Seventh-graders will test the waters this fall as part of Kalispell Middle School’s life science curriculum.

How do teachers make water interesting to middle school students?

“You get kids outside and noticing the world around them,” Kalispell Middle School seventh-grade science teacher Deb Hunt said.

“I think what makes it really interesting is showing them what’s in the water, all the critters,” Hunt said. “A caddis fly might look like a clump of twigs and then out comes legs and a head. Those are the moments that get kids engaged.”

Hunt and fellow seventh-grade science teacher Carter Eash recently took a field trip through The Montana Watercourse and participated in activities their students may do to test water quality.

That will be part of a water monitoring unit the teachers have been developing with their colleagues at the middle school.

With guidance from Stephanie McGinnis, education and outreach coordinator with The Montana Watercourse, the teachers visited the Stillwater River at Lawrence Park searching for aquatic invertebrates.  

The abundance and type of insects or larvae that are either tolerant or intolerant of factors such as pH, temperature and dissolved oxygen levels are prime indicators of water quality.

“So far of what we sampled, the good news is that the water quality is pretty good,” Hunt said.

Hunt said the unit will be cross-curricular involving science and math. Between collecting specimens and looking under microscopes the teachers plan to also do physical education activities.

“That’s what’s nice about data analysis is it ties in the science and math,” Hunt said.

Looking at the river from a scientific viewpoint will give students a different perspective of the water in which they fish, swim, and play, Eash said.

Hunt added: “You don’t see it, but there’s a beautiful microscopic world.”  

The teachers plan to taking students on field trips to Stillwater River in the spring and fall. Students will gather their own data, samples and measurements.

Then they will enter data into an online database at http://mtwatercourse.org. Over time students may monitor changes, Hunt said.

 She said they will take students downstream from Lawrence Park and possibly upstream near the golf course. Hunt said comparing samples taken upriver and down river will help them determine where pollutants, if found, originate.

“We’re curious to see if the water quality changes as water passes through the golf course,” Hunt said. “It’s important to know how we fit into the water system. A lot of what we do on land does impact water.”  

Eash said students could learn about water quality in the classroom, but going out into the field makes learning relevant.

“They’ll be out taking data being real scientists out in the world,” Eash said.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.