Middle School Experiential Watershed Education Programs
With the help of volunteers and environmental educators, RCA leads annual watershed education field trip programs that reach all 6th graders in Albemarle County’s five public middle schools, and all 7th graders in the City of Charlottesville’s public middle school.
During these field trips, students visit a local waterway near their school and participate in scientific water quality testing, benthic macroinvertebrate sampling, active learning games, and nature exploration activities. Students evaluate how the condition of a watershed impacts stream health through data-driven comparisons of waterways in different locations.
This program ensures that nearly all middle school students in the Rivanna River watershed can benefit from a field experience that promotes a deeper understanding of the importance of stream health, inspires watershed stewardship, and builds a greater sense of confidence and connection to the outdoors, leading to improved health of the watershed and the community. This program also promotes environmental stewardship by directly engaging students in watershed improvement action projects, like tree planting, whenever possible.
Get Involved!
From March 10th to April 16th, RCA will host 13 days of field trips for 6th grade students from Albemarle County Public Schools. Students will rotate through benthic macroinvertebrate sampling, chemical water quality testing, and a fun ecology game called Macroinvertebrate Mayhem.
We need your help to make these field trips possible! No prior education experience is necessary. We will host a virtual volunteer orientation on Sunday, March 8th at 7PM to walk through each activity, and will pair new volunteers with more experienced ones during the field trips.
