Bestest Buddy By: Lara

“Shuffle, Mia, Shuffle!!”Natalie said. It was the last day of Eco Week, and I was sure nobody wanted to go back home. We were in groups of 3, and we were learning about Stream Ecology. My group was Mia, Natalie, and I. Our group got a science backpack, and we were group 3. We were rating rating the river based on around, below, and within the river. It was Mia’s turn as the shuffler. (she kicked around in the rocks to get the bugs out, for they lived in the rocks!) It was my turn to hold the tray that we put the bugs onto, and Natalie’s turn to hold the net.

“Brrr… It’s freezing out here, let’s finish up quick!” I shivered.

“Yeah, my hands are going numb!” Natalie agreed.

“If your finished, you can go inside to look at your insects under the microscope,” Katie said. We were all anxious to get inside, because it was freezing cold, and the river we were standing in was even colder.

“29, 30! Finished! Lets go inside now,” Mia exclaimed. She emptied the net into the tray, and we lugged the net up the little hill, while trying to balance the pan so the water didn’t spill, and dropped the net in the pile.

When we got inside, we had to stand by the fire to get warm. Once we were sort of warm, we brought the tray to our table. Immediately, we noticed the biggest bug on the try and looked him up in our field guide.

“A…. Here it is! He’s a Stonefly Nymph!” I declared.

“Oh, he’s so cute!” Natalie said as she looked at him under the microscope. “His face is like:” Natalie said as she made a funny face. We laughed.

“I just had a great idea, we should give him a name!” I said, smiling.

“Yeah, let’s give this little buddy a name. Hmmm…” Natalie replied.

“That’s just it! Buddy!” I exclaimed. We agreed that Buddy was the perfect name for this river insect.

As we left, Natalie and I waved to our table, were Buddy was.

“Goodbye Buddy, we’ll remember you!” Natalie said. We looked at each other and smiled.

“This was the best school trip ever,” I declared. Natalie silently agreed.