About River Camp

Purpose:

River Camp is a visionary program produced by the Mandarin Museum & Historical Society that is designed to expose 3rd and 4th graders to the history, culture, and ecology found along the St. Johns River, particularly those participants who have had limited experience with the river. The mission of River Camp is to provide a venue to foster greater understanding, appreciation, enjoyment, and stewardship of the natural and cultural heritage of the lower St. Johns River basin.  The camp participants will be organized in groups of five composed of 10 participants and 1 camp consular and 1 assistant.

Camp will be conducted in a 1-week session 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., June 28-July 2.

Location:

The camp will be conducted at the facilities of the Walter Jones Historical Park at 11964 Mandarin Road and at the public dock on County Dock Road adjacent to the park.

Curriculum:

River Camp programs will be developed with the following learning objectives:

1.    Promote awareness of the St. Johns River as a precious natural resource.

2.    Promote the need for water conservation, protection and removal of pollutants from the St. Johns River.

3.    Promote awareness of the cultural and historic resources found along the St. Johns River and the surrounding area.

4.    Promote preservation of cultural and historic resources found along the St. Johns River and the surrounding area.

Description: 

The camp will provide five, small group stations that will involve hands on activities.  These stations will include programs, activities and lectures that illustrate the objectives of the camp.  Some of these stations will be modeled on Sunshine State Standards, which address math, science, social studies, and language arts skills necessary for pupil progression within the Florida school system. Others will be for enjoyment and socialization of the participants. These stations will include:  ecology studies, canoe/kayak excursions, fishing, river clean-up projects, history and archaeology, folk crafts, and a river boat excursion.

At River Ecology, participants will learn and practice the methods that are used for testing the quality of the water in the St. Johns River.  They will be trained to study and compare the data they find after creating graphs and charts that include water quality test results.  GPS Units and weather monitors will also be used to   track the areas of water quality tests, as well as weather conditions.

At the Discover My World, participants will further explore the ecology in and around the river.   Students will be trained in Kayaking to paddle their vessels, and will then be guided, by experts, on the river. This type of excursion will give students the opportunity to see the flora and fauna that inhabit and some of the historic locations found along the river. Other activities include gardening and how to create river friendly yards.  Unfortunately, the health of the St. Johns River cannot be studied or discussed without finding the need for clean–up projects along the banks of the entire 310 mile span.  Participants will also clean selected sites with cooperation from Clean It Up, Green It Up in the City of Jacksonville.

At Wish'n for Fish'n participants will experience fishing on the St. Johns River.   From the County Dock located next to the Walter Jones Historic Park, participants will catch and release river fish and identify the species based on charts provided and guidance from experts.  Cast net and seine net opportunities will also be a part of this day so that students can discover what species live at different levels of the river’s slow flow.  Food web discussions will ensue, as well as, further connections to importance of water quality.

At Back in the Day, participants will learn about the local history and how the St. Johns River influenced that history. The participants will learn about some basics techniques archaeologist use to learn about cultures and about some of the significant archeological sites found along the St. Johns River and how some of these sites are at risk.

At Crafty Hands, participants will learn about and engage in create various craft projects, some which would include traditional skills that were important to those that lived along the St. Johns River.  These will include crafts such as carving and weaving.

The camp sessions will conclude with a river boat excursion on the River Taxi to illustrate the some of the lessons learned over the course of the camp.  The excursion would travel along the St. John’s River and up Julington Creek, a tributary of the St. Johns River, where students will see the human impact along the St. Johns River. Later in the trip, the boat will take the students to an area that is part of a land trust, thus it is inhabited by wildlife and native plant species that also depend on a healthy river.

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