Hudson River Ecology Curriculum

Building on the Hudson River Ecology Course that CURB ran this summer with local high school students, we have recently released the full curriculum for any interested educators. The lessons are all available on our website at this link: https://www.centerfortheurbanriver.org/education/teachers/hrecc.html.

Designed as an introduction to Ecology through a Hudson River lens, there are 10 lessons available within this curriculum. Many are based on fieldwork or field trips at CURB, but several can be done entirely in the classroom, and all 10 have at least some components that can be done without going out into the field.

The curriculum is free to download thanks to funding by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Hudson River Estuary Program. Educators will find lessons under the following categories: Introduction to Estuaries and Watersheds; Energy and Ecosystems; Population and Communities; Aquatic Systems and Habitats; Reproduction and Evolution; and Human Impacts and Pollution. Be sure to check out our lesson on Reproduction and Natural Selection, which was overwhelmingly voted the most fun lesson by students and educators alike.

Please contact Elisa Caref, Director of Education (ecaref@sarahlawrence.edu), or Katie Lamboy, Science Coordinator & Environmental Educator (klamboy@sarahlawrence.edu) with any questions about the curriculum. We also welcome feedback from educators who use the lessons in their classrooms.