Adopt -A-Watershed-This site has
developed A K-12 Curriculum for exploring watersheds.
American Heritage Rivers Initiative - An
site dedicated to supporting President Clintons recent initiative to empower
communities to preserve historic and cultural river heritage. The site offers
information about developing and implementing the initiative. The site will have
a national information and communications network to share information among
groups.
American Rivers -
has the premier organization active in
restoring America's rivers. This web site contains the listing of the most
endangered American rivers, the latest strategies for saving and nurturing
rivers. The site contains much information and many links.
Clean Water Network
- An organization of over a
1000 members dedicated to upholding and strengthening the Clean Water Act. A
link to grassroots member groups in every state.
The
Clean Water Network (CWN). The CWN is an alliance of more than 1,000
organizations that endorse its platform paper, the National
Agenda for Clean Water, that outlines the need for strong clean water
safeguards to protect human health and the environment.
International River Network
- An organization
dedicated to helping people organize to protect and restore the rivers of the
world.
Mississippi River
Basin Alliance - A St. Louis based organization that serves as an umbrella
for grassroots organizations committed to nurturing the Mississippi River basin.
Mississippi River Cooperative
Resource Association - An organization dedicated to promoting information
and research on the Mississippi River.
The National River Cleanup Week is held annually and is organized by American Outdoors America Outdoors is a national non-profit trade association representing 600 outfitting businesses and equipment manufacturers.
The
Nature Conservancy is easy to navigate and has information on many science
topics. This organization is a major player in saving riverine habitat along the
Illinois River.
River
Industry Action Committee - A river industry organization that promotes safe
navigation on river systems, this site links you to other organizations and to
the US Army Corps of Engineers.
River
Network - An organization dedicated to helping people organize to protect
and restore rivers and watersheds.
River Revival
- A web site about
restoring American Rivers by removing dams.
Riversearch helps you find river-floating organizations all over the
World.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a leading content provider for public interest groups and concerned citizens who are campaigning to protect the environment. Sections such as the Dirty Money Laundering and Chemical Industry Archives make this an interesting go-to site for current information.
The Leopold Education Project is an innovative, interdisciplinary, critical thinking, conservation and environmental education curriculum based on the classic writings of the renowned conservationist, Aldo Leopold.
NRDC Study of Bottled Water
State Environmental Organizations
Big Rivers is a magazine about the Upper Mississippi River. Connections can be made to other sites and to their calendar of Upper Mississippi River Events
Chicago Wilderness -
Is an
organization of 54 Chicago area groups working together as stewards for
200,000 acres of natural areas in the metropolitan area.
Chicago Paddling is
one of the foremost canoeing sites with lots of information for area canoeists
ECOWATCH
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has developed a program for
volunteers to monitor forests, prairies, soils, streams, wetlands, and
urban ecosystems. This program is related to Plan It Illinois.
Ed.Web visitors can access
maps, general information about the Delaware River Watershed, educational
resources and lesson plans, environmental field trip ideas, and educational
opportunities.
Choose Environmental Excellence -
Gateway Region lists St. Louis area recycling information along with
information on water, air and other areas of pollution concern.
Equipment LaMotte Company
has a wide range of water and soil testing kits. We regularly use their
turbidity kit.
Friends of the Chicago
River is probably the best river support organization in America. Chris
Parsons runs the education program and can be reached through the web site.
Friends of the Mississippi River- A St. Paul
based organization that serves to nurture and improve the Mississippi River. For
the time being it is focused in the MN area.
The
Illinois
EPA has (LEAP) grants
that support teachers in lake monitoring. Proposals can be submitted twice a
year. Proposals can be submitted for amounts up to $500
Illinois
Watershed Maps are
available free.
Other Illinois maps are also available.
The Illinois Natural History Survey has documentation on the mussels
of Illinois going back 175 years. Mussels across the state are becoming
endangered and dramatic declines in the 79 known species are being noted.
Curator Kevin Cummings has placed pictures of mussels found in the collections.
Links to other sites are also available.
MSD
Storm Drain Stenciling
Missouri
Stream Teams: The Missouri Stream teams
program is one of the best volunteer monitoring programms in the country.
The Mississippi River Museum is located in Dubuque, Iowa. The Museum keeps getting bigger and better as does the web site. Any historical study of rivers should involve a stop here.
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation has a great set of pictures of benthic invertebrates and an identification key.
For those who live along the Ohio River, the ORSANCO web site is important. Schools that belong to the organization find support for monitoring the Ohio and tributaries.
Prairie Rivers Network
strives to protect the rivers and streams of Illinois and to promote
the lasting health and beauty of watershed communities. If you want to know
about Illinois Rivers this is the group.
Univ. of Arizona
- An
impressive array of web links to water related organizations.
West Virginia K-12 RuralNet
Project - Student sites for river monitoring.
Adopt-A-Watershed
provides schools with an integrated, sequential, K-12 science curriculum focused
on the local environment and emphasizing service in partnership with the
community.
Busy Teachers Web
Site - Has many environmental resources and crosslinks to organizations in
every state.
COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS AT CIESE (Center for Improved Engineering & Science
Education at Stevens Institute of Technology) offers collaborative projects on a
variety of subjects including human genetics, water use, water quality, boiling
points, sunlight and temperature, pond organisms and schoolyard habitats.
CLEO (Collaborative Learning Environments On-line) is a data-sharing portal
that provides tools for students to analyze, share and discuss data. The site
includes a library of open projects that anyone can join, or new projects can be
posted. CLEO was developed by TERC in Cambridge, MA.
Healthy Water, Healthy People is a national water quality education program offered to secondary and upper elementary teachers with innovative, interactive activities developed under the same format as Project Wet.
The
Hillsdale-Lenawee-Monroe Mathematics, Science & Technology Center
has developed a great web site. Check out Tom Green’s work with water quality,
prairies, virtual tours of a marsh and lots of information about frogs and
other amphibians.
Internet
Watershed Educational Tool
(InterWET) was developed to educate local
officials and other concerned citizens about water resources. The process
uses the internet to explore watershed problems.
KanCRN
(Kansas Collaborative Research Network) includes an impressive number of
sophisticated programs such as monitoring of ozone, streams, wintering birds,
and lichen coverage. The program was established with a 1998 US Department of
Education Technology Innovation Challenge Grant. The Kansas City Kansas Public
Schools is the local education agency for the grant.
Kentucky Water Watch and Student Testing Programs - Student sites for
river monitoring.
National Science Resource Center - Sponsored by the Smithsonian
Institution and the National Academy of Sciences, this site has multiple
information for both teachers and students.
National
Wildlife Federation Water Ed
The National Wildlife week 2000,
Water for Life: Keep the Wild Alive, consists of ten lesson plans. The
lessons are on the web site for you to download.
National Environmental Education and
Training Foundation (NEETF) - This organization conducts a survey each
year. The National Report Card on Environmental Knowledge, Attitudes, and
Behaviors is reported.
The National
Hydropower Association has developed a water related curriculum
called “Water Works: A Question of Balance”. The activities offer students an
opportunity to explore how "Water Works". In the United States, about 12% of
our electricity is generated by hydropower.
Plan It Earth- An Illinois State Board of Education
program for environmental monitoring with cross links to many other
organizations. Lessons for teachers in six areas: Forests, Prairies,
Streams, Soil, Urban, and Wetlands.
Project Learning Tree -
is an interdisciplinary supplementary
environmental and conservation program for educators of kindergarten through
high school aged young people. The focus of the activities remains on the
living wild flora, especially, trees.
Project Wet - An
inter-disciplinary environmental education curriculum organization dedicated
to the study of water.
Project WILD -
is an interdisciplinary
supplementary environmental and conservation program for educators of
kindergarten through high school aged young people. The focus of the
activities remains on the living wild fauna.
River
Resources - A place where students of rivers can explore river resources.
Connections to facts, books, and people. An interdisciplinary resource that
encourages students to study all aspects of rivers including literature,
folklore, history, ecology, and music.
Rivers
of Life is
a flood of projects, adventures, and resources to help K-12 teachers and
students learn about and from their watershed. River of Life is housed at Hamlin University
in St. Paul, MN. It has focused much effort on the Mississippi but has
other web based programs for teachers and students. Lots of good links
too.
SPLASHD (Students in a Project-Based Learning Approach to Schoolyard Habitat
Development) ONLINE includes a large number of projects at different
grade levels such as investigating the schoolyard habitat, identifying animal
signs and soil types, measuring air quality, surface temperatures and lung
capacity, and determining the physical and chemical weathering of different
substances. SPLASHD is an activity of the St. Clair County Regional Office of
Education in Illinois.
The US EPA invites teachers to participate in the Environmental Youth Award Program. Recognize your efforts and accomplishments. Each region gives the award. Award applications for Region V are available at
The US Fish and Wildlife Service has a totally cool, LIVE interactive distance learning satellite adventure that takes a look at invasive species that are impacting our ecosystems.
University of Wisconsin Extension has a web site that lists most of the Environmental Education curricula available. Much information can be garnered from this site.
The University of Wisconsin Extension program has an extensive web site that provides information about water quality and natural resources education programs in Wisconsin.
The Volunteer Monitor newsletter is an EPA sponsored publication that helps share information with groups who monitor. The newsletter is available electronically.
Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI) is a major provider of Geographic Information System (GIS) software. The links listed allow you to access their school related programs.
LaMotte Company has a wide range of water and soil testing kits. We regularly use their turbidity kit.
US Government Services
EPA Resources for
Non-Profit Organizations - This web site features assistance to groups
wanting to get involved in environmental issues. Contains information on
accessing environmental data, finding Agency programs and contacts, and
getting other EPA resources.
The Fema Flood Map Store
helps locate areas of flooding across the US by going to their web site. Maps
can be ordered there.
A Nationwide River Inventory is now online! The National Park Service has a Nationwide River Inventory available on line. It lists more than 3,400 free-flowing river segments in the United States that are believed to possess one or more "outstandingly remarkable" natural or cultural values judged to be of more than local or regional significance.
National Biological Information
Infrastructure, NBII), a USGS-led initiative, is dedicated to the development of
an electronic "federation" of biological data and information sources. Its
success rests on a growing network of partners who share biological information.
The goal of the NBII is to provide swift user access to biological databases,
information products, directories, and guides maintained by Federal, State, and
local government agencies, non-government institutions, and private sector
organizations in the United States and around the world.
The
National
Park Service
has a list of river information as well as links to
most organizations that will support your visit to a river.
The river information section is very helpful with river facts and
quotes.
National
Water Quality Assessment Program A US Geological Survey program consisting
of 59 study units which provide a framework for national water quality
assessment. Provides lots of resources for particular areas of the US.
The
National Weather
Service provides daily river forecasts on this site—including flood
stage and drought information for the Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri,
and Ohio river basins.
US Environmental
Protection Agency - The US EPA has volunteer monitoring procedures for
citizens and monitoring groups. The US EPA also has software
on environmental
issues and has a site allowing you to surf
your watershed. The EPA also maintains a site with their must up to date Rapid
Bioassessment Protocols.
The US EPA
has water monitoring instructional pages that would make a great addition to the
Rivers Project curriculum units. You can download the information.
The US EPA has under its Office
of Science and Technology three links:
Basins – provides information on a watershed basis;
Beach Watch -- provides information on beach conditions around the country;
National Water Quality Standards Database (WQSDB) provides a single
point of access to EPA and state water quality standards (WQS) information.
Purcahsing
Maps from the USGS :
http://mapping.usgs.gov/esic/usimage/dealers.html
http://mapping.usgs.gov/www/products/1product.html
http://rockyweb.cr.usgs.gov/public/outreach/featureindex.html
http://mapping.usgs.gov/www/products/1product.html
Real-Time Water Data is
available through this USGS site.
The TopoZone is the
Web's center for topographic map users and outdoor recreation enthusiasts. We've
worked with the USGS to create the Web's first interactive topographic map of
the entire United States. You can view a map of any place in the country at
different zoom levels and sizes, and print an endless supply of free maps to use
in the field. We've got every USGS 1:100,000, 1:25,000, and 1:24,000 scale map
for the entire United States."
Weather.Gov
allows you to check the weather anywhere.
Other Interesting Links
Virtual
river sites
http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Cyberia/RiverWeb
http://vcourseware.sonoma.edu/VirtualRiver/Flooding
University of Florida center for Aquatic Plants and Invasive Plants has links here to Univ. of Florida Herbarium and many more plant links.
This Canadian site has everything you want to know about biting flies, many of which are aquatic benthic macroinvertebrates. This site can also lead you to hundreds of links on agricultural related research and information.
The Dead Zone is directly tied to the waters of the Midwest.Take some time to learn about the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico through activities, animations, movies, and more. This product of the Science Museum of Minnesota is worth your attention.
NatureServe is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals, and ecological communities of the United States and Canada.
The University of Virginia has developed on-line stream study
information. The Stream Study provides a method to determine the water quality
of a stream based on the collection and identification of stream-bottom
macroinvertebrates
Virtual Library of Ecology & Biodiversity A remarkable collection of
links on environmental topics.