Teach the Columbia

Our 2025 Teach the Columbia Field Course is now accepting wait list applications

Educator field course

Teach The Columbia is a curriculum package meant to help educators engage their students with many dimensions of the Columbia River watershed — past, present, and future. To access all the full curriculum package, simply sign up for Teach the Columbia updates and you’ll be sent a password. (And don’t worry, this information is not shared anywhere else!)

The curriculum was inspired by the Columbia River Field School program, our 15-day, Board Approved and accredited field course. While we believe it is important to offer this immersive experience to keen Basin youth, we also know that many more students should have an opportunity to learn about these important topics. 

Teach The Columbia is primarily intended for high school students, but includes lesson extensions suitable for college courses as well. Educators working with younger students have also found it useful as a base from which to develop age appropriate lessons. It currently includes 11 lesson plans split into three different cross-curricular modules, which can be accessed and downloaded for free. The lessons are intended to be flexible and adaptable; use all 11 or pick and choose individual lessons. Each lesson includes an overview, guiding questions, learning goals, materials and suggested preparation, detailed instructions, an appendix, BC curriculum links, and optional extensions.

To access all the full curriculum package, simply sign up for Teach the Columbia updates and you’ll be sent a password.

We hope you will find these lessons to be fun and impactful for you and your students!

CONTACT:
Please fill out the Teach The Columbia Google Form Survey with your comments and questions, or contact Graeme Lee Rowlands

SIGN UP for Teach the Columbia news and events to stay informed on all the latest from this program, including upcoming workshop opportunities for teachers!

Wildsight thanks the Arjay R. and Frances F. Miller Foundation, BC Hydro, the Province of B.C. through the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation, the Recreational Canoe Association of BC, and School District 8 for making the Columbia River Field School and Teach the Columbia possible.

 

Education news

In nature, everyone belongs

September 17, 2025
"Being in nature creates a feeling of connection; a feeling that you belong. A lot of kids don’t know how to fit into this crazy world.Read more 

Scat, scrambles and stewardship

September 10, 2025
When students step outside the classroom walls and into the wild, something shifts. Learning becomes tactile. For Grade 4 students from Cranbrook's Gordon Terrace Elementary School, it wasn't…Read more 
My eight-year-old daughter doesn’t go anywhere without her books. They’re her safety net — her escape from the world. But this summer, when we camped at Kootenay Lake, her pile of books sat untouched.Read more 

What I learned on the river

August 26, 2025
"I never anticipated having as much fun as I did," says Maya, a student from Revelstoke, reflecting on a two-week journey along the Columbia River.Read more 
A curious teen crouches beside a creek to collect a water sample in a vial from the creek's cool flow.Read more 
Where does the seed of hope come from? In the face of our global climate crisis, one teacher in a British Columbia classroom is facing climate concerns head on by…Read more 
Read more news

Join The Team

Want to protect wildlife, clean water and wild spaces? Volunteer with us! Wildsight volunteers are a very special group of people who give generously of their time to stuff envelopes, attend rallies, help run events, put up posters, keep tabs on forestry practices in their communities and participate in citizen science initiatives.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES