How can I get a large number of students out in the stream without causing it harm?

Too many kids at one time in one area can be detrimental to the stream, but if you space them out distance-wise and timing-wise, you can minimize the impact. We recommend giving the stream a few weeks of a break between classrooms/groups. Each time you take a group out, stagger the stream sites by at least 50 feet or so. Try to have a controlled monitoring process (i.e., a few kids at a time take one net at a time, rather than a free-for-all with a bunch of nets at once). This is especially important if you’re going to be submitting the data to VA SOS. Have the kids put the rocks back where they were.