Check out the latest on fish movement studies:

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/10/a-new-way-to-track-fish/?WT.mc_id=GN-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M262-ROS-0712-L2&WT.mc_ev=click&WT.mc_c=190790

Come to the Library!

Come to the Highland Park Public Library to see a display that features HPHS's student work about the ravines. We were so impressed with and inspired by all of the projects they created. Some made children's books, art and photography, presentations on fish and plant species and even a rap all about saving the fish.

The exhibit will be on display for the next few weeks, and includes student-created pamphlets overviewing the project.

Summer Volunteering

Although the school year is coming to a close, there are still a lot of opportunities to work with the Natural Areas program this summer and beyond! We meet at Heller Nature Center every weekday morning at 8:30am -- come join us to help with restoration efforts, water quality testing, species counts and more!. We would love to have you come help us out!

We will be working with 2 college interns and if you are interested in environmental studies, keep this internship in mind as a possibility after your freshman year of college.

Contact Rebecca Grill and/or Liz Ettelson if you would like to get involved! 

RGrill@pdhp.org

EEttelson@pdhp.org

Ravine life close-up

Yesterday we met for a final session with HPHS Students down at Ravine Drive. We focused on macroinvertebrates and the microscopic insects that all ravine inhabitants depend on.

An HPHS AP Environmental Science student, Jim Tingey and Steve Courtright of Trout Unlimited check a rock for macroinvertebrates. We were so lucky to have Steve come out and talk with the students about the importance of these insects.

Checking out the insect life under a microscope

Liz Ettelson and Jessica Soto net with students in the ravine

Rebecca Grill of PDHP sorts through some leaf litter

A baby white sucker fish up close

The exoskeleton of a caddisfly under the microscope

Trout in the Classroom Pictures

 Thank you to Bob Lamley, Trout Unlimited volunteer, who sent us these beautiful photos that give a glimpse into the whole process of Trout in the Classroom.

Members of Trout Unlimited working on the tank

Jim Tingey of Trout Unlimited holding up a tagging gun. Don't shoot!

The fish are tagged in order to monitor them and see if they return to spawn in our stream

Park District board member Lori Flores Weisskopf and her children take a peek at the fish

Braeside teacher Shara Lieberman arrives carrying one last trout - No Fish Left Behind!

Park District Board President Scott Meyers welcomes the group

Marc Miller, President of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, commends the students for their hard work and encourages them to pursue their interest and stewardship of the environment

HP Mayor Nancy Rotering and her son, a Braeside 4th grader who participated in Trout in the Classroom

Mitch Kiesler of Trout Unlimited helps a fish down the slip n' slide

Students watch as the last fish are released into the stream

Trout in the News!

Check out this article covering the release of the rainbow trout as part of the Trout in the Classroom project at Braeside School:

"School Project Swims Away" - Highland Park News

Photography By Jason Price

Some cool pics of the air bubbles coming off the algae.

Readings for HPHS students

Hello HPHS students! Below is the worksheet you all filled out on Tuesday with our notes, and also an article about trout habitat requirements:

Rainbow Trout Habitat Requirements Article

Rainbow Trout Habitat Requirements summary table worksheet

This past Tuesday we met for a third time with HPHS Environmental Science students. We discussed what makes a suitable habitat for fish in ravines and how restoration efforts work to encourage fish to spawn in the streams. Thanks for a great day! Our next session in May we will be studying macroinvertebrates.

White suckers hanging in the stream; they come every year to spawn and create redds, or nests, and lay their eggs

 

Matt Jennings of Trout Unlimited explains which types of rocks and their placement are ideal for fish spawning



HPHS students check out the underwater camera



An admiral butterfly rests near the stream



PDHP Natural Areas Manager Rebecca Grill and HPHS Environmental Science teacher Christine Hill pick up some trash along the way

 



Ladies in boots! HPHS Science Chair Shannon Bain, Rebecca Grill and Christine Hill pose for a picture





Ravine Restoration Video

Thank you Todd Burleson for making this short video highlighting the progress made at the Highland Park Ravines Restoration Project:

Ravines Restoration Project Video

Also, check out his website where he documented the Trout in the Classroom program at Hubbard Woods School: Trout in the Resource Center - 2010-2011

Bye, Bye Trout!

We had a wonderful morning watching the Braeside 4th grade students release the trout they have worked so hard to take care of this year. They participated in the program Trout in the Classroom and released their fingerlings into the stream. Thank you to everyone who came out to help and support them!

 

Jim Tingey of Trout Unlimited and Rebecca Grill lead "Bye, Bye, Trout!"

Releasing the fish through the "slip and slide"

Fung Chin of TU helping the students release

Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering releases a fish

Bye, bye trout!

Bye, bye, aquatic friends!

We hope to see you when you're swimmin' down the stream...

There go our fingerlings,

they're doin' fine

And now they're lookin' for a place to dine.

Look out you stoneflies!

And mayflies too!

Our little fishies are comin' after you!

Bye, bye trout! Bye, bye aquatic friends!

We hope to see you when you're swimmin' down the stream...

Ravine Education Day

Take part in our second annual ravine tour to learn about the Park District’s Ravine Stream Habitat Restoration program and see what’s changed since last year. This effort to protect wildlife and property and reduce Lake Michigan pollution is funded by the US EPA. We’ll look at healthy ravine ecology, demonstrate ways residents can become stewards of their property and try our hands at stream monitoring techniques which help gauge our success.

Parking at Millard Park is limited; to register for the shuttle call 847.433.6901. Shuttle will depart from Highland Park City Hall.

Millard Park
Saturday, April 14 
10:00am-Noon

Event is free and open to the public.

The Once and Future Ecosystem of Lake Michigan

Dr. Charles Shabica, president of Sustainable Coastal Solutions and a partner in our ravines project, will be leading a presentation about Lake Michigan ecology.

Lake Michigan, the second largest Great Lake, is a treasure on our doorstep that we often take for granted. Learn little-known facts about its history from the time of its formation a half-million years ago to the profound environmental issues facing it today and into the future. Dr. Shabica will share his vast knowledge in an engaging and informative program.

Tuesday, April 17th

7:00pm

Heller Nature Center

2821 Ridge Road

Highland Park, IL

Admission is FREE and open to the public.

Sponsored by the Lake/Cook Chapter of the Illinois Audubon Society

http://www.lakecookaudobon.org/

Restoration Ecology Article

Hello HPHS Students - we are looking forward to Tuesday! Please check out this article about restoration ecology before we meet.

Restoration Ecology

Trout in the News!

Check out this article about Trout in the Classroom and the Braeside students that will release the fish they have raised:

"Braeside students release their small fry this week" -TribLocal Highland Park News

Just a few more days

The fish will be imprinted.

Saw a lot of water striders in the stream- food is already there.

looks like only a couple of suckers remain.

Fung

On the Beach with Dr. Shabica

Check out this video featuring Dr. Charlie Shabica and his work with students in Wilmette on the beach.

The suckers are in!

Matt Jennings from Trout Unlimited took this video at our ravine on Monday. We are happy to report that they are chilling on their spring break as well.
We are looking forward to you guys seeing the fish!

Tolerance Ranges

Here is some research that Liz has gathered on the tolerance ranges for a healthy, diverse stream ecosystem for students to use as a guide while analyzing your own findings:

Tolerance Ranges Document

Trout on Tape

Dan Kullman from Bitter Jester was on hand yesterday to record the happenings and a few students from Mr Hill's morning Environmental Science class scored a chance to work with Dan on a video of our ravine project!   We are excited to see the results.  If anybody else is interested, get in touch with Dan at dkullman@bitterjester.com

Fish Tagging Update

After we met at the High School, Sean, Matt and Rebecca did a trial run of the FLOY tags on the Rainbow Trout that are to be released this week from a Winnetka school.  We determined that the Rainbow Trout in the Classroom are too small to handle being tagged right now.  Though the Braeside School fish will be a little bigger (about 15 days to go) on April 13th, we don't want to risk losing any due to the tagging process.   This is a good example of the importance of trying out methodology before hand!

Students:  you are helping with protocols for monitoring the movement of our Rainbow Trout.   From your research, what ideas come to mind to continue the effort, now that we have ruled out tagging the fish at this time?  Comment on this post if you have any suggestions!

Keep checking the hpravines blog to learn what we decide!

Mrs. Hill's Environmental Science Students Got to Practice Tagging Fish!

What a remarkable day we had yesterday with our HPHS AP students and the Trout Team including Sean Landsman from the Illinois Natural History Survey, Matt Jennings and Jim Tingey of TU. 

Sean gave us an overview (100,000 years in four slides!) of Great Lakes formation and then launched into the "tasty" part of the presentation:  native, non native and invasive fish species, how they use the lakes, and how scientists such as Sean record their movements in the water.  We learned that monitoring techniques should vary depending on the Research Question being asked.  Some things that fisheries biologists want to know:  how do fish move between harbors; how do fish move to and within spawning habitats, do fish move between different jurisdictions (do they, for example, do they pop over to Canadian waters every now and again?).  Questions like these are important because they inform management practices and also can drive funding for restoration projects! 

Speaking of restoration, Jim and Matt told the students about the Trout in the Classroom program which is going on over at Braeside School.  The fourth grade has been raising baby trout from eggs which are going to be released at Ravine Drive on April 13.  We are looking for a way to track the fish--our Research Question being:  will the fish return to our stream when they are adults (in about three years) to spawn?

Next we gathered around a lab table to practice one method of tagging, which uses a "FLOY" tag and a device very much like the one that stores use to put hanging tags on clothing.  We practiced on minnows called Golden Shiners.  Some of the students even gave it a try.  Afterwards, we cut the tags off the fish and they were released to freedom in the pond at Heller Nature Center.

EColi Counts from Ghotio March 13th

We sampled the ravine and lake water on March 13th at 1:05pm, the lake sample used 1ml of water there were 31 colonies, the creek sample used 1 ml of water and had 120 colonies +/- 10 colonies. The pH results were as follows:  at all the places tested in the stream, the pH was 8.5.  The lake had a pH of 7.75.  Temperature in the creek ranged from 12-17.5 degrees celcius, the temperature of the lake was 10 degrees celcius.  The total suspended solids (TSS) showed that the lake was less clear than the creek.  For the creek we recorded 35 mg/l and the lake was 10 mg/l. 

Baby Trout in the Classroom

Braeside School Trout Pics

Fourth Grade Students at Braeside School have been raising Rainbow Trout since Thanksgiving as part of a program called Trout in the Classroom which is sponsored by Trout Unlimited.  

They started with eggs provided by the IDNR and will soon release the fish to the stream at Ravine Drive.  

Salmonids such as Rainbow Trout imprint on their "natal" stream and may return to it after they become adults (about three years).  So we hope the baby trout we release will move out to Lake Michigan and then migrate back to Ravine Drive.  We are going to tag the fish and some HPHS students are helping us figure out how to record the tags and when and where any tagged fish eventually go.  

LIFE CYCLE OF TROUT

Braeside School Fourth Grade 2012

A beautiful day for some water quality testing!

On Tuesday we met with the Environmental Science students from HPHS for our second session. We enjoyed the sunshine while testing the water quality of the ravines and lake. We were fortunate enough to have Dr. Charles Shabica of Shabica & Associates and Josh Arrigoni, a Field Ecologist with the Conservation Land Stewardship to join us and share their knowledge and efforts in ravine restoration.

Dr. Charlie Shabica of Shabica & Associates has students look at the ravine formations

Students measure flow of the stream, first by measuring and timing the speed a ball travels...

Then by using a velocity meter 

Josh Arrigoni of Conservation Land Stewardship talking to a group of students about the phase II stream restoration and how his organization helps improve water quality 

Checking the turbidity of the water: measuring clarity and determining the level of  suspended solids

Jim Tingey of Trout Unlimited testing the pH levels in Lake Michigan 

Wrapping up a great day with a group discussion at the lakefront 

Back row from left: Rebecca Grill, Natural Areas Manager of the Park District of Highland Park,  Annie Mantynband of PDHP, Josh Arrigoni, Field Ecologist at Conservation Land Stewardship, Jim Tingey of Trout Unlimited, Dr. Charles Shabica of Shabica & Associates. Front row from left: Jessica Soto of Heller Nature Center and Liz Ettelson of PDHP.

Thanks again to everyone who came out and got their boots wet today! Check in soon, we will be posting more about how to interpret your findings from today and what an ideal ecosystem for fish spawning should look like. Thanks to the students for posting your results and impressions of the day!

We are looking forward to our next session and will hopefully see some fish then!