Kids corner: Peninsula High students test water quality at Purdy Creek

Hugh McMillan

Kids corner

Peninsula High School teacher Jim Mills’ advanced-placement environmental science class joined the Pierce Conservation District’s Stream Team program at Purdy Creek last month.

Despite a constant drizzle and occasional serious rain, the kids were all ebullient and of good cheer while they learned a lot about the environment — practically in their school’s back yard.

“To me, the bad weather wasn’t really a problem because I like the rain,” Peninsula junior Christian Letts said. “Most people had rain outfits and an umbrella, I just went in my jeans and a sweatshirt.

“I would definitely do this experiment again,” Letts said. “Field biology is one of the things I could really get myself involved in post-high school. I like experiencing nature first-hand and studying the natural process of things.”

My involvement in this soggy adventure began with a welcome e-mail from Mills: “Thought you might be interested in some work a county biologist is doing with my environmental science class,” he wrote. “Isabel Ragland from Pierce’s Stream Team will be working with my students on water-quality monitoring of Purdy Creek — next to Purdy Park & Ride.”

Let me tell you, finding your way from the parking lot to the stream bed without a guide is a challenge. I missed a lot of the program.

Ragland said more than 90 students from Mills’ AP science classes studied Purdy Creek water quality after listening to her stream-monitoring program and a demonstration of how to use appropriate field kits.

Eager students fitted with large rubber boots collected water samples in the stream with test tubes while their peers checked the water’s quality with tools loaned to them by the Stream Team.

“Rain did not dampen their enthusiasm,” Ragland said. “ ‘This is fun’ was a common refrain as they collected their water samples from the creek.”

Peninsula junior Taylor Rushing said every student became involved immediately.

“Some searched for accurate dissolved oxygen levels while others, who had now been soaked to the bone, were searching for the scarce salmon population swimming upstream,” Rushing said. “Students who had dressed unprepared still allowed themselves to feel the precipitation while the few prepared ran through the water, still ensuring quality stream control, of course.”

They measured dissolved oxygen, water temperature, nitrates and turbidity in Purdy Creek. Information collected will be used to educate students and others about basic conditions needed by salmon to survive, and it will provide ongoing information about the conditions of our streams.

For many students, it was a chance to get a taste of field work and learn about career opportunities in field biology.

“I learned that the pH of water affects whether fish can live there or not,” freshman Robert Borders said. “The pH of Purdy Creek was 7.5.”

Borders also learned that weather affects whether salmon are visible or not. He said if there is a high concentration of plants in the stream, there is more dissolved oxygen for fish because of photosynthesis.

“If fish don’t have access to enough dissolved oxygen, they can die,” he said.

The kids were testing the health of Purdy Creek for the spawning, rearing and migration of salmon, Mills explained.

“After they analyzed their data, they determined Purdy Creek was healthy and in good condition for spawning and rearing the next generation of salmon,” he said.

“Being outside and enjoying nature is a key part of science,” Rushing said. “It was an honor to explore the creek, even if I did get a boot full of water.”

Freshman Dillon Graber added: “Dealing with the yucky weather was easy. I just got over the fact that I was going to get wet. I walked all the way up the stream, which got pretty deep in some places. When I took off my boots, they were totally full of water.

“I would most definitely do it again, and again and again,” Graber said. “There’s just something about getting out in the water and taking those readings. I don’t know, I guess it’s like I’m asking the creek how it’s doing, and I really like that, you know, being one with nature.

At the end of the students’ scientific adventure, they took their data to the high school labs, where they further explored the importance of water quality and compared results. Some students even planned for future observation of the creek.

Pierce Stream Team has been working with volunteers of all ages in the county to educate them about streams since 1994, Ragland said. Volunteers can participate in a variety of ways, from becoming water-quality monitors to planting native trees and shrubs, to restoring streamside habitat.

Stream Team staff frequently give presentations to school groups, community and service clubs, scout troops and others about salmon, water quality, native plants, water pollution, macro invertebrates and more.

In addition to stream monitoring and tree planting, Stream Team also organizes a number of other action projects throughout the year, such as stream cleanups and storm drain marking.

“The easiest way to get involved is to just give us a call,” Ragland said. “Depending on your interests, you can be trained to conduct regular water-quality testing on a stream of your choice; there are lots of Gig Harbor/Key Peninsula streams that need monitors.”

Stream Team

For more information about upcoming Stream Team activities, call 253-845-2973, e-mail streamteam@piercecountycd.org or visit www.piercecountycd.org/streamteam.html.

Hugh McMillan is a longtime freelance writer for The Peninsula Gateway. He can be reached at 253-884-3319.