Feather River Watershed Analysis

In Plumas Unified School District 6th-grade is the year of the Watershed. Both literally and figuratively, 6th grade is a rite of passage year for PUSD students, as they earn their stripes as true mountain kids, and explore the many tributaries that create the Feather River Watershed.

Throughout the year, 6th-graders are immersed in the environments that they are learning about to tangibly witness and interact with the scientific principles they are studying, connect to their home, and foster a deep appreciation and stewardship for the abundant natural resources surrounding them.

While place-based, cross-curriculum learning is the foundational cornerstone of the new K-8th Outdoor Core curriculum in PUSD, this strategy has been the focus …show more content…
Water is not only central to life but it is deeply woven into the fabric of our culture and community, giving students an interesting lens for cross-curriculum learning. Waterways tell the stories of gold miners, Native American tribes, settlers, plate tectonics, agricultural shifts, fish migration, hydroelectric power, and outdoor adventure, including rafting.

Eighteen years ago Rob Wade met with Rick Stock, the Director of the Feather River College ( FRC) Outdoor Recreation and Leadership ( ORL) Program, to talk about getting 6th graders rafting on the Feather River. As Rick Stock shared, “ Being on a river in a raft or kayak gives you a unique view of the waterway that cannot be experienced in any other way.”

Now with the partnership with the FRC ORL program, every year the Outdoor Recreation and Leadership students lead the 6th graders down sections of the Feather River. Portola rafts portions of the Middle Fork of the Feather River, and Chester, Greenville, and Quincy, raft the North Fork of the East Branch of the Feather …show more content…
The students also touched upon the Maidu fish celebrations that used to take place at the Greenville WYE and the confluence of Spanish and Indian Creek, before the Feather River was dammed for hydroelectric power.

The first topic of the science of rafting connects with the importance of four cycles - the water cycle, the rock cycle, the seasonal cycle, and the daily cycle. All of which contribute to the flow of the river by affecting water levels and gradient. Rob explained to the students how rocks create the gradient that creates the rapids and makes rafting fun. He went on to share “Winter snow brings river flow” and that the daily cycle of cool mornings and hot days change the water flow throughout the day, affecting rafting.

Wade also discussed local river features and quizzed the students on how rivers are named when two come together. In most cases the larger body of water takes the name after the confluence with the smaller, however, in the case of Spanish and Indian Creek which are about equal size, they were given a completely new name when they join - the Feather

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