Cliff at 703-803-8400 to register).
Check out the Alice Ferguson Foundation’s
web site. It has a
good introduction to stream habitat. www.fergusonfoundation.org.
Adopt-A-Stream Promotes Environmental Stewardship Ecology Clubs and service groups can fulfill community service needs by participating in stream cleanups. The Virginia Adopt-A-Stream program provides trash bags, plastic gloves, blaze orange vests, and a means to be recognized. Once the group commits to doing one cleanup a year for two years, a large sign is placed near the site to publicize the group’s efforts. Many clubs are already doing cleanups without this recognition. Stream cleanups require less preparation time than stream monitoring, and need only be done once or twice a year. Scientific investigation skills and Human Impact, Water Resources and Habitat SOLs can be integrated into stream cleanups. This activity will also help students become aware of the large amount of trash in and around the stream. After one clean-up, students will think twice before littering. Become part of the solution, adopt a stream, today. Project Learning Tree Teacher Workshop Get Ready for Arbor Day! February 5, 2000 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Leesylvania State Park Visitor Center Presenters: Kim Hosen of Nature’s Wonder World, and Larry Dunn of Virginia Department of Forestry. Receive 6 hours recertification credit and 6 hours staff development credit for PWC teachers, Project Learning Tree book, SOL correlation, posters, introduction to the new Discovery Room and Potomac Heritage Room at the Leesylvania Visitor Center. Free Call 361-1710 to register. New videos now available for loan from Prince William Soil and Water Conservation District
Biological Monitoring” Colorado River Watch Network. Understand the health of a stream through inventorying the aquatic macroinvertebrates that can make that water their home. 17 min. Grades 5-adult. Bug City: Aquatic Insects 1998 Schlessinger Media. Amazing photography takes you to a pond to discover insect life above, on, and under the water. 23 minutes. Grades 1-6. Eyewitness: Pond & River 1996 Journey form headwaters to the delta of many of the largest rivers in the world. Habitats, falls, wildlife, and importance of rivers to civilizations are discussed. Grades 4-12. 35 minutes. Tadpoles, Dragonflies, and the Caterpillar’s Big Change 1994 National Geographic Adventures. Shows changes from egg or birth to adult for many insects, birds, mammals, and amphibians. Explanation of metamorphosis is included. Grades K-3. 35 minutes. Booklet Wonderful, Wacky Water Critters University of Wisconsin Extension Publications 1998. Includes Key to Macroinvertebrate Life in the River, and Key to life in the Pond as well as descriptions of the critters with what and how it eats, special adaptations and habitat.
A note from Nancy Winter is the most productive period of the school year. There will be few holidays between now and Spring Break. The cold weather sometimes makes it impossible to go outside. It’s a great time to surprise your class with an unusual activity. Stream monitoring yields the best results in winter. Cold water holds more oxygen, and a greater variety of organisms. A quick collection session followed by inside identification is suggested. Use rubber gloves over knitted gloves when in water. This year’s Arbor Day theme is “Trees are Terrific...in All Shapes and Sizes!” After participating in the Project Learning Tree workshop on February 5, you will be well supplied with activities to bring the trees indoors. Indoor recess time can be used for creating Arbor Day posters. Entries are due March 8, 2000. To see the 1999 national winner, created by an artist at Enterprise Elementary, go to www.arborday.org. Your class can research types of trees best suited to your school yard, collect cans for recycling to buy a tree, and plant the tree on Arbor Day. The new “Project W.A.V.E. Workshop” (Watershed Action for Virginia’s Environment) is scheduled for February 9 & 10 in Leesburg. It’s free and many free posters, videos, etc will be given to participants. Call 703/777-2075 If you need help or supporting materials for the above activities, I can help. Call or e-mail your requests. Nancy Finucan, Education
Specialist |
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Authorized by the Friends of Jeff Guide |