Welcome to the Gwinnett Water Resources virtual stream habitat survey activity! This is a virtual tour of two small streams in Gwinnett County: the Jones Bridge Park stream and Garner Creek.

To understand how human activities impact habitat for wildlife, the Georgia Adopt-a-Stream Habitat Survey will allow you to score and compare these streams to determine their health status. While it is always best to go outside and explore nature, this activity can be done in the classroom or at home!

Start the Tour: Jones Bridge Park stream Garner Creek Survey Form (PDF)

1. Download two copies of the Stream Habitat Survey Form.
   
    
    
2. After clicking the "Start the Tour" button for either virtual tour you will see a view of the entire stream. From there,  the view will zoom in to the beginning of the tour.
   
   
3. Use the arrows on the keyboard to look left or right and to move forward or backward. Use the mouse to look up or down.
    
4. Hover over the red and blue targets to get information necessary for certain scoring criteria on the Stream Habitat Survey form.
   
   
   
    
5. Use the Stream Habitat Survey Form to score each habitat parameter. In Gwinnett County, it is safe to assume most streams are rocky bottom streams. Check this box in the top right corner of the form and omit Habitat Parameter #7.
   
   
    
    
6. To complete numbers 8, 9, and 1 O on the survey, you will need to expand to an overhead view by using the "Floor Plan” button.
   
   
   
    
7. At the bottom left of the screen, click on the "Play" button. This will play a highlight reel of views from the left and right banks
   
   
   
   
8. At any time during the highlight reel, you can click on the screen to pause and look around. Click “Play” to resume the highlight reel. The Garner Creek virtual tour does not include a view from the right bank.
   
   
   
   
9. Total your scores to reveal the Stream Habitat Score, which indicates the health of the stream.