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Students relish getting their feet wet

By Sandy Mouat
CORRESPONDENT

Lafayette's Las Trampas creek is a peaceful haven, a quiet, watery wildlife habitat where Stanley Middle School students are learning to care about their environment and protect their natural resources, while performing a necessary community service.
        "Kids in Creeks" is a pilot program co-sponsored by the Lafayette Arts & Science Foundation, the Stanley PTA, the Aquatic Outreach program of Richmond, the Contra Costa Clean Water Program and the city of Lafayette's creeks committee. Participating students take an active role in understanding and protecting the local watershed, its creeks and the San Francisco Bay. The students work with the city's creeks committee to monitor water quality, chemistry, creek levels and changes in the creek habitat.
        As one student carefully carries a water sample to the testing station in this outdoor classroom, another is crouched on a rock, leaning as far over as she possibly can in water up to her elbows, trying to catch a minnow in a tiny net. The water sample will be tested according to a prepared checklist, monitoring for changes due to pollutants such as phosphates and ammonia, and natural factors, such as rain and temperature. The minnow will be observed through a portable magnifying viewer and then returned to its home, added to the list of animal life that exists in the habitat.
        Science teachers Dixie Mohan, Jan Winter and Alice Cyr attended the training workshops at the Aquatic Outreach program and then approached the city of Lafayette with the idea of developing a water monitoring system as an environmental science project for seventh-grade science students. Their meetings with the city, the creeks committee and the engineering department included discussions about protocols, specific projects in creek monitoring, mapping, clean up and restoration.
        The teachers created classroom curriculum activities to complement the data collection and observations. They developed investigations, standardized procedures and gathered materials needed for monitoring. One of these classroom activities is called Mapping Your Creek, whereby students mapped the path of the creek from its headwater on Las Trampas ridge to the Bay.
        Other intriguing lessons included Pollution Soup and Drop in a Bucket. Classroom investigations also involved owl pellet dissections and observation of creek microorganisms. The students participated in a three-week "Environmental Detective" unit from the Lawrence Hall of Science, heard guest speakers from the Lindsey Museum give a presentation on the creek ecosystem and food chain using live animals, and listened to presentations by other plant and wildlife experts.
        Currently, Mohan, Winter and Cyr lead their classes on monthly walks to the creek to make observations and monitor the water. They have developed a sustainable monitoring program for the city of Lafayette, which will be presented to the creeks committee on June 3. With the help of the U.C. WISE Project (Web based Inquiry in Science), a customized WISE Internet site is in the works to use monitoring data to lead students to answer questions about creek health and further investigations.
        So far, 235 students have participated in this project. It has turned out to be such a success that a noontime "Kids in Creeks" club was established. Its members make weekly visits to a second site for water monitoring and cleanup.
        The term "hands on" is inadequate to describe the students' complete involvement and enthusiasm. Jubilantly immersing themselves in the program, they appreciate the unusual opportunity to be "environmental detectives."
        Rob Graves, a seventh-grader in Winters' class and a member of the noontime club said, "I love the club. My friend suggested the club to me and sounded so enthusiastic about it. I came out one day and really liked it."
        He further explained, "We test for nitrates, phosphates, or soap, pH, or the acid/base content, turbidity, or visibility, and dissolved oxygen. We also record the weather and temperature."
        Another of Winters' students, Philip Cyr, said, "It's interesting and fun to see the animals in their habitat, so close to where we live."
        Many more projects are in the planning stages, including the development of creek monitoring at other sites in the area and a joint creek investigation with third-grade students from Lafayette Elementary School.
        Mohan commented, "I love what we are doing with our students and creeks. The learning is experiential, which is the best kind. It is our goal that our students will carry what they learn about creek ecology and environmental stewardship throughout their lives. What we do in our out-of-door classroom provides motivation and strengthens what we do inside the classroom. Another goal is that our monitoring program will lead to the reduction of pollutants in the creek and the San Francisco Bay because of the community awareness the Kids in Creek Program generates."

5/29/02 Reprinted with permission. Visit the Contra Costa Times on the web at www.contracostatimes.com.

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