E-CARE Program

TREASURE CHESTS: Establishing an interest in the Environmental Sciences

The Sauk River Watershed District introduced a new educational project available to K-12 grade classes within the Watershed District in the fall of 2004. After brochure handouts and phone calls to schools, teachers were excited to use the treasure chests and they were checked out continuously through the Spring of 2005. The kits were also used for community education events during the summer months. In 2005, the District staff worked with 507 students using these treasure chests.
The Fresh Water Treasure Chests is a program that enables the Sauk River Watershed District to enter classrooms and provide students with the information they need to make informed decisions about the fresh water resources.

Through our increased contact with school teachers and the ever-abundant budget cuts the last couple years, we have seen science programs sliced from school curriculums state-wide creating a need for science programs in grades K-12. Teachers have expressed a need for a free program that gives them the most resources and information to use within their limited time-frame. To solve this watershed wide dilemma, the Sauk River Watershed District (SRWD) put together a program that gives teachers all the resources they need for a 1-2 week curriculum focus on Minnesota’s endangered fresh water resources.

This program creates a strong ethical foundation for students to make informed decisions about their impact on the environment. It also introduces concepts and topics discussed at home, in school and in the media such as our relationship to the hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico. It has created awareness among the communities’ youth about the sensitivity of water quality and concern over the state’s diminishing fresh water and native habitat resources. Biological specimens, books, posters, videos, audiotapes, and classroom activities are among the many items found in each chest.

A presentation on this education tool was given by SRWD staff at the North American Lakes Management Society conference in November of 2005. It is recognized as a much needed tool for teachers in their classroom because it provides specimens, books, posters, videos and audio tapes, background information, and classroom activities that many schools cannot afford on their own. In 2005, the District staff worked with 501 students using the treasure chest program.

The Sauk River Watershed District (SRWD) also received the Program of the Year award on December 3, 2004 at the annual convention for the Minnesota Association of Watershed Districts (MAWD) held at the Arrowwood in Alexandria. The SRWD received this award for their new “Fresh Water Treasure Chest” educational program targeted for students from Pre-K to Senior High.

If you would like to schedule the kits for classroom visit, please contact Adam at adam@srwdmn.org.

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