Searching the stream

Now that the weather is good, there is only one thing my youngest, Gwen, wants to do: Play at footbridge Park. What's not to love? Huge old trees to climb, a fun playground and the Paulinskill to explore!

Which is why she was so excited to search for macroinvertebrates as part of our recent Trout in the Classroom activity. Messy, wet fun with interesting, tiny creatures living on the banks of the stream? Sign her up!

Macroinvertabrates have no backbones, but are large enough to see with the naked eye. In a stream ecosystem many are immature insects or larvae. They serve as important food sources for larger organisms, and as a bioindicators to scientists studying the health of a stream.

Investigating macroinvertebrates shows children the amazing biodiversity lurking just under the rocks in a river, helps them understand the connections between species in an ecosystem, and is just plain fun. It also gives children the opportunity to practice their skills of observation and categorization. These are fundamental skills for the study of biology, and science in general.

First thing you'll need is a kit, like the one below.

 Here's what it includes:

• A plastic bin -- Great for larger organisms like crayfish or minnows, as well as acting as a carry all.
• Towels -- You know you're going to get wet, right? Plan ahead.
• Trowels and spoons -- Perfect for digging and sifting through soil in the riverbed.
• A fish net -- Because it's fun to catch small fish and similar creatures. Quick little buggers! Also good for sifting through debris.
• A foam egg carton or ice cube tray, white -- Perfect to separating and temporarily storing invertebrates while you categorize them.
• A ruler -- Helpful when trying to use a field guide to identify an organism.
• Magnifiers -- Get up close and personal.
• Pippettes/Eyedroppers -- to place water into your tray or collect algae samples.
• A flashlight -- Light can be dim under trees on some riverbanks. Bring your own light.
• A guide -- I like dichotomous keys, like this free one. These types of guides are really easy for kids to use. They're like "choose your own adventure" novels, but for science! (Make sure you put your guide in a sealed plastic bag to keep it safe in wet conditions.)

Beyond that, you just need to get out there and explore! Keep a journal. Take pictures. Get wet and muddy. Get to know what lives in the stream or pond near you. You'll be amazed at all the little creatures you never noticed before!

Once you have a good sense of what's there, you can use that information to evaluate how healthy your stream is. The number, diversity and types of creatures living there all hold clues. Many areas have citizen science programs where volunteers can help catalog macroinvertebrates, providing important information for ecologists and scientists. 

And please, be sure to put the amazing creatures back where they belong when you are done. They deserve gentle treatment and respect.

Happy hunting!

TIC Supplement: Where Trout Live

An angler on the Paulinskill River.

Though our eggs didn't arrive as expected, we took time this Tuesday to learn about the trout we'll be hatching. This week we focused on how the tank and the stream were alike and different. First we reviewed the parts of the tank, looking at the chiller that keep the water at a steady 52 degrees Fahrenheit and the filter that keeps the water clean. Students noticed that the tank had cold water, gravel and bubbles for oxygen, just like the stream, but that it didn't have sand, silt, plants or other life in it. (Learn more about trout habitats.) Those are really important observations. Right now, one of the most important things we need to do is build the bacteria colonies in our tank. That surprised the students! After all, aren't bacteria the things that make you sick? Well, not all bacteria are bad. Our trout will need the bacteria to help them digest food, keep their scales and skin healthy and to decompose wastes, just like we do! So we've been adding special bacteria from a bottle to our tank for weeks, which helps the filter create a healthy colony. (Learn more about creating beneficial bacteria colonies in fish tanks.) But we wanted to customize our bacteria. We want to create a tank environment that is as close to the environment that the fish will eventually live in when they are released into the Paulinskill River in May. So we took a walk to Footbridge Park to visit the Paulinskill. The Paulinskill River is a  41.6-mile tributary of the Delaware River, formed when the Wisconsin Glacier melted 13,000 years ago. It begins just north of Newton, NJ and ends near Columbia, where it feeds into the Delaware. (Learn more about the Paulinskill.) At the river we collected water samples and algae-covered rocks. By transporting them back to Kaleidoscope and adding them to our tank, we'll be able to transfer some of the microscopic life, including bacteria, to our artificial habitat! When we got back to KLC, we poured some of our water onto white paper plates. There we used a digital microscope to look at the water. We saw lots of sediment, algae and even a few moving creatures, likely small bacteria, protists, insects or crustaceans. (Learn more about what lives in "pond scum.") We can't wait until our eggs arrive next week on Tuesday, October 16 after 9:15 am! Lesson extensions: Have students draw the tank, labeling items like the chiller and filter. How much do they remember? What do the components do? What part of the stream environment do they mimic? They can check their drawings for accuracy next week! (Here are some examples that are similar to our tank.) Go to a local river (or back to the Paulinskill) and do a scavenger hunt to explore the water and the surrounding Area. Use this worksheet to track your findings. Describe a Dream Stream. Watch "The Way of the Trout" and describe a trout habitat. What animals and plants are present? What are the trout’s prey? What are the predators? Explore how glaciers form rivers like the Paulinskill. For a simple experiment fill an ice cube tray half full of water. To each cube, add various sediments like dirt, sand, gravel and rocks. (I would suggest two each with a single type of sediment, then several mixed samples.) Top off with more water as needed. Leave some cubes as just water. Freeze the cubes. In the morning, press out modeling clay into flat discs. Take each cube and drag it along the clay. Use different amounts of pressure. Go slowly, then quickly. Record your findings and draw or photograph examples of the results. Which looks like a river or valley to you?