Reeling in conservation

Holding a small plastic cup of water, Cody Bowles eyed the squat aquatic insect swimming in it.

"It's fun," the 13-year-old Jackson seventh-grader said of a school outing Tuesday morning. "You get to find bugs and they are weird looking."

About 340 Jackson Middle School students converged along the shore of Rotary Lake in the Jackson City Park as part of "Fish for Life," a Missouri Conservation Department program.

Conservation agents taught students about fishing, types of fish, conservation and water quality. Wappapello Lake park rangers with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers taught students about boat and water safety.

Half the students attended the morning session. The other half attended the afternoon session.

Divided up into groups, they moved among five stations set up along the lake shore.

Middle School principal Rodney Pensel said it's an annual event for seventh-graders at his school. It ties in with the school's life-science curriculum, he said as he watched a group of students learn about water safety.

A short distance away, another group of students sifted through murky water in search of aquatic insects.

Laurie Clippard, 13, stood on a rock at the water's edge, scooping up muddy water in a net at the end of a long pole. Two friends held her by her T-shirt to keep her from falling in the lake.

"I almost fell off," she said later.

Clippard, who found some snails, wasn't concerned about getting her hands dirty. "I live on a farm," she said.

Sara Scheper, education specialist with the Conservation Department's Nature Center, taught the students that aquatic insects are an indication of water quality.

Leeches and worms can live in polluted water, she said. "They don't care about how bad it is."

Scheper said a check of dragonflies and other insects found in the water showed that the lake has some pollution. It registered a four on a 10-point scale with 10 being a clear lake.

"It's on the polluted side of average," she said.

"Throw your trash away," she told the students. "If you do see trash, pick it up," said Scheper.

At another station, students donned special goggles and tried to toss a Styrofoam ring onto orange cones. Few succeeded.

The goggles made everything blurry, demonstrating the effects of drugs and alcohol on people's vision.

Ranger John Daves preached boating safety to the students gathered around.

Students also tried fishing. Students caught a few bluegill, bass and trout.

J.R. Anthony, 13, smoothly baited a hook with a worm. "I'm a country boy," he said with a smile. Anthony said he used to fish a lot and knows the secret to being a good fisherman. "You've got to be quiet," he said.

But on this breezy spring day, few of his classmates were doing that.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, ext. 123