Jeff Blumenthal dissecting a female salmon for a San Francisco classroom.
The AmeriCorps Watershed Stewards Project’s (WSP) “Real Science” curriculum is a hands-on 6 week lecture and activity series that is provided at no cost to schools within our project communities. 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 and now WSP 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 costumed pageant.
Using our “Real Science” curriculum, which is aligned to state science standards for grades K-6, WSP members present a number of topics that include: the Water Cycle, Watersheds, the Salmonid Life Cycle, Salmonid Habitat, and Salmonid Anatomy. At the end of the six weeks the last visit or two usually includes 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. 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, the Redwood Environmental Education Fair at College of the Redwoods, Arcata Bay Oyster Festival, Mad River Hatchery Tours, Forest Conservation Days and Creek Days (coordinated by 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 and 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 then please contact the WSP Education Team Leader at (707) 725-8601 or through e-mail at: chum@watershedstewards.com
This section contain member specific information (WSP Powerpoints, Fish Dissections, et cetera)
Life Cycle Powerpoint for All Ages - no notes to read aloud, approximately 20 slides
Life Cycle Powerpoint Long Version - approximately 50 slides with notes
Fish Dissection game/ practice online
Fish Dissection pictures and instructions
Educators
Visit our education links
