Watch. Read. Take action.
Have you ever gone snorkeling in a river? 🐟 In Tennessee, people snorkel to see surprising local wildlife, such as hellbenders, freshwater mussels, and brightly colored native fish. These animals depend on healthy waterways, and so do we. That’s because water connects us all.
Join a group of grade 5 students participating in a Stream Team program with the WaterWays organization as they explore their local creek in Chattanooga, Tennessee and act as waterway stewards. Learn what a watershed is and how humans can impact watersheds both negatively and positively.
Discover simple actions you can take to help protect your local waterways and the animals that live there.
Learning resources
Use videos, comics, and hands-on activities to engage your upper elementary students in community-based interdisciplinary learning about how to be stewards of wild things and wild places in their community.
Comic
- discover the hellbender salamander
- learn about watersheds and the water cycle
- find out how waterways connect us
- learn how to help your local waterways
Comic designed for letter or A4 paper. For larger text, print on 11 x 17 inch or A3 paper.
Poster
- find Tennessee on a map
- meet amazing animals
- explore a food web
- size: 11 x 17 inches (or A3)
Lessons
- video and comic teaching guides
- standards-aligned lessons and activities
- for Grades 4–5, with extensions
Continue exploring
Check out more toolkits in this series.
About Wild Guardians
Wild Guardians is a free educational series that connects upper elementary students with nature and inspires them to become stewards of wild things and wild places.
Designed for grades 4–5, each multimedia educational toolkit features a mini-documentary highlighting real Wild Guardians making a difference and a beautifully illustrated comic that explores environmental topics in greater depth.
Learning resources include options for quick activities and standards-aligned lessons. Materials focus on understanding local ecosystems and include solutions-driven thinking for students to act as changemakers in their community.
We hope you enjoy these free learning resources made possible by a grant from the CEK Earth Focus Initiative.
