Seneca students wade into environmental lesson
JACKSON TWP — Bright sunshine. Warm summer breeze. A cool trickling stream.
For Seneca Valley Middle School students, there's no place like the Little Connoquenessing Creek.
All 560 seventh graders this week participated in a creek study on the secondary campus, said science teacher George Trew.
The activity is part of the curriculum on streams, watersheds and wetlands, Trew said.
On Thursday, more than 100 students cycled through six stations to measure stream velocity and test the water's acidity, nitrate and phosphate levels, turbidity, temperature and oxygenation.
Students also identified the life cycles of aquatic insects, micro and macro organisms along with the tracks, scat and signs of wildlife.
Teachers spend all year in the classroom describing those kinds of activities and want students to experience them firsthand, Trew said.
"We like them to be turned on to science," he said.
Matt Jadlowiec, 22, of Cranberry Township graduated this semester from Allegheny College with a degree in environmental science. After hearing about the week's events, he volunteered to help the students complete the activities.
"I've been there. I know what it's like to sit in the classroom" and try to absorb the material, he said. "I wanted to make it a little more interesting, spark an interest in science."
About 18 senior high students also helped, said Rebecca Finch, senior high school biology teacher.
Many of the high school students participated in graduation ceremonies June 6, she said, and were not obligated to spend the week as teaching assistants.
"It's really nice to see them volunteer," she said.
Learning new information about the creek was a highlight for Devin McDermott, 13, of Cranberry Township.
On her first trip to the creek, Devin said seeing chemicals react with the water was the best part.
Leah Marofsky, also 13 and of Cranberry, favored going into the water and looked forward to studying the animals that live there.
Finch recalled finding a water penny beetle earlier in the week. As the beetle requires ample oxygen and fast water flow to thrive, Finch considered it a sign that the creek is healthy.
"I've been coming down here for 15 years and I've never seen a water penny before," she said.
