Students observe stream bugs at a Watershed Explorers field trip
South Sound G.R.E.E.N. is welcoming fall by getting outdoors with students and teachers again. We have been gearing up to get back out into the field with the community, and now the time has come!
This September, we’ve been taking elementary students on our Watershed Explorers field trips. Students are visiting sites near their school to learn more about their watershed. At the site, they conduct several water quality tests, including the lively benthic macroinvertebrates activity- or “stream bugs”. They are learning what the various results mean for their watershed and how the things that happen in their watershed impact water quality.
Our water quality monitoring season is just around the corner, which means it’s prep time for us and teachers all around our watersheds. This month we held a training for new and returning teachers in the Water Quality Monitoring program, to ensure that everyone feels confident and excited for upcoming water quality testing days. We were lucky enough to host this training at the newly constructed Kalama Creek Hatchery. This site gave us insight into the world of salmon hatcheries and how connected water quality is to salmon. Teachers got to practice tests right on the edge of Kalama Creek and get a comprehensive understanding of our Water Quality Monitoring program.
September’s Teens in Thurston event was put together in partnership with Capitol Land Trust. We got together again at the Inspire Kids Preserve to support the restoration work happening there and see the beautiful area. We had a great time removing Ivy and “Stinky Bob”. If you or someone you know is a high school age student with an interest in environmental volunteer work please contact Sam Nadell at snadell@thurstoncd.com.