River-Lab 5 Guide Manual – Curriculum Overview
RIVER-LAB PROGRAM
Curriculum Overview
The River Laboratory Program provides opportunities for classroom and on-site
learning for grades 3-6. This program uses field study at the river and estuary as
an aid to understanding the living basin system, basin system dynamics, and how
human management of basins has evolved and affects these basic structural units
of life on Earth.
Each grade level unit (3-6) contributes to developing understanding of the need for
sound basin management. The design of the program requires the students to
return to the same site yearly and thereby encounter the full range of changes that
take place in one general area.
OBJECTIVES
Over the course of four years, the program will provide opportunities for the
learner to:
1. become aware that everyone everywhere lives in a basin (watershed) system;
2. study and present examples of basic basin dynamics (how a river basin
system manages its portion of the water cycle, both surficially and
underground);
3. explain the cumulative effect of human basin management;
4. become acquainted with the many reasons shorelines (coastal and inland) are
the most productive areas of our biosphere;
5. study and explain why sound inland basin management is essential for
coastal productivity;
6. recognize that, because one person’s right in a democratic society is
everyone’s right, the impact of an individual’s decision regarding any part of
a basin may lead to similar use/treatment by others; and that people will
realize greater economic stability if they learn to manage their communities
and life-style in harmony with the way river basin systems work naturally;
and
7. use an inquiry-based approach to gain skill in the use of his/her physical
faculties, senses, and instruments for exploring the environment in harmony
with the ecosystem studied.
© 2007 Mill River Wetland Committee, Inc.
5GM – 2
River-Lab 5 Guide Manual – Curriculum Overview
CURRICULUM
Grade 3: The Living River Basin System
 what a river system is surficially
 how flowing water makes soil and habitats
 how habitats support organisms
 what adaptations are and how adaptations help them to meet their basic needs
 how, through their adaptations, organisms contribute to the river basin
system
Grade 4: A Basin in Balance
 role of water cycle in river basin dynamics
 formation of basins, rivers, and the underground water systems; the role of
water in changing the land (via erosion and deposition)
 essential role of underground water systems in sustaining the basin web of
life
 role of plants as the vital base of energy flow through ecosystems
 relationship of each component of the basin surface to underground water
system function
 effect of human basin management and natural phenomena on the basin web
of life
Grade 5: Spring on the River: Productivity of a River Basin System
 adaptations and contributions of all floodplain and river organisms to the
productivity and health of river, estuarine, and coastal systems
 effect of seasonal change on river basin productivity
 man’s impact on river basin systems
 critical role of plankton populations as base of the living river basin system
(food webs)
Grade 6: River As a Link to the Sea: Basin Management and Estuarine
Dynamics
 interaction of biotic and abiotic factors in an estuary
 variety of habitats and organisms in an estuary
 how abiotic factors affect photosynthesis
 effect on populations of predator/prey relationships in an estuary
 relationships of organisms in an estuarine food web
 impact on an estuarine food web by changes to any part of it
 role of septic and sewage systems on quality of surface and underground
water supply
 how human activities affect wetlands, lakes and ponds, rivers and streams,
estuaries, and Long Island Sound
5GM – 3
© 2007 Mill River Wetland Committee, Inc.