About the RiverWatch
Watershed Project
About
RiverWatch | Partners
The RiverWatch Watershed Project is
an environmental education project that provides students in grades
5-10 with the unique, hands-on opportunity to learn about stream
ecology by monitoring a local stream. The Watershed Project evolved
from a local project called PCWET that began in the Piasa Creek
Watershed (in Madison and Jersey counties). Several public and
parochial schools in and around the watershed have participated in the
project since its establishment in 1998. Students and teachers are
taught to collect baseline data for determining long-term changes in
the physical, chemical and biological parameters of the watershed.
While the project places a strong
emphasis upon the water-monitoring component, it also uses the
watershed as an outdoor classroom, allowing students to gain a better
perspective of the dynamics of their watershed and an understanding of
how human activity impacts water quality. In the RiverWatch Watershed
Project, teachers assume more of a role as facilitators, while students
are encouraged to make their own interpretations and evaluations of
their watershed. More importantly, students acquire a sense of
“stewardship” for their environment which compels them to be
environmentally responsible citizens both now and in their adult
lives.
