The North and South Rivers Watershed Association (NSRWA) runs several outdoor educational programs throughout the year. One of the popular and longer running programs is called Estuary Explorers. Through this program, South Shore students embark on a journey through unique coastal habitats while participating in activities including water sampling, salinity measurements, and hands-on science discovery. Students also give back to their community and the environment by collecting litter during the program, documenting what they find, and exploring solutions to prevent marine debris along our coasts and waterways.
The NSRWA’s Estuary Explorers program engages students of all ages from elementary all the way to high school and post graduate. Scituate elementary schools make up one of the program’s largest participant groups, engaging students in weathering and erosion activities aligned with their science curriculum. Students witnessed firsthand how erosion shapes our shoreline and discovered how coastal plants and animals rely on one another to survive and thrive in a harsh, ever-changing environment. While exploring coastal habitats such as salt marshes, intertidal zones, dunes, barrier beaches, and mudflats, students discovered how each of these special places helps shield inland communities from coastal flooding and storm surge—and why they are worth protecting.
Estuary Explorers reaches a diverse mix of participants each year—from entire school grades and youth groups to green teams, summer camps, and Scouts. The mission of this program is to bring youth of all ages out into the North and South Rivers estuaries to explore the many diverse areas, understand the importance of our coastal habitats, see and identify the amazing wildlife, and learn how we can all help protect our water and environment within our community.
Thanks to the generosity of The Michele E. Dufault Foundation, this program has no cost to participants.
If you are interested in having your group or class join us on an Estuary Explorers adventure, or if you’d like to underwrite the program for next year, send an email to Brian at brian@nsrwa.org.