Youth take on stream project

May 6, 2007

By Russell Stigall

Frontiersman

WASILLA - Teeland students took some time last week to take the pulse of a Valley stream.

Seventh-graders at Teeland Middle School spent four days hip-wader-deep in the Little Susitna River doing baseline studies for the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Up to 160 seventh-grade students - 40 to 50 each day - rode a bus from Teeland early in the morning to take river measurements near three bridges in the Valley, Hatcher Pass Bridge, Sushana Road Bridge and Schrock Road Bridge.

Teeland science teacher Rhett Buchanan helped prepare his students for their &#8220Stream Keeper” work with geology, hydrology and biology studies throughout the year. The Stream Keepers program is a nationwide initiative that gets funding from Toyota, Lowe's and General Mills.

The students rotated through three stations to measure and record the river's macroinvertebrates, flow rate, riparian zone, chemistry and fish.

Brittney Donoho, 13, said she liked the hands-on parts of the program the best.

&#8220It is fun to do it, and I like how you get to do the projects,” she said. &#8220But I don't like hearing about projects, I like doing them.”

Jordan Drabeck said she is a hands-on gal like Donoho.

&#8220I don't like listening to people telling me about it, I like to figure it out,” she said.

There where plenty of opportunities at the Little Su for Drabeck and Donoho to get their hands dirty and their feet wet - literally. Drabeck ventured too far into the flow and water crested her waders.

Julia Fleming, 12, said her math teacher, Josh Smith, prepared her to measure the flow rate of the river by using flags to measure the volume of a hill outside the school.

For the field work, Buchanan enlisted help from Smith and Joe Nolting, Teeland's teacher of gifted and talented students. George Taylor, from the Wasilla Soil and Water Conservation District, came out early in the week to help.

At the Little Su, students donned hip boots and waded out into the flow to measure the river's depth in five places. They combined that information with the river's width and, by timing a float as it traversed a set distance, its speed. With these numbers, the students could determine how many cubic feet of water flow down the river in a given time.

Fleming said measuring the flow of the stream was her favorite station.

&#8220You get to get in the water and do stuff,” Fleming said.

She said the cold water did not bother her.

&#8220I love water,” Fleming said.

The Stream Keepers also go to collect and catalogue the river's array of small invertebrates. The students netted and counted May flies, stone flies, caddis flies, midge larva and the multitude of squirmy unknowns.

Lee Cruise, 13, said the invertebrates were his favorite part.

&#8220We got to look at the cool bugs,” Cruise said.

Of all the cool bugs, Cruise said the May flies were his favorite.

&#8220They have three tails and awesome gills,” Cruise said.

Parent volunteer Nina Arvin mostly helped at the invertebrate station.

&#8220The kids were fascinated by all the different kinds of bugs, the amount of different species,” Arvin said.

Arvin said at first the students couldn't tell the subtle difference between all the bugs. But as they looked closer, distinctions like three tails or green flesh or the difference between side-to-side swimming or up-and-down swimming traits began to pop out.

The Department of Fish and Game gave permission to the Stream Keepers to trap salmon fry and other small river fish. At the third station, the seventh-graders caught and catalogued the Little Su's fish types and numbers. They also measured the river temperature and pH level.

The students collected all the data and recorded it in their Stream Keepers journal. Buchanan will turn the journals over to UAA to update its online database.

This week, Teeland students will accompany Buchanan back to the Schrock Road Bridge to restore a four-wheeler trail running along the river.

The middle school students will also plant trees at the Iditapark on their last day of school. This has been a tradition since Teeland opened in 2000.

&#8220We think it is important to have a community service tie to the curriculum,” Buchanan said.

Contact Russell Stigall at 352-2267 or russell.stigall@frontiersman.com