RIVER CAMP! Virtual Education Series
Finding yourself in an education program at your kitchen table and backyard? RIVER CAMP! is a compilation of K-12 education resources.
* Videos are created with smartphones during the time of stay-at-home protocols.
River Nature Walk
Featured May 27, 2020
Benefits of Bees
Featured May 20, 2020
Did you know that there are an estimated 700 native bee species in Texas? In fact, many plant species rely on specific bee species for pollination. The Bees of Central Texas is a guide from the University of Texas’ Jha Lab and its collaborating partners that provide useful identification clues for bees. You can also learn how to survey bee populations near you!
Fascinating Facts about Native Grasses
Featured May 13, 2020
If Nerf balls, battleship games, and games of tag sound fun to your family, why not learn while playing games at the same time?
The University of Northern Iowa’s Tallgrass Prairie Center has a wealth of incredibly fun and engaging lesson plans that teach kids of various ages all about the importance of native grasses.
Fish Stories
Featured May 8, 2020
Channel Catfish are native fish species in the San Antonio River and they have many unique adaptations to survive and thrive in the San Antonio River. Conduct family research on the other kinds of fish that live in our river.
River Authority scientists monitor how the fish species are faring to gauge the health of the river.
Don’t forget, fishing in the river is a fun family activity.
Pervious vs Impervious Surfaces
Featured May 6, 2020
This is a hands-on lesson that you can do at home to study the difference between pervious and impervious surfaces. You’ll be surprised how beneficial increased pervious surface in a neighborhood can help the San Antonio River and your neighborhood, alike!
Neighborhood Nature Walk pt 2
Featured May 1, 2020
What did you see on your neighborhood hike?
Using an interactive and free app called iNaturalist SEEK, children can get outside, explore and learn fun facts about the nature all around them. They can identify wildlife and plants and take pictures to earn badges.
Suggested activities on SEEK, based on skill– Observe a plant, an insect, a bird, or pick your favorite species and share a few facts about it. Go on a scavenger hunt. Photograph a plant/animal interaction, photograph an animal’s home, photograph animal clues like tracks and nests, photograph something of a certain color, or just make up your own criteria. Whatever it is, remember to be curious and have fun!
Neighborhood Nature Journals
Featured April 29, 2020
Want a cool tool to help create mindful moments of curiosity at your neighborhood park? Kids and grownups alike can start a nature journal anytime to build reflection, writing, research, and art skills.
Keeping a Nature Diary or Journal can deepen awareness and connections with the natural world and the San Antonio River Watershed. Keep your five senses alert, then draw and write your observations anytime you find yourself walking around your neighborhood or River Authority Parks.
For ideas on journaling and fun nature activities, check out Compass to Nature, for a comprehensive educational resource from the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center.
Be a Citizen Scientist!
Featured April 24, 2020
The San Antonio River Authority has a citizen science program that is part of a global community. You can become a volunteer Citizen Scientist and start collecting important, research-grade data right now! No experience necessary. Simply use your smartphone to download and sign-up on iNaturalist.org for free! Once you’re in, be sure to join San Antonio River Projects.
Check out the River Authority’s Backyard Bio-blitz from April 24-27 2020! Look at the #backyardbioblitz tag and tag us on social media @sanantonioriver.
What is great, too, is that we use the data in our bird studies, our monitoring of the success of the ecosystem restoration along the San Antonio River, and help provide information into wildlife migration. It is simple and FUN!
MONARCH BUTTERFLY MONITORING
Did you know that millions of Monarch Butterflies migrate thousands of miles from the Northeast United States to the oyamel fir forests of Central Mexico to spend the winter? San Antonio, Texas is in their southward and northward migratory path. Our San Antonio River offers a rest stop for these amazing insects. Beginning in April through October, Monarchs may be seen along the San Antonio River and throughout the river’s watershed sipping the nectar from its flowers or laying hundreds of eggs on the leaves of native milkweed.
Would you like to participate as a citizen scientist? Journey North is studying the migratory patterns of the Monarch butterflies and asks others to report sightings on their website. You’ll learn all about this butterfly’s journey, its life cycle, the importance of the data you collect, and even other butterfly species that look a lot like them.
Earth Day River Pride
Featured April 22, 2020
There are many things we can do to keep our planet, including the San Antonio River, healthy. This game of bingo encourages students and their families to perform actions that will benefit the environment.
Nature Diaries: Barn Swallows
Featured April 17, 2020
Neighborhood Nature Scavenger Hunt
Featured April 15, 2020
Families can become a citizen scientist with no experience necessary!
While collecting your scavenger hunt sightings you can also become a part of a citizen science program that is part of a global community. Start collecting important, research-grade data right now! Simply use your smartphone to download and sign-up on iNaturalist.org for free! Once you’re in, be sure to join San Antonio River Projects.
What is great, too, is that scientists locally and globally use the data in research studies about wildlife migration patterns, monitoring rare species, species distribution, and much more! It is simple and FUN!
Nature Diaries: Texas Bluebonnets
Featured April 10, 2020
A day in nature is composed of a million trivial events, scarcely noticeable in the midst of our normal busy lives. Keeping a Nature Diary or Journal can deepen awareness and connections with the natural world and the San Antonio River Watershed. Keep your five senses alert, then draw and write your observations anytime you find yourself walking around your neighborhood.
For ideas on journaling and fun nature activities, check out Compass to Nature, for a comprehensive educational resource from the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center.
Precious Proportion: An Investigation of All the Water in the World
Featured April 8, 2020
Visualizing the amount or volume of “all the water in the world” can be difficult due to the scale of our planet Earth. This hands-on activity allows students to create their own model of distribution to understand just how much drinkable water there is on our planet, and how critical it is to keep it clean.
*Video activity is modified from the Project WET curriculum.
Neighborhood Nature Walk
Featured April 3, 2020
Using an interactive and free app called iNaturalist SEEK, children can get outside, explore and learn fun facts about the nature all around them. They can identify wildlife and plants and take pictures to earn badges.
Suggested activities on SEEK, based on skill– Observe a plant, an insect, a bird, or pick your favorite species and share a few facts about it. Go on a scavenger hunt. Photograph a plant/animal interaction, photograph an animal’s home, photograph animal clues like tracks and nests, photograph something of a certain color, or just make up your own criteria. Whatever it is, remember to be curious and have fun!
Neighborhood Connections
Featured April 1, 2020
Student Lesson part 1: What in the World is a Watershed? Build a Watershed Model
This hands-on activity and lesson uses the videos featured to teach concepts such as watersheds, runoff, land forms using a home-made model that students will learn how to build.
Student Lesson part 2: How Does the River Become Polluted? Using a Model to Demonstrate Water Pollution
This hands-on activity and lesson uses the model built in Part 1, to educate students about human impacts on creeks and rivers.
Will pollution from your house travel to the San Antonio River? Locate your watershed address.
