Conneaut Lake's Multi-topic French Creek Studies

Fort LeBoeufers Turn Science Pros

Cambridge Springs: Bioassays to Bridge Bails

Creek Restoration - Youngsville High School
by Nicole Mason, Creek Connections Module Coordinator

On Friday, October 11, nearly a year of hard work and preparation paid off as close to 300 students from Youngsville Middle and High Schools worked together to miraculously transform a dumping area for debris and junk into a beautiful environmental asset for the entire community. Instead of rusty barrels and old tires, there is now an improved creek side habitat with educational and recreational opportunities.

Envisioned and initiated by Laura Tingley, Allegheny College senior and Creek Connections intern, this project speaks to the mountains (of debris!) that can be moved when people work together. With help from teacher Mrs. Dorunda, Laura Tingley involved the Youngsville students in numerous stages of the work, creating the ultimate learning opportunity for them. The student effort, along with outstanding leadership provided from fellow students Stephanie Pence, Chairmain Stec, and James Davis, made the project a reality.

Mrs. Nody Tingley, Laura’s proud mother who was also busy assisting, said, “The students are to be commended… They’ve learned that working hard can be fun, too!” The students themselves echoed that sentiment, commenting on how great it was to see students who don’t normally interact working side-by-side to achieve a common goal. Also by their side were community members and local businesses that supplied vital funding and support.

So what exactly did Laura and the Youngsville students do and how did they do it? Mr. Barry Tingley, mayor of Youngsville and Laura’s father, explained that his daughter wanted to work with the school community to make something positive happen. Her idea involved making improvements to Brokenstraw Creek and some abused land beside the creek, one block from the school. So she wrote letters and started meeting with the various stakeholders of the project to begin planning. Last summer, Laura started working with students to clear debris and make a memorial to other students that had passed away.

Their additional objective was “to create an educational facility so that kids could learn about the environment in a non-traditional environment.” This objective was met; a pavilion was funded and erected for classes, creek water quality monitors, and community groups to use.

The project continued to progress in stages. During the big October workday and other workdays that followed, the efforts were indeed multi-faceted. They involved stream restoration with deflectors to keep the water flowing in the middle of the channel and installation of shelves in the creek to provide trout habitat. Streamside restoration involved planting trees and shrubs to beautify the area and provide better habitat, establishing a memorial garden, and creating experimental plots for the high school Forestry class to use. The Forestry students cleared and made interpretive trails as part of their coursework while Life Skills students contributed birdhouses to the project. The Science Club was also instrumental in the execution of the project. Club member Kaeli Freeborough said that she really enjoyed “getting outside rather than being inside,” and that she is already “learning a lot about trees, habitats, and what lives in trees” just by working on this project.

In November, students continued the work of stoning and wood chipping trails, planting more trees, constructing more birdhouses, identifying and labeling trees, and creating other interpretative signs.

Many students felt excited and satisfied to be involved in this Herculean effort. James Davis felt that the project will “make everyone appreciate our school a little more.” Principal Tom Allison said he was “amazed that there was something positive going on and that students were really getting things cleaned up.” Forestry student Clayton Beach, who was busy working on a trail, thought that the facility would “better the community.” He added, “Now we have something that looks good back here!” And student council vice president Reyd Martin vowed that she and other delegates are “going to upkeep it after everything gets done.”

Tingley hopes that teachers will take advantage of the new outdoor facility during their classes and Stephanie Williams, a Science Club member, expressed the “need to get the word out about the memorial park” to the rest of the community so that they use it too. After all, as Aaron Wismar pointed out, “There’s not really a park like this [in Youngsville]”. All the more reason to get out there and check it out! All the more reason for Youngsville students to be very proud of a job well done.

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Creek Restoration - Maplewood High School
by Chris Resek, Creek Connections Project Coordinator

Maplewood High School tasks during the restoration project included fencing and tree planting.

There are many high school traditions – homecoming dances, senior skip days, late-nighters studying for advanced placement exams. At Maplewood High School, there is a new tradition for Mr. Drake’s biology students – an annual creek restoration project.

This year, on November 5, the tradition continued as approximately 40 students joined numerous environmental organizations and agency representatives at the Artman Farm in Crawford County to implement stream improvements. Student Maria Anderson kept an annual tradition of her own by being the leader of the project again this year. She found out that Bob Artman had signed up for a streamside fencing program through Ducks Unlimited and was willing to have additional restoration done as well. So Maria worked closely with representatives from the Natural Resource Conservation Service and Crawford County Conservation District on designs and permits. The French Creek Project (donated the trees), DCNR Bureau of Forestry, and Creek Connections were also involved in the project; but it was the Maplewood students and their work that made the day a big success.

Most of the Maplewood students had participated in last year’s restoration efforts and were experienced and efficient workers. Some students used their hammering skills to help string thousands of feet of fencing along “Indian Run” that would limit beef cattle access to the creek. This helps reduce erosion, keeps cattle from collapsing banks as they approach the water, eliminates the direct addition of manure to the creek, and keeps the cattle from drinking potentially contaminated water sources. Fencing off an area also gives vegetation and newly planted trees a better chance to grow. Some marshy areas were also fenced off from the cattle. After finishing her hammering at one end of the fence, student Kelly Cooper confessed, “At the beginning of the day, I didn’t even know how to hammer. Now I can hammer straight.” What a great way to use carpentry skills in a biology class.

Planting skills were also used during the day. Students planted 100 tree saplings and 400 live stakes (cuttings from trees and shrubs that will eventually take root and sprout). Live stakes have to be driven into the ground, a task that Rachael Conaway discovered to be a little tough and a task that allowed her to “find out that we were pretty strong.”

Walking away from the hillside of newly planted trees, Cassandra Hamilton proudly claimed, “That’s pretty cool to look back up there and see what we have done today.” Megan Pratt continued, “It will be nice to come back and see all the nice trees we have planted 25 years from now, maybe at a reunion.” “It was neat to see everyone work together, on all the fencing, on all the trees we planted, and all in a short amount of time,” stated Kale Kunick.

Approximately one hundred tree saplings were planted during Maplewood's fourth annual creek restoration project.

“I think it is important to protect the wetland and stream area, keeping it for all the wildlife to use,” remarked Joe Hall. If all the trees grow, they will provide a better habitat for streamside creatures, birds, and for organisms like fish and insect larva in the creek. Riparian (streamside) forests also function as an important pollution protector for the creek by keeping soil anchored in place, by soaking up excess nutrients from upland agriculture, and by shading the stream. These restoration benefits to the creek can now be monitored and further studied by the Maplewood students through their Creek Connections water quality testing and research.

Creating more restoration benefits is in the future for both Maria Anderson and other Maplewood students. This upcoming spring at Maplewood is going to be big! Maria pointed out that the next creek restoration project is going to be the largest they have ever done, taking over 150 students to complete it. Maria finds this as another opportunity to do something she really likes to do. “Although they do take a lot of time, creek restoration projects are something I enjoy and I don’t consider it work at all. Everything I enjoy about the outdoors I can experience, share with others, and help preserve when doing restoration.”

Maria plans to continue with her environmental protection endeavors after high school. Maria has been accepted to and plans to attend Penn State–Behrend to study soil science. She hopes to one day make a career of working with farmers to implement best management practices, possibly working for the Natural Resource Conservation Service or a Conservation District. And maybe she can return to Maplewood each year to help the students with future restoration projects.

Northwestern High School Reflects on Their Creek Day
by Northwestern High School Students

Special thanks to Northwestern High School students from Mrs. Bucsek’s class who contributed essays about an all-day educational experience at French Creek in Saegertown recently. Excerpts of various essays follow:

On Thursday, November 7th, the Northwestern Senior High School Biology II, Environmental Science, and Consumer Science students went on a field trip to further their knowledge of streams and the riparian zone…. The in-depth (in-depth literally, because I unexpectedly fell in the stream) analysis of the water quality also showed how healthy the stream was…The great amount of information obtained from this field trip made it very worthwhile and beneficial. - Kenny Fourspring

Our Biology II class recently traveled to Saegertown, Pennsylvania, to study French Creek. While we were there we did numerous water tests so that we could get a better overview of the creek health. We also studied some of the living organisms in the stream, which also helped us to determine the quality of the French Creek. Our class learned about the effects that the land around the creek, called the riparian zone, could have on a certain area. The experience that our class had was very educational and everyone seemed to have an enjoyable time being taught. - Valerie Keller

WATER CHEMISTRY STATION
If too much or too little of a chemical is present, then the stream can be greatly affected. Here, the Biology II students performed the tests and recorded their findings. They compared their data to a normal creek’s range. The last time it rained can greatly affect the chemicals in a stream. Each chemical has something to do with another one. For example: a stream with a low alkalinity can cause the pH to drop, causing a disturbance in the lives of the aquatic macro invertebrates. Pollution, decayed animals/plants, and animal/human wastes near the site of a stream can greatly affect the chemicals in it, endangering the aquatic life. - Heidi Sweden

The chemical parameters of the water are also important in determining stream health...These [chemical] factors are closely related and greatly depend on each other, which makes it important to test all of them to determine how and if chemical parameters may change. The students discovered that the water is very resistant to pollution, and a healthy environment for aquatic life. - Kortney Saxton

RIPARIAN ZONE /RCE STATION
At another station we visited we learned about the characteristics of the stream, taking an inventory of the creek and nearby land. We looked at land use, physical structure of the stream, and the biota of the stream. Then we added up the results to determine if the stream was in excellent, very good, good, fair or poor condition. My group decided it was in very good condition. - Lynnette Whitney

On arriving at our observation point, one of the first things that observers would have noticed is the great riparian zone that surrounded the stream. The riparian zone works as a buffer between the stream and the land that surrounds it. Not only does it supply an area for plant life that requires plenty of water, it also works to keep pollutants from flowing into the creek. Like a sponge, it soaks up the pollutants and lessens their flow into the stream or eliminates them totally. Streams that have lost or that only have small riparian zones do not have as much of a buffer and are more easily polluted by runoff from a leach bed or acid rain. This was not the case for French Creek because it had a firm riparian zone. - Robert L. Denham

Northwestern High School students explored the physcial, biological, chemical, geographical characteristics of French Creek during their field study day.

PHYSICAL MEASURE/ SUBSTRATE
Next, our group learned how to measure the flow rate of a stream, how to determine the substrate – the bottom – of a stream, and how to measure the stage, or stream depth. To measure the flow rate, two people waded into the stream and measured ten meters out with a measuring tape. Another person dropped a ping-pong ball into the current... when it was dropped and caught was timed on a stopwatch. This was done three times and the average taken to get an accurate result. Our group got 21.6 seconds for an average flow time and when converted to flow rate, it was .46 meters per second. To measure the substrate, three people waded into the stream and randomly selected a total of twenty rocks. To ensure the selection was random, each pebble, stone, rock, or sand grain, was chosen from the tip of where the big toe of the collector stepped. Each was measured in millimeters and was recorded on our pebble count tally sheet. The substrate size was found to be mostly coarse or very coarse gravel or small cobble. - Tiffany Struchen

TOPOGRAPHIC MAP STATION
My group’s second station was deciphering and reading topographic maps. This is a very important skill that has many useful functions. We used it to locate the stream area that we were testing and examining. This taught us how to use the minutes and seconds to locate ourselves. These maps also contained many lines that represented elevation. Close lines represent steep hills; conversely, lines spread apart designate a slight upgrade or downgrade. We learned that the green areas on the map represented wooded or forested regions. Stream order was also something new to most of the students. With the use of a map wheel, we were able to measure distances and convert them to miles by using the map scale. Our results all corresponded and we were all fairly precise by the time we had completed the station. - Kenny Fourspring

AQUATIC LIFE STATION
The diversity and type of biological life is also a good indicator of stream health. In order to live, animals need a relatively stable and balanced habitat. Therefore a greater diversity of aquatic animals, especially those highly sensitive to pollution, indicates good stream quality. To assess the number of animals, both sensitive and insensitive, in French Creek the students stirred up the water in front of a net and counted and identified the animals they found on the net. They found that French Creek is a habitat for many animals, including ones sensitive to pollution. - Kortney Saxton

CONCLUSION
In conclusion to the trip we took on the 7th, I believe that students learned more at the stream than in the classroom. Despite the cold temperatures, this was an excellent field trip to take this year. It was a very educational trip to be a part of. - Lynnette Whitney

On our trip to French Creek we learned many new things. I learned the importance of a creek and it’s surroundings. In researching we were taught various ways that a creek benefits our environment. We had an enjoyable time, and hope that we contributed greatly to the studies being done by others... - Valerie Keller

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