Goals and Objectives
RiverWorks is a hands-on, river-based curriculum that is designed to familiarize children with all aspects of their watershed. The rationale behind the curriculum is that learning about, and experiencing the river, will increase the learner’s identification with and affection for the river. Research has shown that such increases in knowledge and affect often translate into positive environmental awareness and action.
Based on the premise that we cannot love what we do not know, the RiverWorks aims at forming an affective bond with our rivers. As such, RiverWorks intends to maximize learning opportunities for children that use the rivers as a fieldtrip destination.
Target Audience
RiverWorks is an informal curriculum that is written for children ages eight to twelve. The target audiences are children in summer camps, boy/girl scouts, home schoolers, and family vacationers. RiverWorks is also suitable for elementary school children and can be easily adapted to meet state and district standards.
Place-based Education
The need to learn about and relate to one’s own bioregion and watershed in order to make the learning meaningful provides the rationale for the three separate curriculum sets.
Curriculum Model
The RiverWorks curriculum was written using a model developed by Cathann A. Kress, PhD, Assistant Director of the Cornell Cooperative Extension. It is a simple model that recognizes that all youth need to have a sense of belonging, a sense of mastery and power, and opportunities to help others. It is a model that fits well with the development of positive environmental awareness and action. The model appears below:
All Youth Need:
- To know that they are cared about by others
(Attachment and Belonging) - To feel and believe that they are capable and
successful
(Achievement/Mastery) - To know that they are able to influence people and
events
(Independence/Power) - To practice helping others through their own
generosity
(Altruism/Purpose)