Fishtales - Spring 2006

The Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association

Streamside Science a hit with students
by Martha Moritz

As the contents of the dip net are poured into the white tray sitting next to the stream, eight eager sets of eyes quickly move to locate the diverse macroinvertebrate life that lives in the gravel and debris on the bottom of streams.

Bellingham High School student Bryn Hubbard (right) and Squalicum High School student Danielle Telford work together to collect a macroinvertebrate sample from the rocky bottom of Squalicum Creek.	Sehome High School student, P.J. Dacus, takes a water quality sample from Squalicum Creek.

The sun shines brightly this cold, clear day in March, and the students take extra care to shade the trays of water from heating up too much. Macroinvertebrates happen to be the topic of the day for NSEA’s High School Streamside Science program.

This year, NSEA’s Streamside Science program worked with 27 students from Bellingham, Sehome and Squalicum high schools. The students devoted six Saturdays from January through March in order to complete a long term Biology project assigned to every student in Bellingham.

Every Saturday, the students met at NSEA’s office where an introductory lesson starts the day. Following the introduction, the students and program volunteers walk through the NSEA nursery and across the field to Squalicum Creek.

The program was designed to support the students over the course of their school project. to meet the needs of a broad range of interests, the students are exposed to: basic salmon and stream ecology, water quality, the concepts of riparian habitat restoration, stream flow monitoring, macroinvertebrate study, and a final restoration project on Squalicum Creek.

The program provides mentorship opportunity and an academic structure while the students are completing their projects.

Students have the opportunity to participate in hands-on field learning. Each Saturday, a new topic is introduced and the students work together using scientific equipment and methods to collect data and draw conclusions about the overall health of the stream. The skills and tools learned through the course of this program are field methods used by professional field scientists.

This hands-on approach is a effective and meaningful learning experience for students. The concepts become more real and alive when a student is directly in the environment they are learning about.

“I learned a lot and the instructors were fun and creative, not boring or drab. It really helped with my year-long investigation and it made it way more fun! I enjoyed going out there every week!”
Linden Figgie, Bellingham High School.

“I had fun just getting out of the house and actually doing something productive. Normally on weekends I'll either just hang out around the house and watch TV or spend time with friends. It was a good time looking for those macroinvertebrates.”
Ryan Williams, Sehome High School Student