Meeting on the banks of the Thornton River behind the RappFLOW office in Sperryville, Virginia, participants got their feet wet while learning to sample stream water. Photo taken by Mary Graham

Netting and other supplies used in stream Assessment. Photo taken by Mary Graham

The samples were gleaned with fine-meshed nets held across the flow of the water. Volunteers disturbed the river bottom just upstream from each net to dislodge the life settled in the rocks and silt below. Here, Greg Wickelns describes the process. Photo taken by Mary Graham

The students spread their nets across plastic covered tables and began the process of finding, sorting, counting and identifying the creatures in the samples. Photo taken by Mary Graham

Some of the critters found. Photo taken by Mary Graham