• 220 pages - background, lessons, and appendices.
• New Jersey Specific watershed information
• Awareness to action teaching units
• Adaptable to special needs students
• Aligned to the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards
• Opportunities for team teaching

• Encourage your students to explore their watershed from ecological, social, and economic viewpoints.
• Guide your students in inquiry-based learning where traditional education disciplines are integrated into a comprehensive learning experience.
• Teach your students to be part of a creative problem-solving team.
• Worksheets and illustrations for classroom and field trip use with permission to duplicate for student use.

What is a watershed?

A watershed is the land area from which surface water drains into a river channel, lake, or other body of water. The land, the rain, the rivers and the wetlands are all part of a complex system that maintains the critical substance of life - water. Everything that happens (both natural and human initiated) affects the watershed. Natural effects can be subtle (like organic debris altering stream flow) or dramatic (like floods and mudslides). Human-induced changes can be positive (replanting trees in an altered area) or negative (chemical contamination of a drinking water supply).

Determine your watershed address

Every person has one. Locate the stream or river; lake or pond nearest you and trace its journey to the ocean. Each time it joins another waterway it becomes part of another watershed until it reaches the ocean.

How do you fit into the greater scheme of things? Who is "up" watershed from you? Who is "down" watershed from you? What impacts do other people and communities have on you and your community? How do you affect others that are "down" watershed from you?

This image was created by the US EPA and is interactive on their website.  Click here to find your watershed address.  

New Jersey Audubon is a founding member of the Watershed Partnership for New Jersey (WPNJ).  To find specific watershed associations or organizations that provide educational materials within your watershed besides NJ Audubon centers, click here.