Eighth-grade students in Independence Middle School's new STEELS Environmental Science class took their first field trip Wednesday, collecting water samples and aquatic life from Mingo Creek to gauge the health of the stream.
The first-quarter students performed a stream study analysis at Mingo Creek County Park as part of the class's watershed unit. Their work lays the groundwork for a project that fourth-quarter students will complete in the spring.
"We had a fantastic day!" said Mr. Joe Yakelis, one of the eighth-grade science teachers leading the course.
Students tested the creek's water chemistry and sampled it for organisms using kick nets and what Yakelis called "old-school" rock flipping. They caught aquatic macroinvertebrates, fish and amphibians, and used dichotomous keys to identify the macroinvertebrates. All organisms were released unharmed.
In class, students have studied how trout and certain macroinvertebrates serve as indicator species for high-quality, low-pollution watersheds. They will spend the next week or so analyzing their findings to determine the creek's health.
Early results suggest the watershed is healthy, Yakelis said. If that holds, fourth-quarter students will release fingerling trout into the same stream in spring 2027.
The trout will come from the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission's Trout in the Classroom program, which provides eggs that students hatch and raise in the classroom. Yakelis said the program reinforces lessons on water chemistry, life cycles and ownership of natural resources.
The project-based course follows Pennsylvania's eighth-grade Environmental Literacy and Sustainability standards and runs on a quarterly Unified Arts schedule. It is supported by the Fish & Boat Commission, the Penn State Master Watershed Steward Program and Trout Unlimited.
Teachers Ms. Jen Evans, Mr. Carl Schaum, Mrs. Rachelle Schaum, Ms. Jen Makel and Mr. Mike Stang joined Yakelis on the trip.
The class motto summed up the day: "We left it better than we found it!"