science

Brook Trout have continued investigating our question, "What happens to a raindrop that falls in Ft. Creek?" We have
started the process of creating a scaled map of Ft. Creek, and we have collected data on the width, depth, and speed of
the creek. Students are currently researching various aspects of water quality, including turbidity, dissolved oxygen,
temperature, nitrates, and pH, and will be collecting and testing water from Ft. Creek this week. River Keepers

A couple weeks ago in our outdoor classroom the Brook Trout were excited to point out how dramatically Fort Creek had changed overnight due to the rain. They were eager to measure and explore the deep and swiftly moving waters. With minimal teacher direction, students gathered materials they thought they might need and made a plan to measure the speed, depth, and width of the stream.

After their first time measuring we had a discussion about what went well and what didn't. Brook Trout expressed that they needed a more organized system because "things got confusing and no one knew which numbers went with the different things measured." They then broke off into groups to revise their methods and come up with a plan for collecting data. Groups took another set of measurements and further revised their methods.

Brook Trout wrote up a protocol so that different groups of students can follow the same procedures, allowing us to compare data. Students said it was challenging to write up a technical procedure because "It is hard to put yourself in someone else's head and you don't know what they know or don't know."

Brook Trout then looked at data on the Baker River collected by the National Weather Service to get ideas for how they can analyze and share their Ft. Creek data.