Through our streamside education program, we aim to spark a life-long interest in science within every student and build a foundation for STEM careers by providing experiences that show how scientists think and work.
HRWC offers teachers a free streamside program for 4th-12th grade levels that teaches students about local water resources and protecting the watershed. Through hands-on, small group activities, students use the skills they learned in the classroom to evaluate the health of their local creek, stream, or river. Students also learn specific actions that families can take to protect the Huron River.
Since 2012, trained volunteer educators have led 1,500 4th-12th grade students annually from 20 schools in a series of stream ecology lessons that are customized by grade-level and teacher input. Students study the physical characteristics of the streambed and banks, taking precise measurements such as water flow, temperature, conductivity, and turbidity. Students also learn how to collect and identify aquatic benthic macroinvertebrates, identify what the organisms reveal about stream health, and study how their physical adaptations allow them to live in dynamic water systems.
