Launching the Spring Sampling Season!

Despite the chilly, soggy beginning, we had a fabulous day sampling along the Duwamish River.  We got lucky with the weather and by the time we got our first sampling site in Tukwilla, the rain had stopped.  But most of the fabulousness came from the students whose joyful attitude and boundless curiosity made the day both productive and fun!

Plus, it's hard to not have fun when you're sporting neon colored safety goggles!


Today, the fabulous crew from the Source Project (part of Salish Sea Expeditions) joined in to support our research and loan us equipment.  We started near the beginning of the Duwamish River, historically the confluence of the Black and Green Rivers.   We climbed down muddy banks in Tukwilla and wadded out on to muddy "beaches" farther down river to collect our samples.  Every site starts off with field observations, taking note of our surroundings including weather, land use, and environment. 










Seven of the students tested for and recorded the concentrations of phosphates, ammonia, surfactants and copper, as well as recording other parameters such as turbidity and pH.

The girls will share the results of their research at our Culmination in June.












While the chemists were busy doing each sample in triplicate, four students collected, identified and recorded data on macroinvertebrates.  Today, since we did not need to worry about disturbing salmon redds, we used kicknets on a couple of sites.







Kicknets are really effective and using one was a big hit with our young scientists.  First, you've gotta find a good spot and jab the edges of the net into the sediment (in this case deep, slippery, ooey-gooey MUD).

Then you gotta jam your wellies deep into the mud and really stir things up!  This is some serious fun that elicits lots of squeals.

Then, you haul up your net... take a quick peek to see if you spot anything wiggling around...



... and take the whole kit and kabootle back on land so you can find your macros...

and sort them by type.

Sometimes you need to use the microscope to figure out what you are looking at... plus it's really cool to see the macroinvertebrates magnified forty times!

There is always a little time for play and exploration in the midst of some uber fantastic scientific endeavors.  One of my favorite "random happiness" moments was coming  around the side of a building to find a whole group of students just standing in a big puddle.  Testing the water proofing on their wellies no doubt!  And of course running through a blooming and budding wooded area is a must.  Fifth graders are SO fun!

You really want to know what we discovered don't you?  Well, we have another sampling outing next week, then we'll continue following the scientific method as we analyze and interpret our results and prepare to share our findings with the world... on June 5th!