Dead bugs, great science outing

WASILLA -- Cottonwood Creek Elementary fourth-graders got down and dirty this week to determine the condition of the school's nearby namesake, Cottonwood Creek.

"We're looking for bugs," said Jordan Drabeck, one of the students present at the science field trip lead by the Wasilla Soil and Water Conservation District. "We saw salmon eggs and a dead salmon."

Monday's monitoring of the biologic and chemical health of Cottonwood Creek is being conducted as part of a Coastal Impact Assistance Program grant received by WSWCD. The grant is from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and is administered by the Alaska Office of the Governor, Division of Governmental Coordination and the Department of Community and Economic Development.

Glenda Smith works for WSWCD and is part of the team utilizing the grant. She and Michele McClure were directing the fourth-grade students, teachers and parents in what to look for and collect during the science field trip. The group collected water samples to test for dissolved oxygen, nitrate, phosphate, E. coli, and the pH in manners similar to the Department of Environmental Conservation testing for the chemical part of the creek's condition. They also tested the water temperature, depth, swiftness and width. To determine the creek's biological health, students collected bug samples from the water.

"Some bugs are more intolerant to pollution than others," Smith said. "It's a hands-on way for the students to help determine the condition of the creek."

Parent-volunteer Debbie Maxwell said she was impressed with the field trip. Her son Caleb has shown an interest in the tests, as well as the restoration project where students will plant student-grown willow seedlings and replenish the salmon population with classroom-raised alevin -- newly hatched salmon still in the yolk sack -- in the spring.

"I think this is going great, the kids are very enthusiastic," Maxwell said.

WSWCD is working with Midnight Sun Charter School and Meadow Lakes Elementary to test Swiftwater Creek in a similar fashion.

Once the tests are completed, WSWCD will have kits available for Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District teachers to utilize in their classrooms to explore chemical and biological water qualities.