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FACT: The Little Kentucky River is home to one of the largest flocks (or rookery) of Great Blue Herons in this state.
QUESTION: Why do they choose to nest and raise their young there, next door to a large landfill?
FACT: In the U.S. 28% of all amphibians, 34% of fishes and 73% of all freshwater mussels are ranked extinct, imperiled or rare.*
QUESTION: How many species of frogs and mussels are living in the Little Kentucky now? How often do you hear bullfrogs in the summer?
FACT: Over time, there are fewer farms and more houses in Henry, Trimble and other counties surrounding Louisville.
QUESTION: How does this shift in land use effect the water quality in our streams over time? What could we do about it?
These are just a few of the things I wonder about; there is a lot we don't know about our local natural resources. The Little Kentucky Watershed Conservancy is looking for a few good students and teachers to help us learn more. Our goal is to help local teachers and their students make the Little Kentucky River their own classroom and laboratory.
I am not a scientist; I nearly flunked high school chemistry! I am a citizen who cares about creeks and kids, and believe the two belong together. As a Watershed Watch volunteer I have learned how to use simple test kits and learned to recognize a dragonfly larvae from a mayfly, but most importantly, I have learned how to carefully observe the changes in my environment . . . I can read a creek and so can you!
The most magical year of my early education was fourth grade. Ms. Katherine Crutcher hauled our class on seven field trips outside of Louisville to hunt for fossils. Not only were we city kids coming alive to the natural world and discovering the larger region around us, we were introduced to a profession, a discipline with its own tools, timeline, and language.
I never became a geologist or archeologist, but I am still looking for a rare trilobite! This memory of thrilling, real-world learning, however, may be why I've been teaching kids about watersheds as a volunteer for several years. It may be popular to study whales and rain forests, but how much better for our kids to study our local Leopard Frog or Slippershell Mussel populations? More than anything I want to give kids a chance to contribute something to their world, and have an experience they will not soon forget.
Here are some of the ways to get involved:
(1) Classroom Presentations: have us speak to your class, show slides and a video, about water quality, stream ecology and Watershed Watch on the Little Kentucky River. Program lasts one hour at no charge.
(2) Field Trips: Come with us to do basic water quality monitoring, i.e., chemical, biological and habitat, on the Little Kentucky or its many tributaries in Henry and Trimble Counties. Testing equipment provided.
(3) Adopt-A-Stream: let us train you to monitor conditions at a stream on or near your school grounds; chart the results and send your data to decision makers.
(4) Service Learning Projects: team up with local "citizen scientists" and professional mentors to design and conduct real-world research on environmental conditions in the Little Kentucky River watershed. Funds may be available to support special projects.
[For more information about these learning activities, contact Karen Bess Smith at 502-255-7519 or kbesssmith@mac.com.]
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