MISSOULA, Montana—Amid the spectacular scenery of western Montana, the health of streams and rivers is a subject that local residents take seriously. Students at Washington Middle School are combining the tools of technology with their own powers of observation to gain a better picture of water quality in the streams that feed into the famous Clark Fork River.

Teacher Teresa Toller works with students from the school's eighth-grade team to evaluate the water quality in nearby Pattee Creek. Before they get wet doing streamside tests, however, students first study the history of Clark Fork River.

Explains Toller: "The river originates approximately 105 miles upstream from our town, high in the Continental Divide. Students learn that mining practices of the 1800s, which took place in the region around Butte, affected the whole watershed. The results are still being dealt with today, and are of importance to residents in Missoula. Toxic sediments built up behind a dam just eight miles upstream from us."

Next, students conduct Web quests to learn more about water in general, "including what 'good' water quality is," Toller explains. Web research also teaches students how their everyday activities can adversely affect water quality. The school enrolls a diverse population, with student backgrounds including Native American, Russian, Asian, Caucasian, and African American. Whatever their background, all students appreciate the need for a clean water supply.

Students apply their understanding to two interactive activities on the Internet. A project called "Down the Drain" allows students "to compare how much water we use to the amount of water used by other people around the world," Toller says. The second online project, "The Global Water Sampling Project," enables students to enter their own results from testing the water quality of Pattee Creek, and then compare their findings to water quality samples taken from rivers around the world.

When it's time to hit the creek to gather samples and conduct tests, the 75 middle-schoolers are assisted by a student from the University of Montana (located just a mile from Washington Middle School), a community partner, or a volunteer from the local Watershed Education Network. Because the school is organized into grade-level teams, teachers enjoy flexibility when it comes to scheduling events such as fieldwork. "Teaming also allows for more parental communication as well as teacher-to-teacher and teacher-to-student conference times," Toller says.

Toller received an Eleanor Roosevelt Teacher Fellowship from the American Association of University Women (AAUW), which helped her earn her masters degree in technology in education. Thanks to the AAUW, Toller was also able to purchase chemical testing equipment for students to take creekside, as well as 10 portable keyboards. The keyboards "enable students to record observations, impressions, and detailed descriptions about the changes we see in the creek and the surrounding riparian area," she says. The narratives add another layer of information to the quantitative data, she notes. Students measure stream flow; count macroinvertebrates; take cross-section measurements; and evaluate pH levels, nitrates, dissolved oxygen, and phosphates.
Back in class, student groups report their findings. Then each student evaluates the health of the stream. "Finally, our data are added to a state Web site for others to be able to access," Toller says.

Students employ technology throughout their water-study project. They make use of the school's computer lab, with 30 computers connected to the Internet. The school also has a second lab where students can learn multimedia applications. Says Toller: "Technology allows my students to be able to learn what water quality is; learn how to conduct water quality testing; compare our water usage and water quality with others worldwide; and share our findings in an organized and useful manner."

Most importantly, she adds, students realize that "science learned in the classroom is relevant and useful in our community and in our everyday lives."

Montana State stream health project site: www.nris.state.mt.us*