The Chesapeake Bay Foundation PA Rivers and Streams Program will hold Watershed Exploration Programs for students in grades 6 to 12 from eight Pennsylvania schools during September and October.

This CBF field education program has been providing hands-on experiential learning programs in Pennsylvania for over 30 years. In that time, roughly 54,000 Pennsylvania students have participated in CBF education programs.

This fall season, CBF's Education team is collaborating with regional groups to get students out onto the water teaching students about the importance of water quality, demonstrating how stream systems work, and conducting hands-on experiments that engage and excite a student’s sense of exploration.

The PA Rivers & Streams Program guides students through a series of water quality exercises designed to reinforce in-class lessons and to emphasize the importance of clean water.

Students enjoy the opportunity to paddle a canoe.

They will also investigate the health of local waterways through a variety of hands-on activities like up-close studies of the bugs and other species living in the waterway; studying the characteristics of the waterway, the shoreline, and the adjoining lands; using water chemistry tests to determine water quality; and using maps to orient students with their specific watershed.

The purpose of the program is to provide field experiences that help students build a critical connection to the natural world in which they live that will motivate their decision-making as they develop into citizens and future leaders in Pennsylvania.

The PA Rivers & Streams Program operates a mobile/traveling canoe fleet for students, teachers, and guests.

Schools

These schools will be participating in the Watershed Exploration Programs-- Southern Fulton Area High School; Hazel Jackson High School; Dickinson College; St. Theresa School; Allen Middle School; Cumberland Middle School; Upper Adams Middle School; and Bishop McDevitt High School.

Media outlets may contact  B.J. Small, CBF PA Communications and Media Relations Manager at bsmall@cbf.org for times and specifics.

To learn more about this program, visit CBF’s PA Rivers and Streams Program webpage.

Visit Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Education webpage to learn more about this and other education programs.

For more on Chesapeake Bay-related issues in Pennsylvania, visit the Chesapeake Bay Foundation-PA webpage.  Click Here to sign up for Pennsylvania updates (bottom of left column).  Click Here to support their work.

Also visit the Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership to learn how you can help clean water grow on trees.

CBF has over 275,000 members in Bay Watershed.

How Clean Is Your Stream?

The draft 2024 report has an interactive report viewer that allows you to zoom in to your own address to see if the streams near you are impaired and why.

Click Here to check out your streams.  Click Here for a tutorial on using the viewer.

Related Articles This Week:

-- Upper Delaware Council Announces Honorees For 36th Annual River Valley Awards, Including 4 From Pennsylvania  [PaEN] 

-- Penn State Extension Center for Agricultural Conservation Assistance Training To Hold 3  Multi-Day In-Person Ag Conservation Keystone Training Workshops In October  [PaEN]

-- Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Trees For Graziers Host 2 Silvopasture Farm Walks On Sept. 4 In York County, Sept. 11 In Lebanon County  [PaEN]

-- Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy Seeks Volunteers For Annual Plant-A-Thon Set To Plant 10,000 Native Trees, Shrubs, Perennials Throughout The 4-County Watershed  [PaEN]

-- Pike, Wayne Conservation Districts, Trout Unlimited Chapter Partner On New Stream Keepers Youth Program Oct. 5   [PaEN]

-- Penn State Extension Offers 3-Part Webinar Series On On-Lot Septic Systems Starting Oct. 1  [PaEN]

NewsClips:

-- Chesapeake Bay Journal - Karl Blankenship: Why Reducing Farm Pollution In The Chesapeake Bay Region Is A Complex Problem

-- Pike County Conservation District: How To Properly Maintain Your On-Lot Septic System

-- Warren Times: Warren Conservation District Accepting Photo Contest Submissions Until Sept. 13

[Posted: September 3, 2024]

9/9/2024