Alisha Gonzalez gripped the binoculars and rocked up on her tip-toes to get a better look.
"Where is it?" she asked.
Then she spotted it, a baby owl resting in a tree at the Horn Rapids park near Richland.
"It was really fuzzy," said Alisha, 10, a few minutes later, still smiling.
The fifth-grader at Jason Lee Elementary in Richland was one of 1,500 pupils from across the Mid-Columbia who spent quality time Tuesday with fuzzy and scaly creatures at Benton Conservation District's annual Salmon Summit.
The event teaches kids about the environment through hands-on activities and presentations from government, tribal, business and nonprofit groups with a stake in the outdoors.
The students also get to release the young salmon they raised through the district's Salmon in the Classroom program.
That part was really cool, students said.
Dozens of them lined up holding paper cups -- each with a tiny fish inside -- and then walked down to the boat launch on the Yakima River. Teachers and other chaperones snapped photos as kids leaned over and let the salmon go.
"They love (the program)," said Jim Ryder, Alisha's fifth-grade teacher at Jason Lee. "It was fun to watch the fish swim away and begin their journey."
Watching the fish grow at school during the year was neat too, said some fourth-graders from Marcus Whitman Elementary in Richland.
"It was really awesome," said Cami Pfliger, 10.
At first, "It looked like they were seahorses," added classmate Kelsey Clark, 9.
About 30 elementary schools in Benton and Yakima counties were at the event. It was coordinated by Rachel Little of the conservation district.
At one of the 38 learning stations, students got to test fishing rods. A crew from the Richland Rod & Gun Club showed them the proper way to cast.
The students practiced over the grass but no hooks were involved.
Across the park, workers from Sportsman's Warehouse in Kennewick manned an "outdoor classroom" in the shape of a Chinook. It was so big, students could climb inside and learn about the life cycle of the fish.
The classroom belongs to a group in Oregon, but Sportsman's paid the rental fee so the conservation district could have it for the event.
Teaching kids about the water and land is important, said Sportsman's manager Brian Howald.
"This is the next generation of people who need to understand the preservation of the environment," he said.
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