Thanks to funding from Teledyne Valeport, our Environmental Education team joined forces with Everything Adventure to run a hands-on river day for home educated students. The group paddled up the River Dart from Totnes Weir to the grounds of Dartington Hall in canoes, kayaks and on paddle boards.

Along the way, the students collected water samples at five points. After lunch in the shade of a large oak tree, they worked in pairs to test all five samples. With so many repeat readings, the conversation turned to a question every scientist faces: how accurate and reliable is our data?

This summer we have also been working with Everything Adventure as part of the Dartmoor Dynamic Landscape (DDL) project, taking learning out onto Dartmoor itself. On a very hot day, one group hiked up the East Dart from Postbridge to test water quality and sample the headwaters for macroinvertebrates: the insects, snails and other small creatures whose presence tells us how healthy a river is.

Another group explored the eastern side of the moor. They started at Venford Reservoir, scrambled down the steep, wooded valley of the Venford Stream and followed it to its confluence with the River Dart. Perched on granite boulders, the children sampled and sorted their finds right beside the water.