So many students studying streams!
Students from Riverlands School and Witherlea School have been making the most of the summery weather, by getting out of the classroom and into the river.
Year 6 students from Riverlands School investigated the health of the Taylor River upstream of the High Street bridge. Their measurements of water temperature, clarity, and flow, and their samples of the community of insects and other creepy-crawlies living there, suggested that the river was ‘moderately healthy’. They were excited to find upland bullies and some little trout living amongst the aquatic plants, and they enjoyed watching caddisfly larvae poking their heads and legs out of their stony cases.
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- Students from Riverlands School busily identifying bugs
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- Stony-cased caddisfly larvae
Witherlea students in Year 4 are on camp at Pine Valley this week, and they took the chance to assess the health of Pine Valley Stream at Mill Flat. The water was beautifully cold and clear, and was rushing along at a brisk pace, so they weren’t surprised to find some top-quality bugs, like the stripy mayfly shown below. They also found ‘Olinga‘ and ‘Helicopsyche‘ cased-caddisflies, which can only live in beautiful clean water, and some tiny larval fish, which we suspect were young ‘dwarf galaxias’. Their assessment of the health of Pine Valley Stream? Very healthy!
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- A variety of mayfly species
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- Stripy mayfly
More students from Witherlea will have the chance to explore Pine Valley Stream this week, and later this term, junior students from Riverlands School will investigate what is living in Pukatea Stream at Whites Bay.
Well done students, parent helpers and teachers for getting out and learning about Marlborough’s awesome freshwater habitats – the future is in good hands!