GREAT SALT LAKE - Salt Lake City fourth-grader Ashten Irish realized he had a lot to learn about the Great Salt Lake as he stood on its shore and ate a weed. He and his classmates tasted the foliage and tested the waters during a research field trip to the lake.
   The excursion was part of the University of Utah's WEST (Water, the Environment, Science and Teaching) program, which pairs graduate researchers with elementary school students. It is the only program of its kind in the state, said director Holly Godsey, and this year's lake tours are a new feature.
   Roughly 600 students have visited the lake this month.
   "It's pretty awesome," said Irish, who was surprised to learn "there's stuff you can eat out here."
   For the past three years, WEST's graduate students have worked in elementary school classrooms to highlight the fun and fascinating side of science for kids and their teachers.
   The U. launched the WEST program with a $1.8 million grant from the National Science Foundation's "GK-12" effort, which fosters interactions between the nation's youngest and oldest science students.
   "The partnership that's developed between the kids and these students is amazing," Godsey said. "The biggest deal is kids interacting with actual scientists."
   Student researchers were on hand to work with fourth-graders from Salt Lake City's Washington Elementary during Tuesday's field trip. The scientists tried to get a few key facts across - including that the native pickleweed does in fact taste like pickles - while the kids explored the lakeshore.
   "What are these ugly bugs?"
   "What's that bubbly stuff?"
   "What causes that smell?"
   Even if they didn't have all the answers, the senior scientists took a stab, guessing the bugs were some type of larvae and the bubbles were wave foam. Colby Neuman, a graduate student in the U.'s Department of Meteorology, said brine shrimp larvae hatch from shells, which wash ashore, rot and emit the odor. Neither the beach aroma nor the cool fall temperatures stopped some kids from shedding their shoes, rolling up their pants and wading in the wet sand and water.
   Others concentrated on catching brine shrimp in petri dishes.
   "It's getting kids to ask questions instead of just lecturing them," Godsey said. "And a lot of it is getting energy out before we put them on the boat."
   During the boat tour, the kids combined sightseeing with the kinds of studies real researchers do. They calculated the distance and depth at the research site. They watched their progress on a global positioning monitor. They used binoculars to look at eared grebes, which are black waterfowl that dive to eat.
   The kids also helped collect water samples from different depths and did experiments to see how much salt and algae were in each sample. Many learned a few things along the way.
   "Algae doesn't really eat anything except the sun," fourth-grader Anthony Zito said.
   Zito's class was one of the last to go on the WEST program's Great Salt Lake trips, which spanned the past four weeks. The effort cost about $15,000 thanks to donations and discounts from U.S. Geological Survey, Friends of Great Salt Lake and boat tour company Salt Island Adventures.
   WEST organizers will learn next month whether the National Science Foundation will renew their grant for another three years. If not, Godsey hopes to shore up funding from other public and private sources.
   Although WEST graduate students have been working in classrooms for barely more than two years, the program has proven its worth to both teachers and students.
   Kit Clemons, a graduate student in the geology and geophysics department, chose the U. over a Wisconsin school largely because of the WEST program, he said.
   Brenda Disney, a fourth-grade teacher at Washington, said she and her students enjoy weekly visits from Scott Hynek from the U.'s geology and geophysics department.
   "It's been really great because I have a science expert I can rely on, who I can bounce ideas off for our science core," she said.
   Even people outside the school system are pulling for the program.
   "There's been more knowledge imparted in the last two months than, I'd say, in the last 200 years," said Clint Baty, lake tour-boat captain. "I bet people live here their whole lives and never come out here."
   nstricker@sltrib.com