Ninth-grade students wandered about Rock Creek Park in Twin Falls on Tuesday, gathering soil samples and testing the water that flowed through the area.

For the day, the students had escaped the classroom confines of Vera C. O'Leary Junior High School in Twin Falls for a field trip that provided learning opportunities about science in an outdoor, natural environment. Students went to different stations set up throughout the park with different tasks to complete in a varied approach that included multiple subjects like science, vocabulary and writing.

At one station, for example, students did tests to see how much dissolved oxygen was in the creek water. They put water in vials and added chemicals, also recording the temperature.

"For us in science, we want to examine the health of Rock Creek," said Jo Dodds, a science teacher working with the students.

At another station, teacher Steven Gardner helped students do a test for how much electricity could flow through the water with a probe that took measurements.

Before the work, he asked for help and a couple students trotted off to fetch water from the creek.

Laura Corder, a science teacher, had students test water for nitrates and phosphates.

"This field trip is as hands-on as you can get," she said, adding that the experience helps students see the world outside the classroom. "They realize they are part of this community that is taking care of a park."

The field trip wasn't limited to science tests, though.

Reading teacher Vicki Larsen gave the students a task of decoding scientific words and looking at their prefixes, roots and suffixes. Their assignment for after the field trip: start a science fiction story using the decoded words.

Blaine Campbell, an agriculture science instructor, helps students take soil samples near the creek and further away to show the difference in how soil changes with nearby water.

Marcus Gardoski, 14, pushed a soil probe into the ground to collect a sample.

"It's harder than I thought," he said, adding that the soil work was one of his favorite parts of the trip. "It teaches you the interesting things about soil you didn't know."

He said the field trip is a lot different from learning in a classroom.

"In school, you don't really get to come out here and do this kind of stuff," he said. "It teaches you more about the environment."

Michael Amador, 14, said he enjoyed a session that taught students about nature writing and looking for sounds and smells when outdoors. When people are quiet, a lot more gets noticed, he said.

"I never noticed that there were still birds out here," he said.

Ben Botkin may be reached at 208-735-3238 or bbotkin@magicvalley.com.