Anderson Valley Unified School District Education and Outreach Program

Connecting To Creeks is a program that started in 2005 with Tobacco Settlement Funds. Funding for the program has since lapsed, but lessons were usually during the last month of school after STAR testing is done, the creek flows are slowing down, the weather is nice, and kids are dying to get outside and LEARN!

This curriculum was created by staff at the Navarro River Resource Center/Mendocino County Resource Conservation District specifically for this program as a means to get students familiar with and excited about the riparian (streamside) environment,  which is so easily accessed by the creek trails located out the back doors of the classrooms at both Anderson Valley Schools!

Kirk Vodopals (Hydrologist for Mendocino Redwood Company) leading a Biology class in Visual Stream Habitat Assessment unit in Anderson Creek, 2012.

The Connecting to Creeks curriculum is based around four or five mini-units (depending on time and scheduling):

• Week One- Watershed 101 and Orientation to Robinson Creek Restoration Project and Native/Invasive Plant I.D.
• Week Two- Visual Stream Habitat Survey, included “planting” native leaf packs in both Robinson and Anderson creeks to gather and collecting macro-invertebrates.
• Week Three- Salmonid Life Cycle and Habitat needs
• Week Four-  Native Bird Walk
• Week Five- Macro-Invertebrate Survey, leaf packs are brought into the classroom and sorted through, M.I.’s are sorted, identified by family groups and counted.

This last class is one of the most exciting, bringing biodiversity and life into the classroom setting, blowing the lid off the ceiling of the classroom and opening the students minds to the importance of macro-invertebrates  and their value as indicators  of water quality and overall health of the stream environment and watershed.

Some time is always spent and encouraged for students to spend quietly contemplating and observing nature and becoming aware of their surroundings during Connecting to Creeks.

Local community experts are invited to come in and lead walks, add curriculum support, and career modeling for Biology classes. Bill Sterling is pictured above leading a  bird walk with students along Robinson Creek, 2012.

Anderson Valley Elementary School- Con Creek H20 Quality Monitoring

For years, 4th grade teacher Vicky Brock has been leading weekly forays with a group of her students down to Con Creek to do water quality monitoring and testing. They have taken this data and turned it into successful Science Projects– numerous years they have won awards for their work at the County Science Fair.