Through the Developing Environmental Literacy, Taking Action (DELTA) educational outreach program, IEP envisions offering lessons for DELTA students in elementary, middle, and high schools. Currently, the DELTA program reaches 6th-8th graders in Rio Vista, CA. The focus of the lesson plans are to teach students about the importance of the Delta - both in their lives and to the state as a whole - and to demonstrate the range of scientific career options available to them. Lesson plans include hands-on learning with agency scientists but eventually may expand to provide teaching modules for any teacher in the state to implement and teach independently.
It is our hope that this outreach program will provide students in the Delta, as well as their families, with information about the important role that science plays in managing Delta water for the state's people and environment.
Goals
- Delta community integration
- Get local kids excited and engaged in science, increase college & career readiness
- Give agency scientists public engagement opportunities
- Share importance of the Bay-Delta ecosystem and long-term field monitoring with public
Partnerships
- The education outreach program commenced during the 2019/2020 school year. The initial pilot program is a partnership with the following organizations:
- Department of Water Resources (Division of Environmental Services & Public Affairs Office)
- Solano Resource Conservation District (RCD)
- Delta public schools starting with Rio Vista's D.H. White Elementary School (Grade 6) and Riverview Middle School (Grades 7-8)
Frontiers for Young Minds
We provide each grade with pre-lesson materials so the learning can start before scientists enter the classroom. This includes a lesson-relevant article written by IEP scientists and collaborators working in the San Francisco Estuary specifically for school children on a variety of topics. Check out the entire collection of articles at Frontiers for Young Minds: Where the river meets the ocean - Stories from San Francisco Estuary.