Coinciding with National Start! Walking Day on Wednesday, April 8, Sanislo Elementary School’s fifth graders will take a walkable field trip with Homewaters Project to explore the “tiny neighbors” in their school wetlands.

Homewaters Project, a Seattle-based nonprofit organization, provides field extensions of classroom science units. Homewaters designs investigations within walking distance of schools when possible, so that students discover the natural world in their own home place.

According to the organization, walkable field trips promote better health for students as well as for their watersheds: students engage in physical activity while discovering impacts of everyday actions on local water quality and ecosystem health.

Sanislo students and teachers are particularly excited about Wednesday’s "Tiny Neighbors" program, because this natural area is usually off-limits to students. The young scientists will observe and draw their surroundings, collect and study microorganisms up close, draw conclusions about water quality based on the types of microorganisms they find, and record and evaluate human impacts.

Sanislo is located at 1812 S.W. Myrtle St. and the field trip is expected to start around 11 a.m.