WaterqualityA-S

The biggest habitat problem for salmon is not poor water quality caused by pollution, it's water quantity: too much water in the winter and too little in the summer. The quantity of water in a stream is determined largely by land use. Students will see a forested watershed evolve into a developed landscape (complete with shopping mall and subdivisions). This classroom presentation uses a three dimensional watershed model to teach basic watershed concepts and to show how changes wrought by growth and increasing urbanization have affected stormwater, stream flow and salmon habitat. Presentations may be given to upper elementary through high school classes depending on the availability of staff. To schedule call 357-2491 (TDD line for the hearing impaired is 754-2933) or email maunc@co.thurston.wa.us.

Are You Bugged by Bugs? Lending Tub
Organization: Thurston County

Meet "Lucy the Ladybug" and her friends in a puppet show that explains the important role insects play in our environment. Learn about these beneficial insects and how they help keep our yards and gardens healthy and beautiful. Program includes:

Make your own ladybug craft.
Stories and a sing-a-long.

To help prepare your students for this presentation, the video "Bugs Don’t Bug Us" is available for loan. The video introduces the concept that many insects really are our friends. Maximum number of students: 30.

Lucy the Ladybug, her friends, script, and props for the puppet show can be checked out by calling an environmental educator in Thurston County Environmental Health at 754-4111. E-mail: johnsoj@co.thurston.wa.us. TDD line is 754-2933.

"I learned a lot myself. Wonderful puppets." - Kindergarten teacher.

Budd Inlet's Mud, Birds and History
Organization: City of Olympia

Explore the environmental history of Budd Inlet through an historic shoreline walk and visit to interpretive viewing areas. What is fill and what changes have occurred to the natural shoreline in the past 100 years? View remnant salt marsh and migratory shorebirds. Learn about Swantown Slough plus restoration and monitoring projects – and participate! Resources include videos, slide shows, and walking tour brochures. For more information, call City of Olympia Water Resources Program, 753-8454, or the TDD line, 753-8270.

EnviroScape Watershed Model Presentation
Organization: Thurston County Water Resources Program

We all live in a watershed. This table-top model provides a unique, interactive learning experience, enabling students to easily see the connection between our roofs, roads and yards and the quality of our local waterways. The combined affects of nonpoint pollution from many small sources can have a real impact on the quality of our shared water resources. Students learn how they can protect the environment by taking small local actions to prevent nonpoint pollution. Presentations may be given to upper elementary through high school classes depending on the availability of staff. To schedule call 754-4681 (TDD line for the hearing impaired is 754-2933) or email maunc@co.thurston.wa.us. (10/09)

Get Your Feet Wet with Stream Team
Organization: Cities of Lacey, Olympia, Tumwater and Thurston County

Youth can help protect and enhance local water resources through the Stream Team program. The program offers:

Education for teachers through field classes, training sessions, and special projects. Instructional materials available for checkout;
Opportunities for families to participate in action projects or create their own;
Possible on-the-ground field projects such as stream-side tree planting and plant maintenance opportunities.

For a current calendar of Stream Team events, call your local Stream Team coordinator. In Lacey, call 438-2687. In Olympia, call 753-8454, or the TDD line, 753-8270. In Tumwater, call 754-4148. In Thurston County, call 754-4681, or the TDD line, 754-2933. To receive quarterly Stream Team newsletter via email, please send request to wwm-webmaster@co.thurston.wa.us. Stream Team will not share your email with anyone else. (10/09)

Healthy Water, Healthy People
Organization: Washington State Department of Ecology

Sponsored by Project WET and Hach Scientific Foundation, this innovative, water quality education program , offers hands-on activity guides, testing kits, training, and much more. Healthy Water, Healthy People is for anyone interested in learning and teaching about contemporary water quality education topics. It offers an excellent foundation curriculum for water quality monitoring projects. Available for purchase or through locally focused teacher workshops. For information or to arrange workshops, contact your local Healthy Water, Healthy People facilitator or Rhonda Hunter, Washington State Department of Ecology 407-6147.

LOTT Classroom Presentations
Organization: LOTT Wastewater Alliance (Lacey, Olympia, Tumwater and Thurston County)

During the 2009/10 school year, LOTT is offering two classroom presentations described below. Beginning in September 2010, classes will be invited to visit LOTT’s new Water Education and Technology Center located in the East Bay Plaza to learn all about the water cycle, the wastewater treatment process, reclaimed water, water conservation, and much more through interactive displays and other activities.

Cleaning Up Wastewater: A Look at Systems

This presentation teaches "systems" concepts using the wastewater treatment system as an example. The presentation includes water conservation and other tips for helping the wastewater treatment system function to protect human health and the health of Puget Sound. (An additional activity, viewing microorganisms used in the treatment process, is also available for classrooms equipped with microscopes.)

Depending on the grade level, the following concepts about "systems" (from the Science Standards) will be presented:

A system is a group of interacting parts that form a whole.
The whole (system) can do things that none of its parts can do by themselves.
Systems contain subsystems, and a system can be a subsystem of a larger system. (Example: The Wastewater Treatment System is a subsystem of the system we call the water cycle.)
Systems have inputs and outputs. The output of one system can be the input for another system.
Outputs can act as feedback mechanisms.

The presentation also shows how science and technology are applied to solve problems.

Cleaning Up Wastewater: A Look at Systems

This presentation and hands-on activity teach "ecosystem" concepts using wetlands as an example. The presentation includes information on how new wetlands can be created or enhanced with reclaimed wastewater. The presentation includes the following concepts from the Science Standards:

An ecosystem is made up of living and non-living things and their interactions.
An ecosystem supports all life on the planet including human life.
Ecosystems change over time.
People affect ecosystems both positively and negatively.

The presentation also shows how science and technology are applied to solve problems.

To schedule, call 360-528-5726 or e-mail jannamowatt@lottonline.org. Location: 500 Adams St. NE, Olympia, 98501. (10/09)

LOTT Wastewater Treatment Plant Tours
Organization: LOTT Wastewater Alliance (Lacey, Olympia, Tumwater and Thurston County)

Learn how the LOTT Alliance helps preserve and protect public health, the environment, and water resources by providing wastewater management and reclaimed water production services for the north Thurston county area.

LOTT’s Budd Inlet Treatment Plant currently serves about 90,000 people in the Lacey-Olympia-Tumwater area. At the plant, wastewater undergoes primary and secondary treatment, nitrogen removal, and ultraviolet disinfection. Most of the treated water is released into Budd Inlet, but a portion undergoes tertiary treatment to become Class A Reclaimed Water, a new resource approved for irrigation and other beneficial uses.

Tours are available for groups of 1-25, Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Special arrangements must be made for groups of more than 25. Tours are designed for 5^th grade and above and last about 1½ hours. Tour length and content can be modified to best meet the needs of the group.

To schedule, call 360-528-5726 or e-mail jannamowatt@lottonline.org. An informational postcard can be mailed upon request. Location: 500 Adams St. NE, Olympia, 98501. (10/09)

McAllister Springs Field Trip (45 minutes to 1 hour)
Organization: City of Olympia

Visit McAllister Springs, the City of Olympia's primary source of drinking water and see an aquifer up close! Watch water bubble up from the ground and learn how it gets to our homes. Use a “see-through” model to learn about ground water, how pollution can occur, and why it's important to conserve ground water. Schedule a tour in the Fall or Winter (September through January) and view salmon spawning in McAllister Creek! The City of Olympia will pay for bus transportation on a first come, first served basis for:

All Olympia School District Schools, and
Specific schools in the North Thurston School District (Timberline High School, River Ridge High School, Komachin Middle School, Nisqually Middle School, Evergreen Forest Elementary, Meadows Elementary, Seven Oaks Elementary, Lydia Hawk Elementary, Mt. View Elementary, Lakes Elementary, Woodland Elementary, Horizons Elementary).

After they have scheduled a tour, teachers need to contact their transportation services staff directly to schedule buses. Invoices are then sent to the City of Olympia for payment. There are two tours to choose from:

Standard Tour – 1 hour – available year round. Includes a tour of the pump house facility and the groundwater model.
Standard plus Creek Viewing – 1½ hours – available year round. All of the above plus a short walk to view the headwaters of McAllister Creek.

Tours are available Monday through Thursday, between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Minimum number of students: 10. Maximum number: 30. Special arrangements must be made for groups smaller than ten or larger than 30. Please make reservations at least two weeks in advance. To schedule, call Daisy Curley, Water Quality Specialist at, 360-753-8167 or e-mail dcurley@ci.olympia.wa.us. The TDD number is 360-753-8270.

Native Plant Salvage Project
Organization: WSU Cooperative Extension

This year-round program offers opportunities for hands-on learning through field workshops in ecology and plant identification, recovery of native plants from wooded sites destined for clearing, and planting native vegetation in learning landscapes. Limited classroom presentations are also offered.

Two publications are also available: "Grow Your Own Native Landscape: A Guide to Identifying, Propagating, and Landscaping with Western Washington Native Plants," and "Winter in the Woods: A Winter Guide to Deciduous Native Plants in Western Washington."

A 17-minute video, "Plant it Right: Restoring our Streams," is also available along with an accompanying brochure. (See next page.) Contact Erica Guttman, 754-3588 ext. 110. E-mail: ericag@coopext.cahe.wsu.edu.

Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge
Organization: US Fish and Wildlife Service

Are your students studying wetlands, watersheds, birds and wildlife, or habitats? Then the Refuge is a great place to enhance your curriculum! The Refuge is located on the biologically rich Nisqually River Delta. Approximately seven miles of trails lead to fresh and saltwater marsh, grassland, and riparian woodland.

Educational resources include orientations to the Refuge by a volunteer or staff person and an education center that is open by appointment only. The Education Center provides hands-on activities on a number of environmental topics, mounted bird displays, a gray whale skull, a lively pond aquarium, and more. A comprehensive curriculum, "Where the River Meets the Sound," is available free for teachers who attend a field trip orientation workshop, for purchase at the Refuge bookstore, or for checkout. Advanced reservations are required for educational groups that are either requesting educational services or applying for a fee waiver.

For a reservation, call the Environmental Education Coordinator at 753-9467. More information is available online at www.fws,gov/nisqually

Nisqually Reach Nature Center
Organization: Nisqually Reach Nature Center

The Nature Center contains study mounts of local birds, 5 tidally active salt water aquariums with over 50 spices of local marine fauna, and equipment for use. The equipment includes binoculars, spotting scopes, Quadrates, Seine net, compound microscopes, and dissecting microscopes. Outdoor classes can study estuarine ecology through beach quadrate studies, beach seining, plankton tows and more. Hours are noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. Classes may visit any time with advance arrangement. New interpretive signs are on the pier. The boat launch and pier are open from daylight until
10 p.m. daily. Questions? Call 459-0387, email nrnc@nisquallyestuary.org or visit www.nisquallyestuary.org. (5/08)

Nisqually River Education Project (NREP)
Organization: Community Partners

The Nisqually River Education Project (NREP) offers:

Bi-annual water quality monitoring field trips.

Habitat restoration work-revegetation, invasive species removal, salmon carcass tossing, etc.

Annual Student Congress with 400 students from 40+ schools around South Puget Sound to analyze watershed health and learn new skills.

Annual Summer Teachers Institute with clock hours, stipends, curriculum resources and networking with community professionals.

Logistical support for community service and education outreach projects.

Ongoing teacher training and resource sharing.

Funding for field trips and water quality monitoring equipment.

Schools from the following districts may be eligible for participation: Bethel School District, Clover Park School District, Eatonville School District, North Thurston Public Schools, Steilacoom Historical School District, Wa He Lut Indian School and Yelm Community Schools. For more information, please call Sheila Wilson, (360)561-0203 or e-mail sheila@nisquallyriver.org. (10/09)

Nisqually Stream Stewards
Organization: Nisqually Indian Tribe

Help restore salmon habitat and stream health in the Nisqually River watershed. Call to sign up your classes for free planting projects or the salmon carcass return program. The Nisqually Stream Stewards Program seeks to teach all people in the community about the importance of healthy streams for salmon habitat, and to involve people in projects that help protect and restore that habitat within the Nisqually watershed. We also work closely with the Nisqually River Education Project. The project involves students in monitoring the health of streams in the Nisqually watershed.

For more information about Nisqually Stream Stewards, call Don Perry at 438-8687 ext. 2143 or e-mail dperry@nwifc.org. Also check out www.nisquallyriver.org/stewards. (5/08)

OLYWAter Schools Program
Organization: City of Olympia

The OLYWAter Schools Program provides free classroom presentations, fieldtrips, and action project options to 4^th and 5^th grade teachers and their students in the Olympia School District. Whether visiting Watershed or Priest Point Park, GPSing through downtown Olympia, planting and maintaining trees at Black Lake Meadows, or viewing spawning salmon in the fall, students learn about their local environment and the actions they can take to preserve and protect water resources.

Started in 1998 by the Olympia Storm and Surface Water Utility, the school program currently serves about 35 fourth and fifth grade classrooms in the Olympia School District, approximately 775 students. It is aligned with science GLEs and compliments both the Water and Landform FOSS kits.

Program options include one classroom presentation/investigation and one fieldtrip. All participating classes are required to participate in an action project.

4^th grade classrooms: “Water on the Run” presentation, fieldtrip to Watershed Park or Black Lake Meadows
5^th grade classrooms: “Water, Land, and People” presentation, fieldtrip to Downtown Olympia or Priest Point Park
Action projects for both grades: Tree plantings and maintenance, storm drain stenciling, ivy pulls, or teacher/student driven project connected to reducing pollution in waterways.

For more information on this program or to sign up, please contact Danielle Harrington at 753-8563 or dharring@ci.olympia.wa.us

"Orcas in the Balance" (1997)
Organization: People for Puget Sound

This video is available with classroom visit or for purchase. The video provides an overview of Puget Sound marine habitat issues with orcas as a focus. Approximately 50 minutes long, available for purchase with activity guide ($40) or classroom visit.

To schedule, call Stephanie Raymond at 206-382-7007 or e-mail sraymond@pugetsound.org

South Sound Green
Organization: Thurston Conservation District

South Sound GREEN (Global Rivers Environmental Education Network) is a collaborative watershed education program of the Thurston Conservation District involving students, businesses, agencies, and citizens. The program serves as a liaison, linking schools with their communities to investigate local watersheds.

Taking an interdisciplinary, action research approach, students monitor water quality while learning about historical and current land use to evaluate the health of watersheds. Students work with community partners on a variety of action projects undertaken to protect and enhance area watersheds. South Sound GREEN provides nearshore education field trips for students in in the GREEN program.

Participating teachers receive training and ongoing support in integrating watershed education into their curriculum. South Sound GREEN is also looking for seniors in high school who can commit to long term research and service projects in watershed science and restoration for a senior project. For more information, call Anne Mills, program coordinator for South Sound GREEN at the Thurston Conservation District, 754-3588 ext. 108. E-mail: ssgreen@thurstoncd.com. (5/08)

Storm Drain Marking with Stream Team
Organization: Cities of Lacey, Olympia, Tumwater, and Thurston County

Storm drains carry rain water to the Puget Sound or to the nearest stream, wetland or lake. Sometimes pollutants like oil and pesticides are carried with the rain water. Applying markers with the message, "No Dumping-Flows to Waterways" near storm drains is an excellent warm-weather action project for your class, and a valuable educational tool for the community. Program includes:

Instructions and planning materials.
Marking kits (markers, adhesive, safety vests, gloves, flags).

In Lacey, call 438-2687. In Olympia, call 753-8454, or the TDD line, 753-8270. In Thurston County, call 754-4681, or the TDD line, 754-2933. In Tumwater, call 754-4148. (10/09)

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Last updated: 10/05/2009
Questions? Please route a message through wwm-webmaster@co.thurston.wa.us or call Thurston County Solid Waste, 357-2491.