Watershed Education Program (WEP) for middle and high school students

Click here for a brochure about the program

WEP teacher training opportunities - coming soon

Equipment to borrow: Water quality testing and macroinvertebrate equipment on loan for free

Attention, middle and high school science teachers! New Hampshire Fish and Game has an exciting and free Watershed Education Program that will put your students where the action is in their own watershed. The program has a newly designed three phase format that can be implemented separately or as a total package to allow students to become Citizen Scientists in studying and working with local community members improving the aquatic habitats in their own backyard. The program is aligned with the state science curriculum frameworks and allows students to use the latest technology while assessing natural resources in their community. The WEP educates students how to work with community partners to improve and maintain healthy aquatic ecosystems for the fish and wildlife species in New Hampshire.

PHASE I: Water Quality Monitoring

Students visit their local water body to collect water samples to measure Dissolved oxygen, pH, Temperature, Turbidity, and Conductivity. They also collect and classify benthic macroinvertebrates. They use these chemical and biological parameters to define the water quality of their testing sites.

PHASE II: Watershed Mapping and Land Use Assessment

Students are given the opportunity to explore their watershed through the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) maps. Using the ESRI educational software “Mapping Our World Using GIS”, students learn to:

• Use and create GIS maps
• Import local data about their own watersheds
• Use Global Positioning System (GPS) units to locate their water quality testing sites
• Post water quality and macroinvertebrate data on the maps
• Share that data with the local community and other watershed schools

This process can facilitate discussion about how human activities may impact the watershed and therefore the river and allows for sharing of data within and between watersheds.

PHASE III: Aquatic Resource Management

As an extension of studying the river, students can raise trout or salmon eggs in the classroom (through the Trout in the Classroom and the Adopt-A-Salmon programs) or study the behavior of fish with a warm water fish tank (Simulating a N.H. River Ecosystem). To find out more about the Trout in the Classroom, view the short video at right by clicking on the arrow; to download a N.H. Wildlife Journal article about the Trout in the Classroom Program, click here.

Electrofishing: Students get to become fisheries biologists for a day to study the aquatic resources of a river onsite by helping "electrofish."New Hampshire Fish and Game staff will allow the students to experience fish sampling techniques, to perform a habitat assessment, and to collect, identify, and measure freshwater fish species.

For further information on signing up for the Watershed Education Program at your school, contact Watershed Education Specialist Judy Tumosa at judy.l.tumosa@wildlife.nh.gov or call (603) 271-0456.

Watershed Ecology Institute

Watershed Ecology Institute (WEI) This two-week two college credit institute (UNH) for middle and high school teachers explores the interdependence of elements in a watershed. Each day focuses on a different aquatic ecosystem with hands-on, inquiry and experiential learning in both the field and classroom setting. The course offers techniques for applying science in real-world situations. For information, contact Watershed Education Specialist Judy Tumosa at judy.l.tumosa@wildlife.nh.gov or (603) 271-0456.
 

Watershed Education programs are funded in part by the Federal Sport Fish Restoration Program, supported by your purchases of angling equipment and supplies and motorboat fuels. Click here to learn more.

The NH Fish and Game Department receives Federal Assistance from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and thus prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, age and sex, pursuant to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975. If you believe you have been discriminated against in any program, activity or service, please contact or write the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration, 4001 N. Fairfax Drive, Mail Stop: WSFR - 4020, Arlington, Virginia 22203, Attention: Civil Rights Coordinator for Public Programs.