LACLEDE — Anyone who says girls don’t like bugs has never met Hannah Fisher or Bella Bailey.

Like their fellow fifth-graders, the pair were practically jumping with excitement as they scooped bugs out of the water to look at them through a microscope. The pair were among the hundreds of Bonner County fifth-graders who turned out to learn about water, bugs, fish and other wildlife during the 23rd annual Pend Oreille Water Festival last week.

Gail Bolin, with Bonner Soil and Water Conservation District and festival coordinator, said the event is important because having “good clean water is necessary,” not only for human health, but for the health of aquatic life such as fish, insects and plants.

“We feel that the fifth grade is a good age to teach them how to be good stewards of our environment, and to learn how to take steps to protect it, and that everything — all living things — depend on water to survive,” Bolin said.

Bolin said she goes around to each fifth-grade classroom prior to the festival to give a presentation about water and its importance. The festival takes place over two days, with about 200 students each day. Six stations are set up for the kids to rotate through during the day, including fisheries, watershed, water quality, animal tracks, fur trapping, and orienteering.

Jim Ekins with the University of Idaho Extension said part of water quality is teaching the kids how to identify creatures using their different characteristics.

“The kids are learning that it is important to keep the water clean, and it is important to know who is living in the water, which will help them know if it is safe to swim in it, what kind of fish they might catch — stuff like that,” Ekins said. “And they are also learning about the importance of water quality to our communities.”

After going through all the stations throughout the day, the final presentation was on small mammals, hosted by Beth Paragamian with Idaho Fish and Game. The kids learned about young mammals and the dangers they face. The taxidermied animals included a fawn, bear cub, elk calf, a cougar kitten and a bobcat kitten.

The festival is co-sponsored by the Bonner Soil and Water Conservation District and the Army Corps of Engineers, and is supported through grants and donations. Volunteers help out at the event each year.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.