July 31 — Summary – Valerie Brady and George Host, both of the Natural Resources Research Institute, spent the day sharing watershed concepts and showing us firsthand several computer resources useful in a K-12 classroom.

And then we went into the field to sample the Lester and Amity Rivers and Tischer Creek. The cool water, shaded streams and plunging waterfalls felt wonderful on a warm afternoon, and we were in the water as often as possible. Dinner at the UMD dining hall provided an opportunity to recharge our batteries and to get an overview from Cindy and Bruce of the Duluth area and its place in the overall Lake Superior basin. And then it was off to a local landmark, the Fitgers Brewery, to sample the local brew and to share a wealth of conversation and to generate new questions that demand answers – what the heck ARE English fuggles anyway??

Here’s what our students thought important –

If you snatch a rock from the creek, lift straight up quickly and don’t turn it over until you get it out of the water. You may find stoneflies, mayflies, caddis flies and snails, like we did – Erica

Brian, another student, helped me to better understand the differences in lava flows – Jane

Big idea for today – everyone lives in a watershed – think globally, act locally – Lauren

What are you doing to protect your watershed? – Erin

I was amazed at how much runoff is due to lawns – Ann

Two great sites to use with classes are “www.duluth streams.org” and waterontheweb.org – Jim W and Brian

You can do more than kick seining in creeks. We measured slopes, sediment depth, water flows, volumes, percent shade, temperature and flood plain area. – Jim W

Discussing watersheds and run-off has given me added incentive to proceed with plans to put in a rain garden at our school and even initiate some changes at home – Denise

I slipped and fell in Lester Creek
My flops flipped
My glasses slipped
I grabbed a rock, backed up,
Climbed out and up and went to find the ones
Who didn’t even know I’d left – Patty Lester

Jim’s C –> F conversion – amaze your friends and even your students

Measure the temp in C
Double it
Subtract 10 %
Add 32 degrees to get F

Some pictures from today…

Concept mapping 101

Taking the stream’s temperature

Measuring stream bank angle

Demonstrating how to use the turbidity tube

It’s getting hot. We need water!!!

How deep is the stream sediment?

The Great Orange Race - FALSE START!!!!!!!

The Great Orange Race - approaching the finish line

The conscientious among us took notes on everything!

Time for a break

The waterfall swimming hole

Cindy finds Jessica’s memory stick

A hearty dining hall dinner after a day in the field

How do we find out way out of this maze?