Resource Area for Teachers: RAFT's workshop program is designed to enrich the classrooms of Bay Area teachers by facilitating the practice of hands-on learning across the curriculum. RAFT material-based workshops are unique as each workshop attendee receives RAFT materials to support their implementation of the activities shared in the class. We also support the integration of technology into the curriculum through "hands on the computer" classes in our computer lab. These practical and informative classes are offered in a comfortable setting by instructors who are very familiar with technology in the classroom setting.

Wacky Watersheds Workshop:  Here’s the perfect workshop to help middle school educators answer these questions and involve students in watershed protection through hands-on learning! The City of San Jose has developed South Bay Water Connections, educational activities that focus on issues affecting our local Santa Clara Basin watershed. The City of San Jose will be offering a few Wacky Watersheds Workshops throughout the year. Participants will receive a FREE South Bay Water Connections education packet that’s filled with science, language arts, and math activities -- all correlated to the California Content Standards for grades 6-8. Three videos and two posters are also included. Contact Jennifer Durkin at 408-277-5386 for further information on up-coming workshop dates.

The Watershed Project - The Watershed Project offers courses for educators and for the general public.  Our educator-focused courses provides inventive curriculum related to school gardens and creek programs for K-12 teachers and other educators.

Guadalupe River Park & Gardens: The Guadalupe River Park & Gardens is a natural oasis in the middle of downtown San Jose that connects nature with science, history, art and recreation. Field trip destinations can be scheduled at most any area within Guadalupe River Park & Gardens or can include an educational tour along any or all of the sections. Most of the field trips are science based, with lessons about the river and our watershed the dominant theme. There is a fee for the field trips and transportation is not included.

If you are interested in booking a field trip, please go to our website:  www.grpg.org or call (408) 298-7657 for more information.

Watershed Watch Assembly:  Click here for more information about Watershed Watch's school education and outreach program featuring ZunZun.  NOTE: you must have Acrobat Reader to view this document. 

Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose
Direct link: http://www.cdm.org

Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose provides a two-hour visit for school field trips. CDM is a hands-on museum with over 150 interactive exhibits and programs that provide children an opportunity to touch, explore and investigate what they see around them.  Guided tours are not available, but chaperones and students are encouraged to explore and discover at their own pace.

Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge
Direct link: http://desfbay.fws.gov/environ.htm

Have you discovered the joys of teaching in the outdoors? Would you like expert assistance in teaching your students about ecology, wetlands, and the environment? Bring your class to one of the nation's largest urban wildlife refuges for your next field trip. It's fun, it's interesting, and your students will remember what they learn at the refuge for years to come.

San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory
Direct Link:  http://www.sfbbo.org/Education.html

This year SFBBO will offer a series of morning walks to explore birds and their habitats around South San Francisco Bay. SFBBO will pay special attention to salt ponds as current and future restoration sites.

San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory
Direct Link: http://www.sfbbo.org/Bird%20Banding%20Demo.html

For almost twenty years, volunteers and scientists have collaborated on environmental research at the Coyote Creek Field Station as part of our Landbird Program. The primary tool that researchers use at the Field Station is the capture and release of banded birds. Visitors to the station learn about bird banding and its role in conservation science.

Happy Hollow Park and Zoo
Direct link: http://www.hhpz.org/edu/progs.php

Each 45-60 minute class includes hands-on activities, the use of biofacts (biological artifacts) unique to Zoo education, and an animal presentation. With the exception of Go Wild! (taught by Docents) all classes are taught by a Happy Hollow Education Specialist.

Gilroy Gardens
Direct Link: http://www.gilroygardens.org/">

A one-of-a-kind experience combining four unique gardens and amusements rides with the mid-20th century history and agricultural roots of Santa Clara Valley.

Santa Clara Valley Water District
Direct link: http://www.valleywater.org

Coyote Creek Outdoor Classroom
William Street, San Jose, Grades 3+
Debuted in 2001, the Coyote Creek Outdoor Classroom lies on a site where massive flooding destroyed three homes in 1997. Now, the site has been transformed into a unique educational setting. The tour and interactive lessons focus on a natural stream habitat, sampling water from a groundwater monitoring well and plantings that feature native trees and shrubs as well as drought-tolerant gardening.  To schedule a visit to the classroom, e-mail or call Kathy Machado at (408) 265-2607 ext. 2331.

Alamitos Groundwater Recharge Facility
5750 Almaden Expwy., San Jose, Grades 3+
This one-hour tour includes a percolation pond, gravel dam, weather station, drop structure and spillway. Lessons include the water cycle, purposes of dams and reservoirs, and water conservation. To schedule, contact Kathy Machado at (408) 265-2607 ext. 2331.

Palo Alto Regional Water Quality Control Plant
Direct link: http://www.city.palo-alto.ca.us/cleanbay/

Students learn about how water pollution affects the plants and animals in local creeks. They participate in activities to discover how pollution from urban areas ends in the creeks and how they can reduce water pollution. The relationships between creeks, wetlands, and the watershed are also studied.

South Bay Water Recycling
Direct link: http://www.ci.san-jose.ca.us/sbwr

Slow the Flow
South Bay Water Recycling’s free Slow the Flow Program is conducted at the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Alviso. Students (5th – 12th graders) explore the concepts of water use, wastewater treatment, and habitat protection. Staff can also arrange in-class presentations. Call Carrie Wright at (408) 262-5513 or visit the web site.

Water Awareness Program
A popular program offered to 5th through 7th graders. City of San José Park Rangers visit the classroom and conduct fun and exciting activities focused on preventing pollution to our neighborhood creeks. Contact Roger Abe at the Ranger office at 408-277-5130 or 408-997-2035 (fax) for scheduling.

Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society
Direct link: http://www.scvas.org

Wetlands Discovery Program
Produced by the SCVAS Education Committee, the Wetlands Discovery Program teaches 4th- and 5th-graders the value of and threats to seasonal wetlands and salt-water marshes. SCVAS volunteers accompany classes on field trips to wetland areas in South San Francisco Bay. SCVAS provides teaching curricula and suggestions for activities for both before and after the field trip, as well as binoculars for children to use during the field trip. Financial assistance may be available for transportation of classes to and from field trip areas.  For more information, contact the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society at 408.252.3747 or scvas@scvas.org.

School Field Trips to McClellan Ranch
SCVAS welcomes scout troops and school groups to their headquarters at McClellan Ranch Park. Staff or volunteers take the children out on the trail around the park to teach them about the importance of creeks and about the birds, trees, and plants that are found in the creek environment.  For more information, contact the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society at 408.252.3747 or scvas@scvas.org.

BioSITE - Through the BioSITE program, over 500 students in the San Jose Unified School District are involved in a comprehensive environmental program focused on the banks of the Guadalupe River, where students collect and test water samples, look for plant and animal species, and document their findings.

Adopt a Watershed uses a local watershed as a living laboratory in which students engage in hands-on activities, making science applicable and relevant to their lives.
 
Environmentality Challenge All 5th grade classes are invited to compete in Disney's partnership with CDE to incorporate environmentality-thinking at school, at home, and in the community.

EPA Kids' Web Page The Kids' page is designed for children ages 5-12 and contains information on air, water, recycling, plants and animals, and general environmental education. It also provides art and games on various environmental issues that can be downloaded.

EPA Students' Web Page Students' Web page is designed for students age 12 and older and offers more advanced environmental information. It also provides opportunities to participate in various environmental programs, information on awards, competitions and environmental careers and research activities.

EPA Teachers' Web Page The Teachers' Web Page provides students and teachers with current, accurate, and reliable environmental information. The page will provide teachers with information on environmental issues and grant information, as well as facts from the EPA Library and direct-link page to other environmental Web sites.
 
KidMAX for California's Schools KidMAX provides a source of free or inexpensive used materials to California's schools.

Project Wet - The Water Education Foundation is your resource for information about water resource issues.

Santa Clara Valley Water District Resources for Teachers and Students  A guide to the full range of educational programs offered by the SCVWD for both teachers and students.

Exploring the Environment is a series of interdisciplinary, problem-based learning (PBL) modules for high school students. The project engages student teams in addressing real-world problems related to weather, population growth, biodiversity, land use patterns, volcanoes, water pollution, and global warming.

Educational Resources Database – The Educational Resources Database provides an invaluable resource to use in planning activities for students and teachers.  Field trip locations, assembly presentations, workshops and more are detailed in this database.

West Valley Clean Water Program Cartoon - NOTE: you must have Acrobat Reader to view this document.  Holiday gift wrap cartoon.

Los Angeles Unified School District - 2nd Largest School District & California Safe Schools Provide Information and Link for Successful Integrated Pest Management Policy!

Mercury In Schools - In 1999, University of Wisconsin Extension’s Solid and Hazardous Waste Education Center (SHWEC) provides information about the mercury in schools project.

The Watershed Project - Since 1987, the Watershed Project (formerly the Aquatic Outreach Institute) has assisted hundreds of teachers and thousands of students in preventing pollution and protecting and restoring local natural resources.  We have involved thousands of members of the general public in education, restoration, and outreach projects.

Protecting Our Water: who's got the power?
Abstract: Protecting Our Water: who’s go the power? is a wonderful overview of many of the problems affecting our watersheds today. Whether you live in a watershed in Pennsylvania or Delaware, or somewhere beyond or in-between, you’ll find this production a positive educational resource and overview of what a watershed is and why it is such a sensitive yet powerful system. Along with watershed dynamics, the basics of groundwater recharge and how impervious surfaces affect our water supplies is also discussed, as well as issues like our changing landscape and how every change we make to our land affects our water. The video further delves into essential information related to protecting stream ecology, and what leaf litter and small stream organisms can tell us about the health of a stream.
Author: Delaware Nature Society / Watersheds.tv
Publication Date: 1998
External URL: http://www.greentreks.org/watershedstv/smil/ws_wk131.ram

We All Live Downstream
Abstract: Examines urban and rural runoff and the problems it creates for America's surface and groundwater supplies. Also offers tips that can help people reduce nonpoint source pollution in watersheds across the country. For information on purchasing a copy of this video, click here.
Author: Oregon State University Extension Service
Publication Date: 1996
External URL: http://instruct.orst.edu:8082/ramgen/dbase/0000167/downstream.
rm

Broken Mercury Thermometer Video (56k)
Abstract: (56k version) A video showing vapors from a broken mercury thermometer in UV light.
Author: Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
Publication Date: Unknown
External URL: http://www.deq.state.mi.us/documents/deq-ead-p2-mercury-m-Ther
mometerVapors.wmv

IPM In Schools
Abstract: This introductory video is a positive resource to learn more about Integrated Pest Management (IPM), and to encourage schools and communities to learn more about the program. The IPM program involves identifying problem areas for pests and then utilizes a variety of techniques to rid them from community buildings such as schools. The positive aspect of the removal process is that pesticides and toxic chemicals are used only when absolutely necessary. The IPM program makes economic and environmental sense not only for school buildings, but for community buildings as well. The following program visits two Pennsylvania school districts to learn how they have implemented the IPM program, and the positive results that have followed.
Author: Penn State University / Watersheds.tv
Publication Date: 1996
External URL: http://www.greenworks.tv/watershedstv/smil/ws_wk153.ram

Keepin' It All Clean… in the Oil Patch
Abstract: "Keepin' It All Clean… in the Oil Patch" is five minutes of fun, action packed learning about pollution prevention and waste minimization for oil and gas exploration and production field workers, including these tips: Cover up chemicals; Use and recycle absorbent clean-up pads; Fix the soil to clean up spills; Don't waste water; Stop all leaks; Use drip pans and empty properly; Recycle wood, newspaper, paper, glass, cardboard, aluminum, and other metals; Use all paint, pipe dope, and chemicals; Recycle motor oil; Maintain equipment and monitor procedures.
Author: National Environmental Training Association
Publication Date: 1994

• Ten things students can do to protect our Watershed

• Field Trip Opportunities

• West Valley Clean Water Program Cartoon - NOTE: you must have Acrobat Reader to view this document.  Holiday gift wrap cartoon.

• A Kid's Guide To Backyard Bugs (Acrobat Reader required)

• Take the Kids' Watershed Quiz!

EPA Kids' Web Page The Kids' page is designed for children ages 5-12 and contains information on air, water, recycling, plants and animals, and general environmental education. It also provides art and games on various environmental issues that can be downloaded.

EPA Students' Web Page Students' Web page is designed for students age 12 and older and offers more advanced environmental information. It also provides opportunities to participate in various environmental programs, information on awards, competitions and environmental careers and research activities.

Santa Clara Valley Water District Resources for Teachers and Students  A guide to the full range of educational programs offered by the SCVWD for both teachers and students.

Educational Resources Database – The Educational Resources Database provides an invaluable resource to use in planning activities for students and teachers.  Field trip locations, assembly presentations, workshops and more are detailed in this database.