Stream Table
Get hands on with river science and conservation with our Emriver Stream Table! Experience this unique teaching tool first hand by renting it for your classroom or during a Stream Ecology field trip to the VINS Nature Center.
What is a Stream Table?
VINS School Programs, with generous support from the Butler Foundation, has added an Emriver Stream Table (Em2) to its repertoire of teaching materials. The Stream Table is optimized for ease of setup, use and portability. It is perfect for demonstrating river science and conservation principles to audiences of all ages and educational backgrounds.
Stream tables can realistically and dynamically simulate a wide range of river processes, including sediment transport, meander development and movement, floodplain formation, flow around structures and fluid dynamics.
Our stream table is made with durable engineered aluminum boxes and uses recycled plastic modeling media, which is much lighter than sand. The media contains different colors which help to demonstrate sediment transport in river systems.
Stream Table Field Trip
In this hands-on lesson, students will use our StreamTable to experience the effects that a changing river can have on an ecosystem. We will examine the consequences of erosion and learn why deposition and turbidity can alter the river habitat. By building and adjusting a river system with our own hands, we can look closely at how human influences such as dredging and flood control can negatively affect the river and corresponding ecosystem.
Enhancing Classroom Curriculum with On-Site, Place-Based Education
Explore the natural world with hands-on lessons aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards.