Get to Know Your Watershed. McMillan Creek

Transcription

1 Get to Know Your Watershed McMillan Creek

2 Where is McMillan Creek? McMillan Creek is found in the northeastern portion of the City of Prince George, know as the Hart and Shady Valley. It is located entirely within the City and is one of the most important streams for fish. The stream is over 15km long and drains into the Nechako River beside the Cameron Street Bridge. Courtesy of Indigo Design Do you live in the McMillan Creek Watershed? Yes 2 No

3 What is a Watershed? Everyone lives in a watershed, whether or not you live beside a stream. A watershed is the land area that drains to a single body of water such as a lake or river. Within the watershed, you can have small to large streams, ponds and even lakes. Water is added to the land by precipitation that falls in the form of rain or snow. People can use the land in many ways within the watershed. In the McMillan Creek watershed you will finds homes, farms, parks, gravel pits, and many types of businesses. 3

4 Aqua Words There is a lot of new lingo to learn when working around streams. See if you can match the word on the left with the definitions on the right. 1. Habitat A) An area in the stream where the water is calm 2. Stream bank B) A nest made of rocks in a stream where fish lay eggs. 3. Polluted C) A young salmon that can swim freely in the water. 4. Pool D) The area of land next to a stream or lake 5. Algae E) Where a plant or animal typically lives. 6. Riparian F) Air or water with waste in it. 7. Redd G) A plant that lacks stems and usually grown in the water 8. Fry H) The edge of the stream 9. Stream bed I) The bottom of the stream 4

5 Aquatic Web Just like a spider web, all life around and within a stream is connected. Starting with the word stream think of all the things that need streams to live or that live in stream. In the space below, add words that are related to streams and draw any connections between the words. Try to use the Aqua Words on the opposite page! Trees Bugs Stream Fish 5

6 Insects Tasty Fish Food Fish, such as the rainbow trout found in McMillan Creek, like to eat insects found in the stream. Many of these insects spend part of their life in the stream before changing into flying in- sects similar similar to a butterfly! See if you can match the water creatures with their adult form and add some colour to the page! Larvae Adult 1) Stonefly A 2) Dragonfly B 3) Mayfly C 4) Mosquito D 5) Caddisfly E 6) Whirligig Beetle F 6

7 Insect Word Search Find the words in BOLD below: The invertebrates (science name for insects and other critters) lifespan can range from a few days to many years depending on the type of creature. Worms, snails and clams are types of invertebrates that live in the water. A stream with a mix of different types of invertebrates shows us it is healthy. Invertebrates are grouped as a collector, shredder, scraper or predator depending on what it eats. There are three main groups of invertebrates we look for when sampling streams: G H E A L T H Y R E S H P A T B B P S P O A H S C R A P E R C V E J U R S W I E O H M V B R A S N D L H E A L T H Y V A L M R T S N G U E T E N O C R T N M R O C U P J L G S R T R T O T J I A E S E D O P E L T D M K B M R E R S D T N S R N T O A E P D S M A V C H R A M O T E T B H H S T R E A M E E S R L M W O R M S J 7

8 What kind of fish call McMillan Creek home? There are fives type of fish that have been found in McMillan Creek, but others may venture up from the Nechako River for a short term visit. The five fish are: 8

9 If I could talk to a fish... Imagine you could go underwater and talk to a fish. What would you say? Would you ask the fish about his home, or talk about the weather? In the space below, draw a pic- 9

10 Funding for the creation of this booklet and the development of the McMillan Creek Fishing Park has been made possible through a grant from the Pacific Salmon Foundation. Teachers and community groups interested in learning more about McMillan Creek or borrowing the stream sampling kit should contact the City at Answer Key: Aqua Words: 1 E 2 H 3 F 4 A 5 G 6 D 7 B 8 C 9 I Insects 1 C 2 F 3 A 4 E 5 B 6 D G H E A L T H Y R E S H P A T B B P S P O A H S C R A P E R C V E J U R S W I E O H M V B R A S N D L H E A L T H Y V A L M R T S N G U E T E N O C R T N M R O C U P J L G S R T R T O T J I A E S E D O P E L T D M K B M R E R S D T N S R N T O A E P D S M A V C H R A M O T E T B H H S T R E A M E E S R L M W O R M S J 10