EDUCATION PROGRAMS

Water Education Programs Water Education Programs

WATER FESTIVALSWater Festivals

 

Each Spring, Water Festivals are held throughout the watershed for fifth- and sixth-grade students. These annual festivals present a comprehensive, hands-on, water resource educational program that culminates in outdoor events held on the banks of the Clark Fork and Pend Oreille Rivers.

Focusing on the Clark Fork-Pend Oreille watershed and utilizing a variety of subjects and teaching methods, the Water Festivals foster knowledge and understanding about the conservation, stewardship and responsible management of our region’s water resources in a collaborative and celebratory format. Interactive and hands-on instructional stations at the Festivals teach the students about:

  • fish migration, habitat and why clean water is important to fish;
  • aquatic insects and what they tell us about water quality;
  • the value of wetlands, riparian areas and their vegetation;
  • how water quality is tested;
  • what happens to water as it travels through its cycle;
  • the importance of water to people, wildlife and waterfowl; and
  • how human activities can affect water quality.

A number of activities are conducted in the classrooms prior to the actual Festivals. A "Watershed Trunk" containing 22 water-related lesson plans circulates among the classrooms, where students and their teachers are taken on an historical journey through time and space across the watershed. Each classroom is also visited by a natural resource professional who presents lessons in watershed boundaries, topographic features, general concepts on watershed functions, vocabulary words and other subjects that students will be exposed to in greater detail at their Water Festival.

Hundreds of volunteers participate as presenters, leaders, and team guides, joining together to make the Water Festivals program a huge success each year. Festival funding comes from a host of local businesses and organizations, as well as government and private foundation grants.

For more information on the Water Festivals held in Montana, Idaho and Washington, contact the respective organizers below:

Montana – Montana Natural History Center, Missoula
Over 760 students attend from Missoula County
(406) 327-0537

Idaho – Tri-State Water Quality Council, Sandpoint
Over 450 students attend from Bonner County
(208) 265-9092

Washington – Pend Oreille Conservation District, Newport
Over 175 students attend from Pend Oreille County
(509) 447-5370

CLARK FORK-PEND OREILLE WATERSHED TRUNK

Developed to provide elementary school students with interesting ways to learn about watersheds and the Clark Fork-Pend Oreille Watershed in particular, the primary goal of the trunk is to have students come away with a sense of the size and complexity of the watershed and some of the key environmental issues facing all of its watershed citizens.

The trunk’s storyline, entitled "Wild River Journey", takes students on a watershed-wide adventure through time and space. During this journey, students learn about the culture and history of the people who have lived in the watershed in the past and how community history has shaped the watershed of today.

What’s in the Trunk?

Water Festivals The "Wild River Journey" story is accompanied by a large colorful watershed map, hand-painted wooden figures, and props that are used to act out the journey by six young travelers to seven sites in the watershed.

Water Festivals The curriculum guide contains lesson plans organized around four major themes:

  • Drainage patterns define the geographic area of watersheds.
  • Watersheds are dynamic, both physically and biologically.
  • Past and present activities of people in the watershed affect the health of the watershed.
  • Everyone can contribute to maintaining the health of the watershed.

Each lesson plan is keyed to learner objectives, grade level and subject area, and also includes teacher preparation, materials needed, procedures, follow-up discussion questions and possible extension activities.

Water Festivals Multi-media materials for use with the lessons include:

  • Trade books
  • Overhead transparencies
  • Cassette tapes on storytelling and music
  • Maps of roads, recreational uses and National Forests
  • Photographs, fact sheets, lists of common plans and animals,
    insect keys
  • Posters
  • Puppets of bull trout eggs, sac fry, juveniles and adults
  • Magazine and newspaper articles, pamphlets, brochures
  • Video tapes on bull trout and Pacific salmon
  • Supplies

The Montana Natural History Center in Missoula, in conjunction with the Council and the Lolo National Forest, created three copies of the trunk for use throughout the watershed in Montana, Idaho, and Washington. The curriculum and trunk components were developed by a team of over 40 teachers and resource professionals. Additional financial support was provided by numerous individuals, businesses, and agencies. The Watershed Map and wooden characters were designed and hand-painted by Hedvig Flowers of Missoula.