West Glacier School: Where the river is the classroom

Anne Lybbert sticks the thermometer into the air and notes the temperature along the Middle Fork of the Flathead River. It’s a decidedly brisk 35 degrees. The river to her right has a water temperature of 36 degrees.

Such are the subtle lessons of real science for Lybbert and a host of West Glacier School students. For several years now, the kids come to the river once a month to gather data and to see how the environment has changed.

They take water samples and measure pH, temperature, turbidity and dissolved oxygen. They take detailed notes of animal tracks they see in the mud — on this day a skunk has walked by, a domestic dog passed by, a beaver has chewed some sticks, and it looks like a raven poked around as well.

Glacier National Park education specialist Laura Law said she used to go to the school and talk to students about the environment and how to conduct tests. But she and teacher Carolyn Wierenga decided it was better simply to give students a hands-on experience — they did, after all, have a Wild and Scenic River right out their front door.

Students are also taking the trip a step further by testing the hypothetical question: What would happen if a 50-unit hotel was built on the river bank, with a water slide?

Student Ava Foley-Helton, who’s been coming down to the river for years now, had some thoughts about that.

“More people would come and throw more trash and impact the environment,” she surmised.

That’s a big-picture question, of course. There’s more natural changes to the river as well, Foley-Helton noted.

“It’s interesting to see how fast the snow melted,” she said. “Last time we were here, the banks were covered in snow and ice. There was also a lot of trash.”

The students picked up the trash and hauled it back to school.

“No one came back and littered,” she said.

Students have also compared the Middle Fork to other rivers they’ve visited. Student Martina Heupel said she visited a river in San Diego, Calif., that was touted as a quiet place to visit. But the water was green, soda bottles were floating in it, and it had goldfish, she said — a stark contrast to the cold, pristine waters of the Middle Fork.