RiverWatch students use science kits as tools to determine river health

Real Science

Over the course of a busy six-hour day, RiverWatch students learn the reasons for river monitoring and use the same chemical testing kits as professional researchers. RiverWatch is more than a science study - it's real science!

Science is a tool

RiverWatch demonstrates that each of us can understand science, become involved with science and then use science to help solve societal problems.

Students gather and analyze real-time data to determine the health of their local river

Students collect relevant data

RiverWatch collects data in an authentic manner through real-life experience. RiverWatch guides do not lecture on whether or not a river is healthy - students find this out for themselves.

Students base their judgment of river health on scientific data they themselves collect, rather than on media stories, hearsay or just the color of the water.

Intensive monitoring

RiverWatch operates under an intensive monitoring schedule - not just once a year and not just from one river. Daily sampling from several rivers provides participating schools with a more in-depth look at how river health changes from day-to-day, season-to-season, year-to-year and even between watersheds around Alberta.

Data analysis is empowering

Students can manipulate RiverWatch data as they see fit. Students are no longer mere technicians collecting data - they are now researchers empowered to chart data, analyze trends and draw their own conclusions. RiverWatch is the first student-centered river-monitoring web site in the world to feature interactive on-line data entry and on-line charting.

Next-generation field trips are now linked to powerful technologies that store and analyze monitoring data

A next-generation field trip

RiverWatch provides a seamless opportunity to infuse technology into an engaging and hands-on science program!

The use of a web site before and after a field trip has now become the new standard for the next-generation of science field trips.