Leaf Pack Network Newsletter #15, Spring 2016

By Stroud Center on May 18, 2016 Comments Closed

In this issue: Leaf Pack Network is 15 Years Old; Expanded WikiWatershed® Toolkit Debuts; Welcome New Groups; Macroinvertebrate ID; Amazing Mayfly Video.

Did You Know the Leaf Pack Network is 15 Years Old?

Since the Leaf Pack Network debuted in December 2000:

464 groups have registered in 38 U.S. states, Puerto Rico, Washington, D.C., and in Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, England, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, and the Philippines.
671 experiments have been completed
97,074 macroinvertebrates have been tallied!

Curious about where Leaf Packers are studying streams? View the Google Map

Upcoming Events
National Science Teacher National Conference

Come see Tara at the NSTA National Conference in Nashville this week! She’ll be presenting two sessions on the LPN and two sessions on the new Model My Watershed tool (see Expanded WikiWatershed Toolkit Debuts, below). She will also be at the LaMotte vendor booth #1015.

Leaf Pack Sessions

Stream Ecology: Slimy Leaves for Healthy Streams, Thursday, March 31, 10:00-11:30 a.m., Music City Center, 107A
Session repeats on the same day, in the same location, 12:00-1:30 p.m.

Model My Watershed Sessions

Model My Watershed: Using Local Data to Make Local Decisions, Friday, April 1, 9:30-10:30 a.m., Music City Center, 106B
Teaching Environmental Sustainability with the Model My Watershed Application, Friday, April 1, 12:30-1:30 p.m., Omni Nashville Hotel, Legends G

California Leaf Pack Training

Saturday, May 21, 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
Sacramento Waldorf School
Fair Oaks, California

Join us for a FREE workshop for middle and high school teachers and environmental educators.

You’ll receive lunch, one-on-one time with scientists, equipment giveaways, hands-on experience deploying and retrieving leaf packs from the stream, training in aquatic macroinvertebrate identification, and FUN teaching techniques to bring to your class or group!

Download the flyer for complete details. Register by April 13 by contacting Tara Muenz, tmuenz@stroudcenter.org, 610-268-2153, ext. 301.

Sponsored by: Sacramento Waldorf School, Stroud Water Research Center, Society for Freshwater Science, Sacramento River Watershed Program

Expanded WikiWatershed® Toolkit Debuts

WikiWatershed is a Web toolkit presented by Stroud Water Research Center (the people who bring you Leaf Pack Network!) to help citizens, conservation practitioners, municipal decision-makers, researchers, educators, and students advance knowledge and stewardship of fresh water.

The WikiWatershed toolkit currently includes six tools.

Model My Watershed® is a watershed-modeling Web app that lets you analyze real geo-data, model storms, and compare conservation or development scenarios in any watershed in the continental U.S.
Micro Site Storm Runoff Model allows you to explore how land use and soil determine runoff for the Site Storm Model package of Model My Watershed.
EnviroDIY™ is an online community of do-it-yourself enthusiasts sharing open-source ideas for environmental science and monitoring.
Monitor My Watershed® is an interactive map-based Web app that lets you see streaming data from NOAA, USGS, and more. The Web app is currently limited to the Delaware River Basin.
Leaf Pack Network!
Trout Grow on Trees® is a hands-on environmental education program that shows how planting streamside forests can lead to cooler, cleaner streams and healthier wild trout populations.

Welcome New LPN groups!

The following groups registered with the Leaf Pack Network since the last newsletter. We’re glad you’ve joined us and look forward to seeing your leaf pack data!

MS 101, Bronx, New York
New York City Department of Education
KAPPA III, Bronx, New York
Edward Bleeker Jr. High School 185, Queens, New York
Fannie Lou Hamer Middle School, Bronx, New York
Cedar Springs High School, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Sparta Middle School, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Hooked On Trout Club, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
Dominion Christian School, Reston, Virginia
Green STEM Learning, Arlington, Virginia
Macatawa Bay Middle School, Grand Haven, Michigan
Mount Aviat Academy, Childs, Maryland
Orofino Junior-Senior High School, Orofino, Idaho
Grier School, Tyrone, Pennsylvania
McKay High School, Salem, Oregon
Oxford Area High School AP Environmental Science, Oxford, Pennsylvania
Hoggard High School, Wilmington, North Carolina
C.A. Frost Environmental Science Academy, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Dynamic Sustainability Partners, Newark, Delaware
CLC Charter School, State College, Pennsylvania
Tilton School, Tilton, New Hampshire
Assumption BVM School, Belmont, Michigan
Andrew Lewis Middle School, Salem, Virginia
Green Park Lutheran School, St. Louis, Missouri
Hewitt Trussville High School Biology, Trussville, Alabama
Ryan Elementary School, Lafayette, Colorado
MS8 The Robert Fulton School, Brooklyn, New York

Connect With LPN on Social Media!

We’d love to see photos of your group in action. Share photos on our Facebook page or use #leafpacknetwork and mention @leafpack on Twitter, @stroudcenter on Instagram.

If you’re not into the social media thing, email photos to webmaster@stroudcenter.org and we’d be happy to post them on the website.

Additional Resources

Macroinvertebrate ID

You can find helpful macroinvertebrate identification tips in back issues of the newsletter.

For example, our Macroinvertebrate Reviews focus on commonly misidentified macros, such as scuds and sowbugs, which are often mistaken for each other.

Amazing Mayfly Video

If you subscribe to the Stroud Center’s UpStream Newsletter, you might have seen our amazing mayfly video.

Unlike most mayfly species, Cloeon cognatum is ovoviviparous, which means that a mated female holds her eggs internally until embryonic development is complete.

Watch the video to see the eggs hatch less than a minute after being laid!

Skype

Would you like me to Skype in for a few minutes of class time? I’ll introduce the Leaf Pack Network, show how to make a leaf pack or simply say hello to your class and thank them for participating!

Feel free to email me!