Glaciers in Thorp!

Tabitha and Mechelle, the dynamic duo at Thorp School, engaged students in an exciting lesson about glacier movement. Tabitha presented a brief introductory powerpoint reviewing some glacier basics and then every got to play with Flubber aka the glaciers!!



Students were able to compare how glaciers might move as temperature, slope, and surface change. Tabitha's mentor, Dr. Ely, was there to provide further insight and guidance.
The lesson was a big hit! Students were able to explore these concepts by constructing their own experiments. And most of all, they left the class asking for more time to complete their "glacier trials"!

WATERS Attends Annual GK-12 Conference

In March, WATERS fellows, teachers and PI's had the opportunity to attend the Annual NSF GK-12 Conference in Washington D.C. This meeting gives us the opportunity to share our program's accomplishments, as well as network with other GK-12 grant recipients. WATERS fellows presented a poster at the poster session and were able to attend activities, mixers, and discussions of GK-12 science integration and resources.

In addition, two WATERS fellows, Tabitha and Amber, were selected to present their thesis research and classroom integration at NSF headquarters.

And after a couple days of conference, it's good to get out and see the capital!

Although the Reflecting Pool wasn't reflecting much, Dale did manage to find a prehistoric mosquito, making the trip an overall success!

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!