Students in Joe Brocksmith’s Environmental Studies class were given the assignment of “Stream Team.” Stream Team is a group of organized volunteers that are trained through the conservation department to assess water quality of Missouri streams. All environmental studies students are apart of the stream team.

“Mr. Rough, who used to teach environmental studies before I got here, made it a part of the course and when I took over environmental studies he came up and helped me with the class. I thought it was a great idea, I mean what better to have students in the environment participating in keeping it healthy or monitoring it.” Brocksmith said.

Each site has two groups; one will be doing the visual survey, and the other one will be doing the biological monitoring. Each group has about four students in it, each student having a task to focus on completing. Two students actually got into the creek in order to collect the animals and the other two students in the group examined what they found.

“I did the visual survey, meaning I looked around the creek and recorded anything I saw and helped other classmates with critters.” Senior, Austin Knott said.

The assignment was not only worked on in class it was worked on outside of school, off of campus at the creek right next to laurel park in the neighborhood Mill Wood. Everyone taking part in the assignment meet there after school on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.

“I’m looking forward go to this because I want to see all of the different kinds of bugs, and the people who have already done it said it was fun,” Junior, Dillon Lung said.