Youth Learning

We inform, engage and inspire young people to be stewards of the environment.

rain garden planting
Roseville Area Middle School students helped plant a rain garden, one of six school projects funded in part by a Clean Water Fund grant.
Youth volunteers planted native grasses for our Keller Creek restoration project.

We develop and customize lesson plans and service learning activities for K-12 students, both inside the classroom and (especially!) out in the field. We connect students to projects happening in our watershed, highlight local issues, and organize field trips to empower youth with the tools to improve and protect water resources.

Invite us to your school to teach one or more of the following lessons, which can be customized to your location and age group. Or suggest another topic of relevance for you.

Here are some lessons we offer:

  • Watershed Mapping: Follow how water flows in your subwatershed. How have land changes over time impacted water quality?
  • Save our Lakes, Wetlands and Creeks: Reduce pollution and runoff.
  • Grow Native Plants: Increase pollinator habitat and keep waters clean.
    Student holding carp on frozen lake
    Students got a firsthand look at carp control during a winter netting project on the Phalen Chain of Lakes.
  • Growing Native Plants from Seeds: Improve your yard and community.
  • Rain Gardens: Design and create them in your neighborhood or at school.
  • Carp Control: Solving the mystery of invasive carp and water quality.
  • Protect Our Pollinators: Bee friendly and butterfly happy.
  • Smart Salting: Protect our waters from chloride pollution.
  • Groundwater 101: Keep groundwater safe and plentiful.
  • Water Quality Monitoring: Learn to use tools in the classroom and in the field.
  • Climate Change: What are the challenges? What can you do?
  • The Watershed Game: Group interactive tool about land use, stakeholders and water quality.

 

 

For ways to engage young people in watershed learning and stewardship, contact Watershed Education Specialist Sage Passi.

Resources for educators

There is an array of websites and programs available to teach young people about watershed topics. Here are the resources we use and recommend:

Project WET

Project Learning Tree

Center for Global Environmental Education

Rivers Institute

National Wildlife Federation Schoolyard Habitat Program

Monarchs in the Classroom, Sarah Weaver

H2O for Life

National Parks Service Big River Journey

Metro Children’s Water Festival

Blue-Thumb – Planting for Clean Water

Freshwater Society

Friends of the Mississippi River

The Watershed Game

WaterFest