It’s not a glamorous job, and it’s not a job to do right before lunch either.
“I think I just lost my appetite,” one boy remarked after marking the location of a pile of dog poop on Wednesday.
But science doesn’t wait for the spotlight — or an upset stomach — as second- and third-graders in Julie Eathorne’s class at Emerald Heights Elementary School are working on a science experiment.
The hypothesis is this: Would people pick up after their dog if there were more signs reminding them to do so?
The experiment came about as Pat Kirschbaum, the outreach and education coordinator for the Kitsap County Surface and Stormwater Management program, was looking for a class to take it on.
Eathorne volunteered, and seeing as Kirschbaum’s son Jacob is in the class, it made the decision easy.
“She has been really great about bringing opportunities to me that fit in with our curriculum,” she said.
“It’s a high interest thing,” Eathorne continued. “I have 14 boys and six girls and I have to keep them active and motivated. And this is a good attention-grabber.
“Sometimes it’s hard to get them motivated off of regular stuff.”
It also makes it easier that the school is not that far from Island Lake, so many classes take field trips to the park.
Starting this month and continuing through April, the class takes a walk to Island Lake County Park and marks the locations of dog waste alongside the path from the playground to the fishing dock.
Teams of four milled about Wednesday with adults in tow to mark the piles and record their location on a map. Kitsap County Public Works crews will take photos of their location and scoop up the waste when done.
After the December survey, the county will install signs and Mutt Mitt dispensers to encourage dog walkers to pick up after their dogs.
Students will take surveys from then until April to see if there is a reduction in dog waste.
The entire process is to show students first-hand how the scientific process works, from asking a question to forming a hypothesis and doing research.
“The thing we’re hoping is that they see a real-life application of the method,” Eathorne said. “But there’s also opportunities for developing social skills, working in groups and problem solving.”
The first survey in the beginning of October saw more than 100 piles of dog waste along the path, a danger since the Kitsap County Health District lists the contaminant as a contributor to the high fecal coliform levels in the local waterways.
“The end result is after the signs and Mutt Mitts are installed is that we hopefully have a reduction of dog waste that is causing a water quality problem,” Eathorne said.
