Cynthia Phillips presenting. The River Environments Landuse and Ahupua'a Technologies (RELATE) Project at the University of Hawai'i at Hilo is a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Bay-Watershed Education Training (B-WET) Grant. The aim of this project is to provide participating high school science teachers with an introduction to the RELATE Project and to provide participating high school students with meaningful outdoor experiences by relating human action on land to possible contamination of the Wailuku, Wailoa, or Ka'ahakini watersheds. The Project period covers the academic year 2008-09. During the project period, project goals were accomplished through in-field hands-on training with data collection methods and equipment, in-class visits by professional scientists, complimentary in-class curricula, in-field data collection, data analysis, and development and implementation of mitigation plans to improve the health of the watersheds. Participating students developed and implemented individual or group research projects. Dissemination of project outcomes were presented in varied formats. While some students chose to create posters, others chose to produce Power Point presentations or research papers. Students from one participating school chose to relate their project outcomes and mitigation plan through involvement in the 2009 Ocean Day community outreach event. Through the provision of meaningful outdoor experiences, students and teachers participating in the RELATE Project have shown increased awareness of stream health and ways in which human action impacts stream and watershed health. Additionally, participants increased the awareness of their local community on these issues through participation in community events.

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