(ABC 6 News)- The Cedar Watershed District has once again partnered with the nonprofit Wilderness Inquiry to host Canoemobile programming in Austin.

The nonprofit calls it a “floating classroom” that takes students outside the traditional classroom and out on the water to learn about science and geography.

The classes will be taking place all week in Austin on the Cedar River State Water Trail. Those is 4th, 5th and 6th grade from every public and private school in Mower County will be taking part. Cedar Watershed communities of Hollandale, Blooming Prairie and Hayfield will also participate.

As part of the program, kids will take part in paddling in 10-person canoes, each guided by a trained boat captain. There will also be team building games, fire building stations and history lessons about the river.

“Our Canoemobile program is nationwide so in the spring we typically go out west to California and Utah and New Mexico. In the fall we go all the way out to Washington, D.C down to Georgia. So we really go all over the place trying to get people of all ages backgrounds and abilities on to their local water ways,” said Emily Casper from Wilderness Inquiry.

This will be the 7th session of Canoemobile in Mower County since 2018.

“The sounds of it, whether it be the waterfalls or the frogs that are abundant out here or the birds. It’s just, especially on a day like this, it’s a really great reminder of what of why its worth going out in nature and taking some time away from screens,” said Tim Ruzek, water plan and outreach coordinator, Cedar River Watershed District.

There’s no participation fee for students due to state funding for aquatic invasive species awareness, given annually to Mower County, and watershed-based state funding.

Wilderness Inquiry is based out of the Twin Cities and has a goal of getting people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities into the outdoors and onto local waterways.