Kids in the Creek Program

Lake James Environmental Association (LJEA) has been working with Burke and McDowell county schools to observe the Haywood Waterways Association (HWA) Kids in the Creek (KinC) program.  The objective is to determine if children in our area would benefit from a similar program as part of their curriculum. 

Each year KinC provides every eighth grader in Haywood County the opportunity for a hands-on experience evaluating the quality of water in the Pigeon River in Canton, NC.  In Fall 2009, 650 students participated in this three stage program.

Stage One:  Pre-Creek Orientation at School

Students viewed an introductory video about the program and received a forty minute presentation from the Program Coordinator from HWA.  This preparation emphasized the need for safe behavior, explained the nature of the field trip, and responded to questions from the students.  The objective was to manage expectations and orient the students to the planned activities.

Stage Two:  In-Creek Field Trip

Eighty to one hundred students at a time are bussed to Canton Recreation Park to take turns experiencing four different lab stations:  Fish Sampling; Water Bug Sampling; Water Chemistry; and Watershed Study.  Two of these, Fish and Water Bug, require the use of chest waders which students must don and master for these stations, then remove them and swap places with students who have done the Chemistry and Watershed stations.  It takes four cycles and about half a day for each bus load to experience the complete field program.  In total this year it required three days to encompass all the eighth graders. 

Fish Station.  At this station, students and adult helpers wade into the river.  One subgroup sets up a net across the stream and holds it in place against the current.  The remaining students move upstream, lock arms and follow a wildlife officer with a fish shocker toward the net.  They herd mildly stunned fish into the net then capture them for a small aquarium to determine their species and condition. 

Water Bug Station.  Here, students wade into another section of river with hand nets and work in pairs.  One holds the net against the bottom and the partner stands just upstream.  The upstream students shuffle their feet among the stones, stirring up bugs that live under the rocks, which then drift into the net.  The teams inspect their catch and if it looks sufficient, they wade ashore and empty the net into water-filled sample trays.  Next they explore their catch carefully with tweezers and move specimens into ice cube trays with water.  Finally, they use hand charts to identify each species and try to assess their condition.

Water Chemistry Station.  A water quality expert addresses students about chemical analyses of water and engages them in discussion of why clean water is important for what specific uses.  Two students are sent to the river to gather a water sample in a five-gallon bucket.  When they return, students use various instruments to measure water temperature, pH level and conductivity.  The results are recorded and the instructor leads a discussion of what the specific findings mean about water quality, how each quality feature affects the viability and health of stream wildlife and, ultimately, how it affects human life.

Watershed Station.  At this station a model watershed is used to illustrate how pollutants of various kinds can enter streams and migrate to lakes which are water supplies for wildlife and people.  The watershed contains a clear-cut forest, an industrial site, a farm, a housing development, a construction site, and a golf course.  Students deposit silt (cinnamon powder) on the forest, farm, and construction site.  Others deposit sludge (dark syrup) on the industrial site, phosphates (green sugar) on the housing development, and pesticides (red sugar) on the golf course.  Next, several students make it “rain” on the watershed and all observe how the various pollutants start to wash off the land into the watercourses.  Eventually, the pollutants reach the lake and there is a discussion of best practices to prevent such contamination in the future.

Stage Three:  Post-Creek Analysis at School 

About two weeks after the Field Trip, the Program Coordinator offers a follow-up analysis class at each school.  First, the overall experience is reviewed, then data concerning fish and water bug samples and water sample chemistry are given to the students.  Next the students use the data in Excel spreadsheets to compute a water quality index.  Finally, the constituents of the index are examined to understand exactly why the water quality is what it is.  

Conclusions

This particular year, the findings are that

• Short-term water quality as measured at a point in time by the chemical analysis is quite good. The chemical results could be dramatically different a short time later, however, if there was a spill or other problem in the area.
• The Biological samples provide a longer-term view because fish and bug health and species counts reflect conditions over their lifetime to date. 
• Both tolerant and non-tolerant species were present indicating that water quality was good over an extended period of time.
• On the other hand, about 5% of fish evidenced some signs of disease, suggesting that the water quality could be better and might be affecting fish reproduction.
• The water probably is safe for swimming, but still may not be safe to drink, because disease-causing microscopic life forms could be present and cannot be seen by the unaided eye.

The enthusiasm of the students for the program and especially the field trip is hard to overstate.  During visits years later some students tell their former teachers how memorable this experience was for them.  The local teachers who observed this program with us liked what they saw and are planning how to incorporate a similar program into their curricula.