Photos: Students explore Chester Creek watershed

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 10

Students from Airport Heights Elementary School walk to their first exploration station at Westchester Lagoon on Thursday, April 30, 2015. Some 200 students from four Anchorage schools along the Chester Creek watershed have been learning about water quality and conducting pH, water temperature and dissolved oxygen tests.

Some 200 elementary school students descended on Westchester Lagoon in Anchorage on Thursday to explore the watershed and learn about the plants and animals that live there.

Guided by staff and volunteers from Alaska Geographic, the fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders took temperature and pH readings from the water and used eyedroppers to identify tiny invertebrates.

The project involves four elementary schools in the Chester Creek watershed: Airport Heights, Chester Valley, College Gate and Susitna. At the lagoon, students tried to find their schools on a map while the volunteers explained the importance of the watershed to salmon, which will return to spawn this summer.