Yakima WATERS

Yakima Watershed Activities To Enhance Research in Schools

The Yakima WATERS Project is a National Science Foundation program funded at Central Washington University (CWU) to infuse authentic interdisciplinary watershed research into elementary through high school curriculum in public schools. Under the guidance of a CWU faculty mentor, participating graduate fellows conduct watershed-related research for his/her Masters in Science degree and are teamed with a local K-12 teacher to incorporate a facet of the thesis project into K-12 curriculum. All participating public schools are part of the Yakima River watershed, a tributary of the Columbia River that drains eastward from the crest of the Cascades.

The Yakima WATERS Project has four participating Central Washington University graduate programs - Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Geological Sciences, and Resource Management. The interdisciplinary themes that comprise WATERS are listed below. The details of each Fellow's research is developed through close work with his/her faculty mentor based on their research expertise and content compatibility with partner K-12 teachers. Some example projects are described below.

GK-12 Research Themes

Riparian Ecology and Biodiversity

• Programs: Biological Sciences and Resource Management
• Example project: Studying salmon populations and ecology of the Yakima River

Water Chemistry and Quality

• Programs: Chemistry and Geological Sciences
• Example: Measuring water quality chemistry, atmospheric and seasonal groundwater quality changes with 11th graders

Geomorphology and Climate Change

• Programs: Geological Sciences and Resource Management
• Example: Determining surface water geochemistry and snow pack and the extent of historic Yakima Valley climate change with 6th graders

Changes in Land and Water Use

• Programs: Resource Management, Geological Sciences, and Biological Sciences
• Example: Using GIS to chart land use changes in the Yakama Nation Reservation with 9th graders

A brochure of the Yakima WATERS project is available here.