Circles and Cycles, an environmental education Guide to the Upper Mokelumne River Watershed, has been developed by the sponsorship of the Upper Mokelumne River Watershed Authority (East Bay Municipal Utility District, Calaveras County Water District, Calaveras Public Utility District, Amador Water Agency, Jackson Valley Irrigation District, and Alpine Water District) to provide educators with opportunities to expand their classrooms, to connect community resources with the students learning experience, and to bring a sense of awe to the beauty surroundin them in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada; ultimately the students should become loving, well-educated stewards of the land.
The guide, for kindergarten through twelfth grade, is divided into six themes relating to stewardship of the watershed: Interdependency, Sense of Place, Journey of Water, Riparian Habitat, Earth's Many Forces, and California - The Changing State. Each theme can be extended through various field trip opportunities, outreach to community organizations and agencies, and national and state funded programs. Teachers are encouraged to choose from a variety of pre- and post- activities to prepare their students to explore the biomes, such as forests, woodlands, grasslands, wetlands and riparian habitats, and the waste water plant and drinking water treatment plants in the Upper Mokelumne River Watershed to help science come alive. Each biome is defined below:
