About
The Thomas Jefferson SWCD places great emphasis on education to promote natural resource conservation. Some of the educational activities the district offers are listed below, followed by more detailed descriptions.
Enviroscape Model
TJSWCD Conservationist, Martin Johnson, conducts a watershed education activity in an elementary school classroom.
What is the Enviroscape?
The Enviroscape is a three dimensional teaching tool which visually demonstrates the water movement within a watershed. It is an interactive, portable model of a watershed that illustrates both water pollution and its prevention. Teaching with the Enviroscape is a hands-on, balanced approach that effectively demonstrates how protecting water quality is a whole community's responsibility. It allows students to be both the polluters as well as the protectors of the environment.
Who is the targeted audience for the Enviroscape? The Enviroscape is appropriate for all ages. Depending on the age group, the degree of detail can be adjusted to suit the audience's attention span and level of comprehension.
What can I teach with the Enviroscape?
1. Watershed Dynamics
2. Sources of Pollution
3. How Pollution Occurs
4. How Pollution Can Be Prevented
How can I use the Enviroscape to address concerns in my area?
The Enviroscape is a generic landscape that teaches responsible land use. Make the message personal and its significance increases. Use examples within your community. Is there a local golf course? Has anyone left a cleared building site without vegetation for months? Is your community serviced by a septic system?
Encourage your students to make these connections to their community and let them come up with some real solutions that could be applied to problem areas.
Where can I access an Enviroscape model to use for my classes?
The TJSWCD will loan out the Enviroscape for a $25 deposit.
Contact
Nicola McGoff or simply
call the office (434) 975-0224.
Where can I get trained to use the Enviroscape?
When you borrow the Enviroscape from the Thomas Jefferson Soil & Water Conservation District, the model comes with a user guide. In addition, the District can provide an age appropriate lesson plan.
If you would like more training, you are welcome to attend an Enviroscape workshop conducted by TJSWCD.
Camp Albemarle/MWEE
Students learn about the process of erosion at Camp Albemarle.One of the goals in the Chesapeake Bay Agreement is to provide every student within the Bay Watershed a "Meaningful Watershed Education Experience" (MWEE) before they graduate from high school. The TJSWCD continues to play a prominent role in ensuring that this goal is met for Albemarle County and Charlottesville City students. All fourth grade students in Albemarle County and Charlottesville City public schools take a field trip to Camp Albemarle, where they participate in a variety of activities, including an Enviroscape presentation, tree identification and nature walk, and macroinvertebrate sampling in the Moorman River.
Return to TopBelow: Students learn how collecting and studying the bugs (macroinvertebrates) from streams provide indications of water quality.
