North Central Education Program and Resources
About this page
North Central Waterwatch's school-based education program, River Detectives has been engaging school students across the region in river health issues since 2004.
River Detectives
The River Detectives program is designed to help upper primary and lower secondary school students learn about river health and water quality in relation to their local waterways in a ‘hands on’ and meaningful way. Students across the North Central catchment can participate in this eight month water quality monitoring program, performing chemical and physical tests each month on water collected from a nominated waterbody. They can also choose to participate in an extra monthly activities which are linked to their school curriculum and compliments the waterway monitoring program.
Each participating school receives a water-testing kit capable of measuring: temperature, EC, turbidity, pH and reactive phosphate. The kits remain the property of North Central Waterwatch and must be returned at the end of the school year. Kits will be reassigned the following year, after facilitators have conducted full inspection and maintenance. Schools with poor monitoring records may forfeit access to a water-testing kit if demand from new schools is high.
Participating teachers are offered training at the beginning and middle of each school year, and are supported in the classroom with the provision of River Detectives resources. Waterwatch staff get many requests to visit schools and run activities – schools participating in the River Detectives program take priority when allocating facilitator time.
River Detectives information booklet.pdf (300kb)
River Detectives - Teacher Manual.pdf (4mb)
River Detectives - Student Workbook.pdf (6mb)
River Detectives testing chart.pdf (200kb)
For more information about the River Detectives program, resources and support, please contact the team at North Central Waterwatch.
Factsheets and Posters
The North Central Waterwatch team have various factsheets and posters explaining river health and freshwater ecology issues. These materials are fabulous tools for teacher and provide quick and 'easy to read' information. Please let us know if you would like materials developed for any other river health topics!
Large Woody Debris factsheet.pdf (280kb)
Foam poster.pdf (220kb)
Algae factsheet.pdf (730kb)
Macroinvertebrate factsheet.pdf (140kb)
Aquatic habitats factsheet.pdf (430kb)
Aquatic habitats poster.pdf (430kb)
