I enjoyed my day on the Nantahala river. I learned many things that as a science and social studies  teacher that I can use in my classroom.  Several examples would be …How cold the water was at the end of June and the reasons for that. I learned that there is a dam and they have to open it to release water into the river for hydroelectric power along with recreational uses in the summer the dam is releases water for more hours in the summer than in the winter.  The river has one of the richest biodiversities in the US similar to that South America and why (water, sunlight, temperature, elevation). I was surprised to learn that a lot of the plants came from China. I also collected a bottle from the river to take back to my class so that we can compare the turbidity, PH level of the Nantahala river to a river that is close to home.