Environmental Education Programs
Kids Ice Fishing Clinic
At beginning of every April, the WISE Kids Ice Fishing Clinic brings families and volunteers together for a day of fun, learning, and outdoor recreation at Silver Lake. Volunteers from the Bureau of Land Management and the Alaskan Department of Fish and Game drill holes, provide loaner equipment, and give fishing tips.
This program focuses on second and third grade students and takes place the middle
week of September. School District, correspondence, and home school students are
all invited.
Earth Discovery Day
Bringing together all 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students in the Copper River Basin,
Earth Discovery Day is held every year at the beginning of May. Each grade level
has four learning stations. Subjects include fish identification; recycling; live
bird presentations; Enviroscape; Leave No Trace; tree identification; native cultural
studies; ATV safety; bird identification, and use of the atlatl. As in previous
years WISE enlisted the support of high schools students to present some of the learning
stations. The event is held at the Wrangell St. Elias Visitor Center.
Both “Changing Seasons" and "Earth Discovery Day" are designed to be a culminating
experience for elementary life sciences. Students rotate through various stations
which reinforce their knowledge of ecological principles.
By applying their collection and analysis of scientific data as well as using observation
skills, students may gain a stewardship ethic based on scientific understanding and
increased awareness of the local environment.
During the summer, WISE takes local middle school students on two days of aquatic exploration within Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve.
Literally getting their feet wet as acting field scientist, students take water samples, analyze oxygen levels, set fyke nets, make determinations and predictions of whether fish could be present in varying ponds and streams, study culvert placements and stream morphology, examine plankton, set minnow traps, dissect trout, study river dynamics on a stream table, and even learn to row a boat and cast a fly rod.
WISE/BLM Youth Hikes
As a part of the greater Take It Outside initiative, WISE, in partnership with BLM,
leads a series of weekly, youth-centered hikes each summer in the Copper River Basin.
Boreal forest, mountains, rivers, kettle lakes, mud volcanoes, and waterfalls provide
the backdrop for engaging activities and lessons on Leave No Trace principles and
environmental science. Past destinations have included the Tonsina Bluff Trail, Tangle
Lakes, and Liberty Falls. 
WISE, in partnership with Copper Valley Electric Association and Copper Valley Telephone, is helping to bring science education into the Copper River School District classrooms (CRSD). With the generous support of CVEA and CVT, WISE has been able to purchase science kits and deliver programs that enhance and compliment the curriculum of CRSD classes.
Throughout the district schools, kindergarten students will be introduced to magnets; first grade, electricity; second grade, simple machines; third grade, sound; fourth grade, electricity; fifth grade, chemistry: matter and change; sixth grade, energy, heat and energy transfer.
Copper River Stewardship Program
This hands-on program takes 10 youth from communities throughout the region on an in-depth adventure through the Copper River watershed. Participants meet with representatives from a wide range of fields and perspectives along the way, learning about what makes this watershed so special, as well as the challenges the region faces.
After completing their journey, participants create a unique project to share their experience with others. We hope you enjoy the projects we have posted here and invite your ideas and feedback for future stewardship programs.
WISE, in partnership with Prince William Sound Community College, hosts a public science lecture series beginning in the fall of each year. Venues vary depending on lecture, but most presentations are held at the PWSCC campus in Glennallen. Past lecturers have included professional storytellers, biologists, seismologists, and historians.
