Fish Like a GIRL

Last week, I had an opportunity to teach a stream camp we call Riparian Rangers. My friend Linda and I took five kids to a small local stream to gather some data and check out the critters that live there. I took my WAV Stream Monitoring gear along and we set off with the kids.

Of course, I knew they would be most interested in the macroinvertebrates that live in the stream, but they really got into the whole thing. They enjoyed the idea of citizen science and were pretty impressed they got to be scientists for the day. We talked about water temperature and clarity and what that means for the fish that might live there. 

We also talked about dissolved oxygen. I honestly did not think that part would be super interesting to them, but as soon as I got out my Hach kit that was provided with my monitoring supplies, and put on my safety glasses, their eyes got wide with wonder. 

Each of them backed off a bit and sat down on the ground quietly. We were going to be using chemicals! That’s not an every day occurrence for six- to nine-year-olds, I suppose. This is when the “science” got real for them and it was fun to watch.

Even Linda and I learned something that day. She has a background in these things as well, and we both expected the dissolved oxygen in the stream to be pretty low. To our surprise it was quite a bit better than we expected. Of course, we used that as a learning opportunity for the kids, to let them know science can help you learn when your preconceived notions were wrong, as well as when you might be right. Our hypothesis busted, we also checked for nitrates and chloride, as I am also a volunteer with the Izaak Walton League of America in both the Salt Watch and Nitrate Watch programs. Again, we were pleasantly surprised both of these values were negligible at best.

We stopped at a few different areas of the stream after performing the rest of our tests including temperature and velocity testing. We found an area that was shallow enough, did not have a super mucky bottom, and with some water flow. It was also a place that was easy for the kids to get into and out of. Parents had sent along water shoes or rain boots with all of the kids and they were eager to get wet.

We have four boys and one girl in the camp. All of them were pretty adventurous and not afraid of any of the critters we found. The first one to ask to hold the biggest dragonfly larva we found was the little girl, a twin sister to one of the boys in the camp. Even through the “Ewww, Gross!!” reactions and statements, she held out her hand and let that baby dragonfly crawl all over her, giggling the whole time.

The kids happily took over the net and the sampling. One of the boys was even able to catch a couple of fish, which we found to be fathead minnows in one of our field guides. 

I let the kids comb through the field guides to find what they were seeing in the stream. I dare say the books got a bit messy, but they clean up just fine, and the memories were priceless. 

We found some of the tiniest clams at one spot, which the kids all said were, ‘“just so cute.” We also came across what one boy dubbed the Snail Jackpot. There were snails there from a quarter of an inch to two inches across. All of the kids were in awe of how many snails we found in this short span of stream.

We finished off the trip with a stop at one of those little take-a-book, leave-a-book libraries and a couple of the kids chose some fun books. One was about birds and another about bats.

“Hey look,” six-year-old Lincoln said. “This bat is using echolocation.” 

I told him that was a might big word for such a little guy. He laughed and told me it was not his fault, but that was what it was called. That made both Linda and I chuckle. 

A firm reminder that kids are always listening, even when we may think they are not or are not taking things to heart.

Beckie Gaskill may be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].