Americorps Watershed Stewards Project

Watershed Education

Jeff disecting

Jeff Blumenthal dissecting a female salmon for a San Francisco classroom.

The AmeriCorps Watershed Stewards Project's (WSP) Real Science Watershed Education Program is an interactive 6 visit lesson series that is provided at no cost to schools within our service areas. The main focus of the Real Science program is to provide classrooms with quality watershed and salmonid lessons that students can then apply to understanding their local watersheds. Traditionally the Real Science curriculum has been taught in a K-8 setting, but as our program has expanded, so has our audience. Therefore, WSP now also provides presentations on similar topics to interested community groups and during educational fairs.

Natalie Arroyo with a class of young "fry" representing
the salmon life cycle in a costume pageant.

Using our Real Science curriculum, which is aligned to state science standards for grades K-6, WSP members co-present a number of topics including: Water Cycle, Watersheds, Salmonid Life Cycle, Salmonid Habitat, and Salmonid Anatomy. The end of the six visits may also include a general ecology lesson, an activity, a service learning project, a field trip, or a similar wrap-up activity. WSP members can also offer single visits for teachers who may not have the time for the extended visits, but would still like to incorporate some salmonid/watershed education into their classroom. These single visits vary and can include fish dissections, a salmonid life-cycle slide show presentation, or learning games and art projects.

In a community setting, WSP participates in several educational events where we provide the general public with similar information. such events include the Redwood Environmental Education Fair at College of the Redwoods, Arcata Bay Oyster Festival, Mad River Hatchery Tours, Forest Conservation Days and Creek Days (co-coordinated by WSP and the Eel River Watershed Improvement Group).

A class of students at Forest Conservation Days experienced the
differences between types of soils by feeling a bucket of silt.

Overall, WSP's Real Science program has been extremely wide-reaching. Since the program's creation in 1994 through the 2005 school year, WSP members have taught 114,644 students, teachers and community members. If you have any questions or would like to participate in the WSP Real Science program, please contact the WSP Education Team Leader at (707) 725-8601 or wsp.etl@ccc.ca.gov .