By LSWC Staff
Thanks to the TD Friends of the Environment Grant the Lesser Slave Watershed Council has been able to provide five schools within our watershed with interactive magnetic boards that highlight different activities happening in our region; including agriculture and ranching, forestry, lakeshore living, oil & gas and OHV use.
Students can learn about the effects these activities have on the land and how by using best management practices we can keep our watershed healthy while still continuing all of these activities.
The Watershed Wise Boards were developed by the LSWC as an outreach tool for use at events and in school classrooms.
Because they can link so well to elementary school curriculum we wanted to share this resource with as many people as possible.
From talking about animal life cycles, to waste in our world to wetlands we have used our watershed wise boards in many different grade levels and hope that the schools will be able to utilize them in the same way.
One of the schools that was selected to be gifted a set of these boards was Mihtatakaw Sipiy School in Driftpile.
Last week we had the pleasure of meeting with teachers from Mihtatakaw Sipiy School and were able to showcase the Watershed Wise board.
After setting up the board there was a demonstration and learning session to help teachers get familiarized with it.
We worked together to brainstorm some additional curriculum connections and then officially gave the board over to the school.
The school was also given premade lesson plans and background information on our watershed and the activities that happen within it. Similar presentations have been held at High Prairie Elementary School and St. Mary’s of The Lake School in Slave Lake and the LSWC has more planned for the coming months. For more information on our Watershed Wise resources and other outreach activities call our office at 780-523-9800 or email our watershed coordinator at coordinator@lswc.ca.
The watershed wise boards aren’t the only thing the LSWC has been busy with lately. Our Watershed Coordinator has been busy working with the schools and partnering with the Lesser Slave Forest Education Society to help provide outdoors and environmentally centered programs for students of all age groups. In addition to our partnership with the Lesser Slave Forest Education Society we also run the Little Green Thumbs classroom gardening program, The Caring for our Watersheds program and work with classes throughout our region in areas such as Gift Lake, Joussard, High Prairie and Slave Lake. For more information on our programs and upcoming events check out our Facebook page or head over to our website www.lswc.ca.
