1. What is a healthy stream?
We want to know if our stream is healthy. This looks like a picture of a beautiful stream. But…. how do you know if the water is really healthy or not?

2. How do you give a stream a checkup?
To find out if a stream is healthy, you need to give it a checkup, just like the doctor gives you a checkup to make sure you are healthy. So... How DO you give a stream a checkup?

3. Stream Checkup Riffles Pools Erosion Buffer Zones
When you give a stream a checkup, you need to look for physical characteristics like riffles and pools, erosion and buffer zones. These may be new words for you, so I am going to explain what they all mean. And when we go to the stream, you are going to see all of these different things and you will be able to record data using a data sheet and clipboard. You will be the stream doctor!

4. pool
A healthy stream has pools and riffles. Pools are very calm areas of water, and riffles are rocky areas where the water flows quickly over the rocks or pebbles. It is important for our stream to have both pools and riffles because some animals prefer to live in slow-moving water areas, such as the pools, and some prefer to live in the riffles where there is fast-moving water and lots of oxygen. At the stream, you are are going to be looking for animals in the water and it will be good if we can sample animals from both pools and riffles.
riffle

5. Buffer Zone Buffer Zone
Another physical characteristic we will look for is called the buffer zone. This picture shows a stream in the middle, with trees and forest on either side of it. The forested areas on either side of the stream are the buffer zones, and they protect the stream from pollution that comes from people’s yards, parking lots, and roads. The roots of the plants actually help absorb pollutants before they get into the stream. Healthy streams have big buffer zones.
Buffer Zone
Buffer Zone

6. No Buffer Zone Storm drain
This is an example of a stream with no buffer zone at all. You can see that the stream is right next to a road. When it rains, water will flow directly into the stream from the street and also from the storm drain, which dumps water from the street directly into the stream. It is easy for oil, litter, and other pollutants to get into this water. This is not good for the stream! Hopefully we will find a good buffer zone at our stream.

7. Erosion Tree roots exposed because of erosion and flooding
Another physical characteristic we will look for is erosion. Erosion is the washing away of soil that is caused by flowing water. Erosion is a natural process, but it can be a big problem when lots of water flows quickly into a stream from streets and neighborhoods during a rainstorm. It is especially bad when there isn’t a good buffer zone to protect the stream. All of that soil washing into the stream can cause problems for the animals that live in the stream. The picture above shows how the side of a stream has actually collapsed from the force of fast moving water! If you see lots of tree roots when we go to the stream, like the ones pictured here at the bottom, that is a sign of erosion because water has washed away the soil surrounding the roots of the tree. We will be counting the number of trees that we see with exposed roots such like this.
Tree roots
exposed because of erosion and flooding

8. Stream Chemistry pH Oxygen Nitrogen
We do the same thing with the stream. Just like a doctor may take a sample of your blood, you will take samples of water from the stream. You will measure two different properties of the water: the pH will tell you if the water is too acidic for living things, and the oxygen test will tell you if there is enough oxygen in the water for animals to breathe. Another test we sometimes conduct if we have enough time is a nitrogen test, and that tells us if there is too much fertilizer in the stream. (NOW STOP AND SHOW HOW TO MEASURE pH WITH TEST TUBES…..)
I am going to demonstrate how we will measure the pH. This is a measurement of the acidity of a liquid. A healthy pH range of stream water in our area is between (Then demonstrate how to do the pH test using drinking water, which should be 7). When we are at the stream, we will review how to do this and it will be important that you follow the instructions so you know what to do.

9. Water Temperature To measure water temperature, we use a thermometer.
Just like the doctor measures your temperature to see if you have a fever, we will also measure the stream temperature to see if the water is too warm for living things. This can happen when rainwater moving across hot roads and sidewalks flows into the stream.

10. Water Clarity
To measure water clearness (also called turbidity), we use a transparency tube.
Another property of the water we will measure is its clarity. This will tell us how clear the water is, and it is important because healthy streams have clear water. The clearness of the water can tell scientists how much sediment or other particles are in the water. If there is a lot of sediment and the water is cloudy or what we call turbid, then the oxygen level may be low. If this is the case, fish may not be able to breathe because of all the sand and sediment clogging their gills, and plants and other animals may not be able to survive. We will have a clear tube like this at the stream that has a black and white disk at the bottom that looks like this picture. You will fill it with water until you can’t see the disk any more, and that will give you a measurement of the clarity of the water.

11. What is living in our stream? 15 species or more = a healthy stream
Looking at a stream’s physical characteristics and water chemistry is fun, but the coolest part of being a stream doctor is that you can also tell how healthy a stream is by looking at all the amazing animals that are living in it. The healthiest streams will have lots and lots of different animals in them, including many of these creatures that can only live in clean water. We will be looking in the pools and riffles of the stream to search for these animals on our field trip.

12. Macroinvertebrates . SOME ARE SMALLER THAN THIS DOT .
There is a special name for the creatures we will be looking for: they are called macroinvertebrates. Macro means larger than half a millimeter, which is very small, and invertebrates are animals without backbones. These animals live at the bottom of the stream and they are very, very tiny! Most of the animals we are looking for are smaller than a penny, and some of them are about the size of this dot! Do you see that little white dot? We will use microscopes to help us see them because they are so small. You will have to be very patient and use your eyes to look carefully for these tiny animals moving in our water samples.
SOME ARE SMALLER THAN THIS DOT

13. LARVAE ADULT This is called…. metamorphosis Stoneflies Mayflies
Many of the macroinvertebrates we will find are the larval stage of an insect. Insects such as stoneflies, mayflies, and dragonflies depend on healthy water for their development when they are young. This picture shows what the babies and adults look like. You can see that their bodies change completely when they undergo metamorphosis to become adults. Wouldn't it be great if we could find baby dragonflies in our stream?
Mayflies
Dragonflies

14. Poison Ivy and Ticks Stay away from me!
It is also important that you stay on the paths and out of the brush to avoid contact with poison ivy. This is a native plant that you often see growing on trees, and it can cause a terrible itchy rash for many people, so we want to avoid touching it. We will also be careful not to walk through areas with high grass because we want to avoid contact with ticks. Be sure to follow instructions and stay on the paths that we point out to you. It’s always a good idea when you have been outside to check yourself afterwards for ticks, especially if you have been in the woods or walked through areas with very high grass.