Last week, students from Steppingstone School for Gifted Education were among 3,000 youth from southeast Michigan who conducted chemical tests, examined aquatic life, and surveyed the Rouge River.

Steppingstone groups worked at a branch of the Rouge in Shiawassee Park, where they measured water temperature, monitored its pH balance and turbidity, searched for tiny creatures and conducted other tests Wednesday morning.

The Rouge Education Project is coordinated by the non-profit Friends of the Rouge. The data students collected is made available to the public on the Friends of the Rouge website (therouge.org) and is provided to communities in the watershed.