CAMP SHERMAN – A sharp chill in the air didn’t keep a group of eighth-graders from learning about – and getting into – the Metolius River on Tuesday.

About a dozen students from Rimrock Expeditionary Alternative Learning Middle School spent the morning learning about water quality, riparian vegetation and invertebrates. It was part of an all-day program called Salmon Watch, which is a program of a nonprofit organization called Oregon Trout.

Oregon Trout partners with the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council to feature educational programs like Salmon Watch. Oregon Trout has similar programs throughout the state, said Kolleen Yake, education coordinator for the Healthy Waters Institute, which is part of Oregon Trout.

The goal of the partnership project is to educate students about their local waters and to teach them how they are affected by the water and how they affect the water, Yake said.

”(The program is) focused on helping students connect to their home waters,” Yake said.

By bringing students to the river’s edge and showing them up close what goes on in a river system, Yates hopes to at least make them more aware of the delicate balance, if not pique their interest in becoming actively involved in keeping rivers healthy.

”I didn’t really know there was riparians,” said Torrie Parker, 13. ”I learned it helps a lot in the habitat.”

Tuesday’s program was held just downstream from the head of the Metolius River. Kokanee salmon begin appearing in the area to spawn at this time of year.

Although no salmon were spotted, nifty cardboard sunglasses with polarized lenses helped the students see the areas the fish were likely to lay their eggs. The polarization takes away the glare, allowing the viewer to see cleaner, more shallow areas of the water.

Yake said when the salmon do make their way upstream, they will choose these areas to reproduce. She said the females look for these particular areas to redd, which is when they swish their tail back and forth to clean an area in which they lay their eggs.

Bringing out the students during this time serves a specific purpose.

”(It) helps the kids think about what’s happening this time of year,” Yake said.

Volunteers from the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council and Deschutes River Conservancy worked with the students in groups, teaching them about specific aspects of a river ecosystem.

The students were divided into three groups to learn more about the river.

Macro-invertebrates

In one group of five, students learned about all of the little critters that live in the cool waters of the Metolius River.

Invertebrates are a good indicator of water quality because some are more tolerant of poor water conditions than others, said Kate Fitzpatrick, the station instructor. Macro-invertebrates are larger invertebrate species – the kind one doesn’t need a microscope to see.

Students looked for intolerant species, which indicate good water quality because that is what they require to live.

”If you find (intolerant species), you know it’s a pretty good salmon environment,” Fitzpatrick said.

To begin the process of studying the invertebrates, students donned knee-high rubber boots then waded into the roughly 9-inch deep water in pairs. Each pair was equipped with a long-handled fine-mesh net.

While one student held the net facing upstream, the other stirred up the water in front of the net.

By rubbing their hands along the gravel at the bottom of the river they released any small invertebrates that were clinging to or living on the rocks.

Some used their feet to stir up the rocks. Others braved the cold water and used their hands.

Once they had a net full, the students emptied the contents into a rubber bin so they could sort it into ice trays. Stoneflies and mayflies were among the species of crawlers found.

The more squeamish students chose not to touch the inside of the nets where the invertebrates were collected. Instead, they cleaned the net by dunking it in the bucket of water.

Logan McMahon, 14, explained how the two similar-looking species can be differentiated.

”Because the mayfly has three tails and the stonefly has two,” he said.

The group also found younger versions of the mayflies and stoneflies, which are called nymphs.

One group of boys was especially excited to see small stoneflies attacking mayfly nymphs in their ice tray compartments. It was the food chain at work, said the teacher, Eric Beck.

Invertebrates are also good indicators because they are a food source to the salmon. If there are no invertebrates, it shows that there is a lack of food for the fish.

Students inspected the invertebrates up close, using a cone-shaped device with a magnifying glass on top. One student exclaimed that he could see the insides of a river worm at work.

The group determined that some of the invertebrates found were more intolerant species, meaning they need good water quality in order to survive.

This is a good indication that the water is up to kokanee salmon standards, as they need water with lots of oxygen, Fitzpatrick taught the students. Good quality river water has high levels of oxygen, students pointed out.

”It’s pretty nifty water,” said 13-year-old Torrie.

Riparian vegetation

At the riparian vegetation station, students learned about the vegetation in and around the water. The groups did surveys of the water, counting how many riffles and pools were in the area.

They also identified plants on the river’s edge.

Darcy McNamara, a board member on the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council, was the instructor at the station. Her knowledge of plants enabled her to find and point out small vegetation that untrained eyes don’t always see.

Not only did she point out wild strawberry leaves, she taught the students about a plant called horsetail. This particular plant is made up of a sandy material, which makes its long stem system particularly rough, making it usable as a pot scrubber, if one needed to scrub a pot in a pinch.

Tessa Porzelius, 13, said she learned a lot about how riparian vegetation helps creatures living in the river.

”Now I know how the branches help, hanging over the water,” she said.

Branches not only provide shade but are a food source and living habitat for many river species, McNamara said. She also taught them the significance of riparian zones and how they help strengthen the river bank and keep it from eroding.

Water quality

The water quality station taught the students how they can use chemistry to help determine the quality of the water. The amount of oxygen in water is an indicator of how healthy it is, Leslie Jones taught the students.

First, students learned about some telltale signs that the water is healthy. For example, the colder the water, the more oxygenated it normally is.

Then, the students collected a vial full of river water. In pairs, they took their water up on the bank to a tackle box full of test tubes and chemicals to help them test the water.

While one student read the protocol, another followed the directions, and both observed what happened.

After adding a chemical that turned the water a yellowish color, the students added a starch indicator. This turned the water a ”blackish-green” color, as described by 13-year-old Alicia Emery.

The pair took 15 milliliters of the sample, then added, one drop at a time, a solution that turned the water back to clear. The students counted the drops added before the water was totally clear, then figured the amount of oxygen based on the number of drops it took.

”Whoa, that’s so cool,” Alicia said.

Beck said this was the perfect time to do this project. Only three weeks into school, it immersed the students fully into a subject. He said this can be a good method because it gets them learning and involved so they can take that knowledge back to the classroom and reinforce it.

”It was fun; we got to see a lot of new things,” Torrie said.

REALMS is a charter middle school in Central Oregon, Beck said. The school works out of the Pilot Butte Middle School campus, though it has no affiliation with it.