$30 per student rate includes full day field trip plus:
3 week use of our Environmental Science Captain's Chest
1-day onboard workshop - participating schools can send one educator for every 30 students registered for the workshop day.
Students explore topics out of today's headlines as they travel Pittsburgh's famous three rivers onboard Explorer, a floating laboratory.
Hands-on activities shed light on the geology and physcial science of shale gas extraction, and discussions consider both the opportunities and challenges of this new industry. Microscopic water analysis reveals the tiny life forms that are the origin of the natural gas found within shale. Students explore point-vs-nonpoint source pollution and work together to test the rivers for several chemical indicators of water quality.
PA ACADEMIC STANDARDS ADDRESSED
4.1 Ecology: Grade 5 – 4.1.5 B. Explain the basic components of the water cycle.
Grade 6 – 4.1.6 F. Describe relationships using inference and prediction
Grade 8 – 4.1.8 B. Describe the rock cycle and the processes that are responsible for
the formation of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks.
4.2 Watersheds and Wetlands: Grade 5 – 4.2.5 C. Identify physical, biological, chemical factors that affect water
quality.
Grade 6 – 4.2.6 C. Identify natural and human-made factors that affect water
quality.
Grade 7 – 4.2.7 A. Explain how water enters, moves through, and leaves a watershed.
Grade 8 – 4.2.8 A. Describe factors that affect the quality of ground and surface waters.
4.3 Natural Resources: Grade 7 – 4.3.7 A. Differentiate between renewable and nonrenewable resources
Grade 7 - 4.3.7 B. Differentiate among resource conservation, preservation and
exploitation
Grade 8 – 4.3.8 A. Compare and contrast alternative sources of energy.
4.5 Humans and the Environment: Grade 5 –4.5.5 C. Explain the difference between point and non-point source pollution.
Grade 6 –4.5.6 A. Examine how historical events have shaped sustainable use of
resources.
Grade 7 –4.5.7 C. Explain how human actions affect the health of the environment.
Grade 8 –4.5.8 D. Compare and contrast waste generated from various sources of
energy.
3.3.A Earth Structures, Processes and Cycles: Grade 5 – 3.3.5A1. Describe how landforms are the result of destructive forces such as
erosion and deposition of sediment
Grade 6 – 3.3.6A4. Describe how water on earth cycles in different forms and in different
locations, including underground and in the atmosphere.
Grade 7 –3.3.7.A3. Explain and give examples of how physical evidence that supports
theories that the Earth has evolved over geologic time.
Grade 8 –3.3.8.A2: Describe renewable and nonrenewable energy resources.
* Minimums may apply. Actual cost of $100/student is subsidized through the generous support of foundations, corporations and government agencies.
What People Say about RiverQuest
"I like the emphasis on integrating the RiverQuest experience into the rest of the classwork." — High School Teacher
"I learned how to take pH, temperature, and other tests first hand and did them myself and used them myself instead of someone else telling me 'how to.'" — Student
"I had a chance to analyze something real for a larger purpose than simply illustrating an idea taught in class... While I certainly knew that chemistry and biology could go together, it never really dawned on me that examining bugs in the river water might tell just as much about the viability of the water as analyzing phosphate concentration. It brought things together for me, and now I find myself wondering at connections between chemistry and physics." — Student
"I love this program! I think it is one of the best things going in environmental science in this area." — Middle School Teacher
"On board we were treated like real scientists with real responsibilities." — Student
"RiverQuest ... gives you a preview of what becoming a scientist would be like." — Student
3 week use of our Environmental Science Captain's Chest