Laura Ingalls Wilder PTSA
School year 2006-2007

Watershed Classes

Adopt-a-Watershed Classes at Wilder Elementary

“Must we always teach our children with books?

Let them look at the mountains and the stars above.

Let them look at the beauty of the waters and the trees and the flowers on earth.

They will then begin to think, and to think is the beginning of real education.”

Rachel Carsen

Grade K - What is a watershed? Learn what a watershed is and then take a tour to observe the watershed including Colin Creek & Big Bear creek Wetlands #26 near Wilder.

Grade K - Colors and Shapes in Nature: To support the learning of colors and shapes in the classroom, in the watershed the students observe the colors and shapes in nature.

Grade K – Living/Nonliving: in the spring, tour the watershed to observe and discuss what is living and nonliving.

Grade 1 - Spider Hunt: To support classroom study of spiders, the students with parent volunteers observe spiders and their webs in our watershed by going on a spider hunt.

Grade 1 - Temperature: In the winter students test the water and air temperatures at 7 of the watershed sites. Parent volunteers help the students to take the temperature, read and record the information. They learn the importance of cool water to salmon and other stream life.

Grade 1 - Seed Hunt: In the spring the students go on a seed hunt in the watershed after learning about how many plants grow from seeds and the different ways a plant may spread it’s seeds so new plants can grow.

Grade 2 - Wildlife Inventory: The students go to different sites in the watershed to observe and document what kind of wildlife may be living there.

Grade 2 - Photo Documentation: The students at different times of the year visit the watershed sites to take a photo documentation of that site from different vantage points. This documents the changes over the years and the seasons.

Grade 2 - Water Cycle & Terrarium. The students have an indoor lesson in the winter presented by Nature Vision and Woodinville Water. They are introduced to the water cycle through a song and a slide show. Then they make a terrarium to take home to observe the water cycle first hand.

Grade 3 - Native Plant Studies: The students learn how to identify native plants and the importance of these plants to the watershed and the wildlife there. In the fall they participate in a plant scavenger hunt after learning how to identify native plants. In the winter they learn to identify plants by their twigs and then visit the watershed to practice this skill. During spring watershed the students do a plant inventory of the different sites by choosing, identifying then pressing a specimen for the site plant book.

Grade 4 - Salmon Studies: The fourth grade students spend the year in the study of the lifecycle of the salmon. We start in the fall with a stream survey/salmon spawning field trip. The students take a stream survey of Cottage Lake Creek to evaluate the health of the stream while observing wild King and Sockeye Salmon spawning.

In November we get Coho eggs from the hatchery and fertilize them with the students. The whole school follows the development of the salmon from egg to fry. The fourth grade students feed and clean the tank. In April, they release the salmon fry with the kindergarten classes into nearby Colin Creek.

Grade 4 - pH & Wetland Survey: In the spring the students take a walk out to Big Bear Creek Wetlands #26 to test the pH of the water and to perform a visual wetland survey. They learn about the pH of water and it’s importance to wildlife as well as a visual evaluation of the wetland. Both these tests help determine the health of the wetland.

Grade 5 - Macroinvertebrate testing: In the fall and the spring the students learn about macroinvertebrates (stream bugs) and their tolerance or intolerance to pollution and their importance to stream life. They then sample the stream bugs and identify them to determine the health of the stream.

Grade 5 - Enviroscape Model: in the winter the students participate in a hands on demonstration presented by Nature Vision and Woodinville Water. They learn how communities contribute to water pollution and the changes that can be made to lessen the pollution to the waterways.

Grade 6 - Dissolved Oxygen: in the fall the students learn about the importance of dissolved oxygen to life in the stream. Sampling different site on Colin Creek they perform a test to determine the level of oxygen at their site. They then determine the health of the stream by the level of oxygen present as well as learn the importance of good scientific method.

Grade 6 - Flow and Velocity: In the spring the students learn how the flow (how much) and the velocity (how fast) of a stream can determine the health of that stream and it’s ability to sustain aquatic life. They take flow and velocity measurements on 5 different sites on Colin Creek to determine the health of the stream at these sites.