Iowa The Rivers of Her Valleys 4.0 (IRHV) Curricula

Water is a curious thing: although vital to life, it costs almost nothing, where as gold and diamonds, which are useless for survival, cost a fortune.- Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations 1776

This project add to a growing conversation regarding environmental and river education in Iowa. Rivers are the ‘life-blood’ of a landscape providing access to drinking water, recreation and contribute to the development of thriving economies. Iowa’s waterways are the closest we can get to interacting with and learning from wild/natural landscapes. We aim to develop new and locally pertinent earth science curricula that create meaningful learning opportunities for Iowa’s teachers, students and communities. The activities below were developed by and with a group of Iowa teacher while they participated in a UNI/Iowa REP CEP course. The activities will always be a work in process designed to create a sustain effort working to bring one of Iowa's resources our streams aand rivers. Perhaps increased understand will lead to appreciation, human-environmental reciprocity and care.

This work was supported by Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Resource Enhancement and Protection (REAP) Conservation Education Program (CEP) 2020-21

Iowa Stream and River Curricula

The basic goal of the following activities is to help Iowa's students engage and learn from our streams and rivers. Rivers are beautiful access points to explore our State's geologic and natural history. Our environments also present potential dangers, so all activities associated with streams and rivers should include adult supervision and caution... These resources are beautiful, but may be contaminated or dangerous, especially during flood events. Have fun learning, but be careful! Creators of each activity are listed at the end of each activity in parentheses, by name and organization)

The Iowa - Rivers of Her Valleys 4.0 (IRHV) Team includes: Monty Beal - West Liberty Middle School, Tom Blume - Tripoli Elementary, Katie Borton - Neveda High School, Dan Hill - Northwest Coralville Middle School, Kelsy Knebel - Hoover Middle School Waterloo, Zach Kyte - Cedar Rapids Washington High School, Matt McAndrew - Coralville/Iowa City, Sue Meggers - Interstate 35 C.S.D., Stacey Snyder - Orange Elementry Waterloo, Jennifer Strohbehn - Gladbrook Reinbeck Mid. &High School, Carrie Taylor Highland Elementary and Expo Schools Waterloo, Loren Thalacker - East High School Waterloo, Cindy Trettin - Expo School Waterloo, Brent Trieweiler - Waterloo C.S.D. , Laura Walter - UNI Tallgrass Prairie Center. University of Northern Iowa participants: Dre Presswood, Logan Gray, David Hindmann, Sofia O'Neil - Earth and Environmental Sciences Undergraduate students, Marcy Seavey - UNI STEM Coordinator , Dr. Siobahn Morgan, Noel Graff, Steve Smith - Earth and Environmental Sciences administrative leadership.

Grades PreK-3: 1. Water and Sediment (IRHV, Team), 2. Wind and Sediment (IRHV, Team), 3. Energy Processes and Patterns (IRHV, Team)

Grades 3-5: 1. Water Erosion and Deposition (IRHV, Team) , 2. Biologic Evolution/Unity and Diversity (Carrie Taylor - Review from Marcy and Stacey), 3. Earth's Systems (Monty Beal - Review Marcy), 4. Landform Patterns Using Maps (Sue Meggers - Review Marcy)

Grades 6-8/Middle School 1. Rivers and the Water Cycle (Jennifer Strohbehn - Review Marcy) , 2. Earth's Systems - Sandbar Exploration (Laura Walter - Review Marcy) , 3. Monitor & Minimize Human Impact (Kelsy Knebel - Review Marcy) , 4. Earth & Human Activity - Water Testing (Cindy Trittin)

Grades 9-12/High School 1. Iowa Glaciers and Rivers (IRHV, Team) , 2. Rivers, History and Sound (IRHV - Team)

Digital River Resources for Iowa

Music inspired by our streams and rivers (STEAM)

United States Geological Survey, 1. Water Science School , 2. Surface water

Interactive Tool, Model my Watershed

Iowa Department of Natural Resournces, 1. Water Quality, 2. Watershed Improvement 3. BioNet, (biological data) 4. ABDNet (water qulaity data), 5. AQuIA (chemical data), 6. Water Trails

University of Iowa, Iowa Flood Center - Flood Information System

University of Northern Iowa - 1.Hydrology, around Cedar Falls, 2. Geographic Alliance of Iowa

Iowa Public Television, 1. Water Quailty Media , 2. Land and Sky Project 3.Phenomena Project

Public Broadcasting Service - LearningMedia - Earth and Space Science

Iowa Geological Survey 1. Landscape Map, 2. Aquifer Map 3. GeoSam

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - Water Sense

Carleton College, MN - Science Education Resource Center

Iowa Academy of Science - National Wildlife Refuge Audio Series

United Nations - Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - Sea-level Rise Viewer

Iowa State University - 1. Daily Erosion Project

Iowa Rivers Revival - Leading Iowans to Restore, Protect and Enjoy our Rivers