The Estuary Partnership would like to continue to offer educational programs at no cost. Donations help ensure our ability to provide them. Click the Donate link to learn more about donating to the Estuary Partnership.
The Estuary Partnership class programs and field trips are science based, and often include other disciplines such as math, literature, history, even art and music. They provide information about all aspects of the lower river, including its biological, chemical, historical, social and economic characteristics. The goal: to provide current information and build student’s curiosity to enable them to make informed decisions about the protection and future of the Columbia River.
Contact the Estuary Partnership’s Jennie Boyd to schedule a class program at an agreeable date and time. Three types of class programs are available:
Single Class Programs
Approximately 45 minutes of scientific inquiry on environmental topics within the Columbia River Estuary.
Mini-Unit Programs
Four to five class visits, an experiential field trip, and a follow-up discussion and conclusion of the topic studied.
Year-Long Study
Class programs each month, a field component, and a culminating community service project such as a restoration project. Year-long programs include detailed development of the scientific method with regard to an environmental theme and can be used to form a cohesive understanding of the relationship between humans and the health of the Columbia River ecosystem.
Classroom Programs and Field Activities
Listed below (and dowloadable in PDF form – Classroom Programs) is a sample of class and field trip activities offered by the Estuary Partnership. Many classes relate to more than one topic. Multiple classes can comprise a mini-unit, or classes can stand alone. Program lengths are generally 45 minutes. Estuary Partnership education staff can also work with teachers to develop new programs or integrate existing programs into a teacher’s classroom schedule.
Animal Signs and Observation: (grades 3-8) Do you know what signs animals leave behind? Become an animal detective and see if you notice these hidden clues that are left by animals in a variety of habitats.
Animal Tracks: (grades 4-8) Explore animal tracks and discover how animal tracks reveal not only the animal that made them, but also animal adaptations and the movements of each animal.
Frogs and Beavers: (grades 1-4) Learn about the unique adaptations of local frogs & beavers. See how humans compare to frog’s abilities to catch flies, leap, and find their prey. Investigate the beaver and how it is specially adapted for life in its watery habitat.
Native American Salmon use: (grades 3-8) Learn how salmon were an important cultural feature in the lives of Native Americans in this region. Compare this to the role salmon play in our daily lives
Salmon Life Cycle: (grades 2-4) Learn more about the life cycle of salmon. Students will investigate objects and recreate the salmon life cycle.
Beautiful Birds
Introduction to Local Birds: (grades 2-8) What birds would you typically find throughout the region? Learn more about local birds and how to identify key characteristics and look them up using field guides.
Bird Songs: (grades 2-8) Find out more about the feathered friends that live near your school through listening to bird sounds and playing a bird game to discover some of the challenges birds face when they communicate.
Create a Bird: (grades 3-5) Students will observe structural adaptations found among the many different bird species. Then, students will create their own bird that illustrates many of these features.
Bird Adaptations: (grades 5-7) Students will learn to identify some simple characteristics of birds, including where they live and what they eat just by looking at their beaks, skulls, and feet.
Botany Bounty
What Plants Need: (grades 4-8) In order to thrive, plants need to grow in areas of specific environmental conditions. Students will discuss the basic necessities a plant needs to survive. Students will then look at native plants and discuss the specific range of tolerances for native plants in reference to a specific habitat, such as a wetland or forest.
Tree and Plant ID: (grades 5-8) Learn simple plant leaf terminology and then be introduced to simple dichotomous keys to identify plant species.
Native American Plant Use: (grades 3-8) Learn how native plants were used as a food sources, tools, medicine, shelter, and transportation for Native Americans in this region. This class can be a great way to enhance student appreciation of naturescaping projects on schoolyards.
Native and Invasive Plants: (grades 4-8) Become familiar with several types of invasive species. Discover why these invasive species are harmful to native plants and animals and learn about methods to remove them. This class is highly recommended prior to a pre-service learning project.
Northwest Ecology and Habitats
Habitats of the Northwest: (grades 3-5) Receive an introduction to some of the different habitats found in the lower Columbia region, including: wetlands, forests, meadows, streams, and estuarine environments. Next, students will be asked to match plants and animals with their respective habitats.
Food Web: (grades 3-8) Learn about plants and animals commonly found in wetlands. Make food chains and webs. Learn about producers and consumers and their role in the food web. Discuss what happens when parts of the food web, like salmon disappear.
Habitat Restoration: (grades 4-8) An excellent complement to the Food web class, students will examine the needs living things have for survival, and how these needs are affected by changes to their habitat, including the introduction of invasive species. This is an excellent introduction for students participating in service learning.
Estuaries:
Intro to the Estuary: (grades 3-5) What makes an estuary an estuary? Why is it a unique habitat? Students will learn about the unique plants and animals within an estuary and create an art project by drawing estuary plants and animals onto an estuary landscape.
Forests:
Layers of the Forest: (grades 2-5) Learn about the three basic layers of a forest. What kinds of plants and animals can be found in each layer? Students will create a detailed drawing of the main forest layers that includes plants and animals that can be found in the Pacific Northwest.
Forest Succession: (grades 5-8) Learn about key abiotic characteristics of stages of forest succession and relate that to plants often found in key stages. The goal is to illustrate that change is a natural part of the environment. This is an excellent pre-forest field trip activity.
Wetlands:
Introduction to Wetlands: (grades 3-5) During this activity students will use metaphorical objects to describe characteristics of wetlands. They will also begin to understand the ecological functions of wetlands and their importance to wildlife and humans.
Wetland Plant Adaptations: (grades 2-4) Learn more about the special adaptations that wetland plants such as cattails and lily pads have to survive their watery habitat. Then, students will see if they can guess which plants are real and which are made up. Note: class length is 30 minutes.
Soils
Introduction to Soils: (grades 4-6) Investigate the role that soil plays in the environment. Students learn to identify the three types of soil and their characteristics. Students will also perform percolation tests to make a scientific inquiry into the permeability of different soils.
Streams, Watersheds, Riparian Zones and Macroinvertebrates
Formation of the Gorge: (grades 5-8) Learn about the geologic history of the Columbia River Gorge. Learn about the amazing Missoula Floods that carved out the gorge during the last ice age.
Introduction to Macroinvertebrates: (grades 4-8) Macroinvertebrates (stream insects, snails, etc.) are excellent indicators of water quality. Learn more about macroinvertebrates and discover how these organisms can teach us about water quality. Students will see pictures of common macros and participate in an activity in which students handle macro specimens, sketch and identify them.
Macroinvertebrate Feeding and Adaptations: (grades 4-8) Students will investigate the physical and behavioral adaptations of macroinvertebrates to understand how each species meets the demands of its specific habitat and feeding behavior.
Stream Table: (grades 2-8) Using this hands-on stream model table students have an opportunity to learn about the relationships between vegetation, sediment, and flowing water. During the development of a stream channel, students have the chance to observe that protecting and restoring the stream corridor is a critical component to protect fish and wildlife as well as property.
What is a Watershed?: (grades 2-8) An excellent overview activity to teach about watersheds and point and non-point sources of water pollution. Using a watershed model, participants will learn more about point and non-point source pollution and demonstrate pollution impacts on their local stream.
Intro to Water Quality: (grades 4-12) Learn about water quality parameters and how they relate to stream health. Students measure, use numbers, and interpret data as they are introduced to the water quality parameters of pH, dissolved oxygen, phosphate, temperature and turbidity. Highly recommended pre-activity to a field trip or water quality monitoring program.
Water Cycle: (grades 2-5) Examine the processes that move water around, through, and over the earth. Students will travel on an “Incredible Journey” to trace the movement of water within the cycle through its solid, liquid, and gas forms.
Field Activities
Field activities are an important component of educational experiences and allow students to apply learning that has taken place in the classroom. Field experiences are usually organized around a theme and include both educational and service learning components, although field trips may consist entirely of educational activities or service learning projects. The Estuary Partnership chooses field trip sites based on learning objectives, teacher needs, safety, and proximity to the school. Listed below are some sample field trip experiences.
Educational Field Activities:
Science Inquiry: students will participate in classroom studies that focus on the scientific process as well as content relating to their inquiry project. Students will complete field work that includes observations about their specific project, for instance, the effects of invasive species on biodiversity, and develop their own inquiry project which can be tested in the field.
Stream Trips: activities include water quality monitoring, macroinvertebrate sampling, assessing the health of the riparian zone. Classroom experiences prior to the field trip may include: intro to macros, stream table and introduction to water quality.
Native Plant Trips: activities include using Dichotomous keys to identify plants, making field guides and Native American Scenarios that involve finding native plants that Native Americans used for various situations. Pre- field trip activities may include plant and tree identification and Native American Use of Plants.
Habitat Focused Trips: these trips will focus on a specific habitat and learning about the plants and animals found in that habitat and their adaptations to that habitat. Activities in the field include: plant identification, soil testing, birding and animal observation. Classroom activities may include forest succession, animal adaptations or observation or an introduction to birds.
Other Educational Activities: Other field trip activities may include Scavenger Hunts, Unnature Trail, and Compass Courses.
Service Learning Projects: Visit the Estuary Partnership's Service Learning page to find out more about Estuary Partnership service learning projects.
