Pond Watch group to monitor ecosystem, learn

Photos by Cindy Swenson

STUDENTS IN COLUMBIA JUNIOR HIGH’S NEWLY FORMED POND WATCH AFTER SCHOOL CLUB OBSERVED AND DOCUMENTED THE AREA AT THEIR FIRST MEETING NOV. 13. The idea for the group was proposed by David Cantlin of the City of Fife as a way to monitor the ecology, habitat and water quality of the pond at Dacca Community Park in Fife.

Dacca Community Park’s retention pond in Fife is now the center of hands-on learning for students at Columbia Junior High.

Students can choose to be a part of the after-school Pond Watch club, which will monitor the natural surroundings, as well as maintain the unique ecosystem of the pond.

“They (the students) are going to go a little bit beyond what we (park maintenance staff) do,” said David Cantlin, facilities and management operator for the parks.

Cantlin, who approached Columbia Junior High with the idea, did so in hopes of creating a hands-on educational setting for students, as well as ensuring that the natural area stays balanced.

A couple of years ago, Dacca’s pond became infested with mosquitoes, so the park maintenance staff implanted a fish ecosystem to rid the area of the disease-carrying insect.

Cantlin said the students would be exposed to some ecological problem solving themselves.

“We want the students to see that there are ecological alternatives to just going in and spraying and killing. With the mosquitoes, we can go in and spray them, or set up an ecosystem that will monitor it on its own,” he said.

He noted that there is currently a population of bullfrogs in the pond – a species that is not native to the area, and the students will have to decide how to handle that potential issue.

Cindy Swenson, an 8th grade earth science teacher at Columbia, runs the after school program.

She said in addition to testing water quality and turbidity, students will document plant and wildlife species as well as research aspects of a healthy pond and observe nature as it changes through the seasons.

“As we identify some problems, we can identify some natural alternatives that will help the pond in a therapeutic way,” she said.

The club is just in its first stages, the first meeting was Nov. 14, but Swenson said she can tell the students are excited about the project. The group so far is only seven 8th-grade students, but Swenson said she expects it to grow.

“I want students to come away with understanding that they have an impact – that we can make huge impacts for the good and impacts for the bad.”

Cantlin said he doesn’t have a huge involvement with the project at this point, as it’s mainly under the school’s jurisdiction now, but he said he plans to incorporate outside resources, such as the Stream Team, Fish and Wildlife Department, and himself into some educational presentations with the students.

“They’re going to learn hands-on that there’s this ecosystem there and it’s important,” he said.  “It’s serving a purpose…but there’s some work required to take care of that…It’s like a living laboratory for them.”

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