Adopt a Stream

If you have a stream, pond, or wetland on or near your school grounds, Adopt a Stream could be the perfect program for you! Adopt a Stream volunteers learn how to adopt, assess, and conserve their local stream, lake or wetland. The program is a great way to teach chemistry, biology, ecology and nature with hands-on activities that are easily understood by middle and high school students.

Our series of online videos will help you learn about pH, dissolved oxygen, nitrates, phosphates, and other key elements of water chemistry, and understand the simple chemical tests designed to measure them. Teachers and students can use our new online database to keep track of their water quality data and see what other volunteers are finding in their streams.

Adopt a Stream volunteers can also learn about the health of their stream or pond by looking at the critters that live there. Identifying the kinds of snails, dragonfly larvae, beetles and other benthic macroinvertebrates living in the water can tell a lot about the water quality and health of the aquatic habitat over time.

Once you understand your stream or pond, you can develop plans to better conserve your stream. Adopt a Stream volunteers take on projects as simple as a stream cleanup day, and as complex as planting native grasses or teaching upstream neighbors about conservation programs that could protect the stream while providing them with income. Learn more about Adopt a Stream here.

Audubon's Rowe Sanctuary