Resources for Teachers
K-12 Watershed Science Education
FTR has provided high-quality field and classroom based watershed science programs for grades K-12 since 2001. Over the years, FTR has built a comprehensive library educational materials from in-the-classroom lessons plans to field trip materials. Don’t see what you are looking for? Contact [email protected] for additional resources, lesson plans, and materials. We look forward to helping you provide high quality watershed science education in your classroom.
Teton Watershed Curriculum
Teton Watershed Curriculum is an excellent resource for teachers. Developed in consultation with Teton County School District #401, this K-12 curriculum provides teachers with hands-on, locally based resources for watershed science activities. This curriculum includes lesson plans, detailed activity guides, and student workbooks covering topics such as ground and surface water, the water cycle, weather, water professions, riparian habitat, water quality, and the history of water resources in the Snake River watershed.
Explore where water is found on earth, the water cycle, and how we use water in our daily lives with lesson plans and activities for K-2 students.
Explore where water is found on earth, the water cycle, and how we use water in our daily lives with lesson plans and activities in spanish.
Collect and identify macroinvertebrates, measure stream velocity and substrate, with classroom and field based lesson plans and a field journal.
Learn about groundwater, aquifers, geysers and groundwater pollution with activities, diagrams and full lesson plans
Learn about groundwater, aquifers, geysers and groundwater pollution with activities, diagrams and full lesson plans in spanish
Facilitate a water quality testing lab, study macroinvertebrates as an indicator of stream health, explore the weight of snow.
Study watersheds, hydrology, climate, and water quality with hands on activities, field trips and in classroom activities.
The Stream Study Journal matches the 3-4 Watershed Curriculum to compare and contrast two stream systems (spring creeks and snow melt streams)
The Stream Study Journal matches the 3-4 Watershed Curriculum to compare and contrast two stream systems (spring creeks and snow melt streams)
Additional Resources for K-12 Teachers
Idaho Department of Fish and Game’s complete Trout in the Classroom Teachers Manual with lesson plans for all grade levels
Connect classroom learning about geology (fossils, rock cycle) to an understanding of the geologic formation of the Teton Valley.
Explore the role that wetlands play in the Teton River Watershed. Woods Creek Fen is an outdoor classroom that is open to the public.
Betsy first visited Teton Valley as a 10-year-old from Atlanta, GA, on a family trip west (station wagon and pop-up camper in tow), and knew from that point that the Tetons were amazing and the Rockies were where she wanted to be when she grew up. With a B.A. in Biology and an M.A. in Geography, she enjoyed a career in natural resource management with the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Forest Service, the last 20 years in Utah and Montana. In 2022, she and her husband Dan started building their home in Tetonia, moving here in 2023, and are enjoying the outdoor joys of the Tetons and getting to know Teton Valley. She enjoys all things outdoors, particularly hiking, mountain biking, skiing, and trying to dabble in bikepacking; loves traveling although finds leaving their senior tabby to be so hard.
Rafe owns and operates Canewater Farm in Victor, Idaho. Rafe studied business at The University of Georgia and organic agriculture at the University of California Santa Cruz. Rafe brings the unique perspective of the local agricultural community to Friends of the Teton River. He is a farmer and a fisherman who views the Teton River as the lifeblood of the community. He advocates for collaboration between agricultural and recreational stakeholders. He is a proud father of two children, Rowan and Emmalou. He and his family sneak away from the farm any chance they can to camp, fish, ski, bike and explore the beautiful mountains and rivers of the area.