Learn some creative ways to integrate the Chesapeake Bay and environmental issues into your classroom lessons. Search through the Bay Backpack's books, multimedia, curriculum guides, individual lesson plans and online data sources about the subjects you are teaching in class.
Check back often for new and innovative resources to help you teach environmental topics.
Get your students' feet wet and hands dirty. Use the Bay Backpack to find a place to take your students on a field trip to learn about the Chesapeake Bay and its streams and rivers.
Search our database of field studies to find a location near you, or read our blog entries about field studies taking place at schools throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Prepare yourself to teach about the Chesapeake Bay and environmental issues, from climate change to water pollution.
Use the Bay Backpack training calendar to find an upcoming training opportunity near you.
Looking for funds to build a schoolyard habitat or provide your students with a field study? The Bay Backpack includes lists of grant opportunities so you can find the right grant program for you.
Before you apply, check out our grant writing tips to learn how you can strengthen your proposal.
Ease back into the classroom - or out of it - with field studies
One Goodbye, Two Hellos
The time has come to pass the torch to not one, but two new Bay Backpackers. I am leaving my post as manager of the Bay Backpack site to pursue a graduate degree in my hometown at the University of Pittsburgh. So while I have my head in the books, these two feisty women will take over the helm. So have no fear! I leave all our faithful supporters in the very competent hands of Lindsay Eney and Kristin Foringer. [Read more]
Mapping Our Way Through the Bay
National Geographic FieldScope is a web-based mapping, analysis, and collaboration tool designed to support geographic investigations and engage students as citizen scientists investigating real-world issues - both in the classroom and in outdoor education settings. FieldScope enhances student scientific investigations by providing rich geographic context - through maps, mapping activities, and a rich community. [Read more]
Why Teach About Forests?
When Europeans first arrived to the Chesapeake Bay region in the 1600's they found vast, diverse forests covering 95% of the Bay's 64,000-square-mile watershed. Today, forests cover about 58% of the watershed, or 24 million acres. While forest conditions have changed over the past 400 years, forests still remain critical to the health of the Bay. Your local forest and trees in your schoolyard are great subjects to teach about. [Read more]
Want to know more Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences? This short video will give you the lowdown.
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FieldScope: Explore this interactive mapping system.
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Green School Program: Ways to make your school earth friendly.
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No Child Left Inside: Learn about this exciting program.
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CBIBS Curriculum: Use real-time data to teach the Bay.
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United States Global Change Research Program
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National Science Teachers Association (NSTA)
