School year 2002-03 has begun and the Watershed Explorers Program, an educational program for middle and high school students, is well under way for its third year. In addition to calls from secondary school teachers, AWS has been fielding calls from teachers of 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th grade teachers looking for a similar program that could be used with their upper elementary school students. AWS has a mission to promote environmental education efforts, especially those that focus on the Anacostia River, and so this year we witness the birth of the River Habitat Program.

Designed to support and enhance elementary science curriculum standards, the focus of the River Habitat Program is on animal adaptations and their habitat needs. Eagles, Osprey, Egrets, Great Blue Herons and Cormorants are all fishing birds of the Anacostia River with markedly different hunting strategies and body design. Students learn about such adaptations among birds through classroom activities led by AWS instructors, as well as how land use practices in the watershed impact the river and the habitat of aquatic animals. Students learn to identify common animals found in the Anacostia River, practice map reading skills and evaluate lifestyle choices that human watershed residents can enhance or change in order to have a positive impact on the river habitat for wildlife.

As in the Watershed Explorers Program, AWS instructors Sam Francis and Ric Zeller visit a school on three separate occasions to teach elements of the River Habitat Program: Animal Adaptations and River Habitat, Plants and Healthy Rivers, How We Can Help. Students participate in a restoration activity on their school grounds and go on a field study at the headwaters of the Anacostia River in Bladensburg. At Bladensburg Waterfront Park, the teachers and students are instructed in basic canoeing skills and safety, and use the AWS canoes to explore the river nearby. From land and boat, they observe the birds they learned about during classroom instruction. The staff at Bladensburg Waterfront Park will have the nature center open for all groups that schedule to participate in the AWS River Habitat Program. There, more information about Anacostia River residents can be found and live turtles and fish can be viewed more closely.

As more teachers are seeking to educate their students about the Chesapeake Bay, AWS applauds those who realize that the waters in DC are a place to begin drawing that bigger picture. The River Habitat Program is one of many that AWS is offering to schools to help DC area students realize their connection to the River and its status as a resource for recreation and wildlife. *