Digging Up Some Snow Science

A self-elected crew of Ellensburg High School 9th graders participated in the annual snow fieldtrip to Snoqualmie Pass in March this year.

They dug snow pits under the guidance and supervision of WATERS fellow, Matt, EHS teacher, Roger, and John Stimberis with the WSDOT.

Using these snow pits, students were able to measure the snow density, layer depths, and other parameters which detail the snowfall history of the season.

We had wonderful weather and student worked hard to dig all the way to the ground!

After carefully recording all their data and measurements they filled in the snow pits and headed for home. Matt helped students analyze and interpret the snow data from this year and they presented their findings at CWU SOURCE.


This is the fourth year that EHS has taken students on this fieldtrip and we hope to see quality snow data collection for many years to come!

WATERS Winter Symposium

Yakima WATERS teams meet once each quarter to share what they have accomplished, refocus their goals, and share ideas and knowledge.

Each of the WATERS fellows gives a brief presentation highlighting the lessons, activities and fieldtrips their team has incorporated into the classes. We also break out into teacher, mentor, and fellow groups to evaluate and discuss WATERS participation.

This winter we met at the CWU campus and had the additional opportunity to witness some explosive and colorful chemistry demonstrations with Dr. Rivera and Sara.

Selah Junior High- Winter Fieldtrip!

With frost on the ground...
And a bite in the air...
Tiffany, Mrs. Quincy, and the 8th graders headed out for a chilly day of field data collection at their field site on February 17th.

Tiffany leads the groundwater station.
Dale helps harvest aquatic macroinvertebrates.
Look! A Scud!
Susan and Sara brave the chilly, murky waters of the ditch and students remind them where to measure.
Dr. Pease leads the storm water station.
Mariah and Jim work hard on taking measurements...Skylar looks a little chilled!
Favian gives Skylar some support.
Mrs. Quincy kept us on time and everything running smoothly.
It was a great day for a fieldtrip and we all managed to stay warm AND take some quality measurements! Now that's good science!!

Un-Frozen Frogs!

Cle Elum Middle School students watched as several Pacific Chorus Frogs slowly recovered from being frozen. That's right, frozen.
Solid. Like ice cubes. And it's a natural part of how these frogs survive during the cold winters in the Yakima Basin!

Amber, following a special protocol from Dr. Jason Irwin's laboratory, was able to freeze these frogs for an in class laboratory about freeze tolerance and other overwintering strategies.
Frogs were removed from the cold water bath at various times so that students could observe the stages of recovering such as the heart beat returning to the seemingly lifeless frog.
Dr. Irwin gave a guest lecture on overwintering strategies and explained the basic physiology behind freeze tolerance in these amazing amphibians!

Thorp Science Night!

Mechelle LaLanne, CWU Science Education students, and Tabitha helped facilitate the first ever Thorp Science Night on February 24th, an event which we hope will continue annually. Here are few photos for you to enjoy!

Tackling Technology - Selah Junior High

Tiffany and her 8th grade math students prepared for their second visit to their field site in mid February by reviewing how to set up, calibrate, and collect data using the various probes.
Mrs. Quincy and Tiffany worked diligently to ensure that everyone was ready for data collection!
Students spent a class period reviewing any issues that arose on the last fieldtrip, how they could improve the quality of their data collection, and how they might avoid some of the difficulties of data analysis that arose after the first fieldtrip. In particular, students reviewed the concept of conductivity and determined just "what" was in the water which caused different conductivity readings. Tiffany set up a great example using "poweraid", helping to illustrate how electric current is transferred through solution by ions or electrolytes.

Students also reviewed how to measure the stream. Two days later the students put their skills to work completing their winter data collection at their field site!