SOUTH BRANCH WATERSHED ASSOCIATION Event Highlights

2008 Waterways Stewardship Project
See Also: Event Photos

SBWA’s WSP program helped over 1,200 children explore the outdoors this past spring. Their educators accompanied the students on trips to a local stream near their school. Ten schools, consisting of 54 classes, participated for the 2007-2008 school year, including Califon Elementary, Clinton Public Elementary, Delaware Township Middle, Hampton Elementary, High Bridge Elementary, Holland Brook Elementary, Hunterdon Central Regional High, North Hunterdon Regional High, Patrick McGaheran Elementary, and Reading-Fleming Intermediate.

These students learned about watersheds, groundwater, and stream critters in their classrooms. This was followed by the stream trip where they entered the water to explore the stream habitat and see what factors may be having a positive or negative effect on its health, and to discover what critters are present and how they are used to calculate the health, or water quality, of the stream. While they were busy learning, the students had a great time exploring!

Imagine wading through the cool stream water, bending over to pick up a rock in the stream, and seeing two eyes staring back at you through a pair of claws. This close-up view of a crayfish in its natural habitat is what many of our local students see when they visit their neighborhood stream as part of the South Branch Watershed Association’s (SBWA) Waterways Stewardship Project (WSP) environmental education program for schools.

In addition to fostering a connection with nature, the WSP program is correlated with the NJ Core Curriculum Content Standards, which teachers must cover throughout the year. This makes the WSP a great program for teachers to incorporate in with their current curriculum. If you know of a school and students, including home schoolers, scouts, church, and other groups, that could benefit from this program, please let them know about it, and let SBWA know too! Many great experiences await at the river for those who take a moment to stop and look!

High Bridge Environmental Club students identifying stream critters with SBWA Educator Harold Blackstone.

Califon student testing “his well water” with SBWA Educator Alan Rennie on the groundwater model. North Hunterdon students testing the stream water for dissolved oxygen content.