Fifth grade students made a difference for the local environment this past week when they participated in a program to plant tree saplings along sections of heavily eroded Ayer's Brook, which flows into the White River.  The planting program is a component of the White River Partnership's efforts to improve the health of the river ecosystem.  As the longest un-dammed tributary to the Connecticut River, the White is very important to the Connecticut River Atlantic Salmon Restoration Program – a federal program aimed at revitalizing Atlantic salmon populations.   Fifth graders were able to participate through funding from the Inspiring Kids Project, which  raised money for local and international environmental service projects via the daffodil bulb sale in the fall - those flowers now beautifully blooming on the Green! 

Students were met at the planting site by the Partnership's Educational Programs Director, Mike Bald.  He talked with the students about the requirements for a healthy stream, how important a healthy riparian zone (river edge) is, and how the work they would do would help the river ecosystem. Then he demonstrated the planting process,  and the students went to work with a large bucket of young tree shoots and a shovel.  They worked in small groups to choose their planting layout, dig the holes for the trees and plant them, and protect the newly planted tree with a plastic ground cover.  Temporary plastic tubes would be added later around each one to protect them from animal damage until they grow larger. 

Back at school, fifth graders have been investigating our local Blood Brook to find out how healthy our own brook is.  By collecting, identifying, and analyzing the macroinvertebrate populations that live on the stream bottom, they are determining  that Blood Brook has "excellent" water quality.  

One effect of heavy erosion into a stream is that it degrades the habitat of these benthic macroinvertebrates, reducing their populations and negatively impacting the rest of the food chain.  Students will be exploring the riparian zone of the brook, comparing that to what they saw at Ayer's Brook, estimating the degree of silt accumulation here, and making inferences about the overall health of our stream.  

We were very lucky to be able to have funding, through all your donations to the daffodil bulb sale, to be able to do this project.  Thank you parents, the PTO, and "Inspiring Kids".