Teaching Resources
Teaching environmental issues in your classroom is a critical component of providing your students a Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience. Discover a wealth Chesapeake Bay related books, multimedia, curriculum guides, individual lesson plans and online data sources.
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Subject
Level
All Levels- Early Learning
- Elementary School
- Middle School
- High School
Type
Alignment
- All Alignments
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Maryland
- New York
- Pennsylvania
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- National Science Education
Keywords
- All Keywords
- acid rain
- adaptation
- African American
- agriculture
- air pollution and fossil fuels
- aquatic grass SAV
- beaver
- biodiversity
- blue crab
- boats, canoes and kayaks
- climate change
- culture and watermen
- development
- dissolved oxygen
- Drinking Water
- economics
- ecosystem and biomes
- erosion
- experiments and investigations
- fish
- food web
- forest
- geocaching (GIS/GPS)
- Geography
- green development
- habitat and niche
- identification
- invasive species
- John Smith and colonial times
- land use
- litter, trash and recycling
- Native American
- nitrogen and carbon cycle
- non-point source
- orienteering
- Outdoor Activity
- oyster
- photosynthesis
- point source
- pollution
- population growth
- predator prey relationships
- renewable resource
- restoration
- salinity
- schoolyard habitat
- sediment, soil and rocks
- smart growth
- stormwater
- stream study
- student action
- Temperature
- transportation
- Underground Railroad
- water and energy conservation
- water cycle and movement
- water quality
- water testing
- watershed
- weather
- wetland
- wildlife
> National Science Education Global Water Supply: Elementary School Curriculum
Stand-alone lesson plans are part of larger units that cover a broad scope of subjects including English, science and technology, and social sciences like geography, civics and economics. Classroom activities cover everything from poetry seminars and vocabulary-building worksheets to science and math lessons about potable water availability. Activities are aligned to national standards.
Subject(s):
Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Technology
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide
Level(s):
Elementary School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
National Science Education
Keywords:
water cycle and movement, water and energy conservation, water quality, Drinking Water
Youth Action Guide for the Study and Stewardship of Community Riparian Areas
Holding onto the GREEN Zone is an Earth Science and life science curriculum with a focus on science inquiry and experiential learning. Using questioning, analysis,observation, and investigation,learners will enhance their knowledge of science, boost their critical thinking skills, learn the importance of preserving and restoring vital riparian ecosystems, and have fun. When young people become involved in investigating the GREEN
Zone, they are better prepared to take action
on local watershed issues now and in the future.
They also gain the opportunity to exercise
their rights and responsibilities as citizens and
community members. Both a leader guide and a student action guide are provided. Correlations are provided to National Science Education Content Standards, NAAEE Excellence in Environmental Education—Guidelines for Learning, and 4-H Youth Development Guidelines.
Subject(s):
Mathematics, Science
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide, Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
National Science Education
Keywords:
pollution, point source, non-point source, water cycle and movement, photosynthesis, wetland, land use, food web, adaptation, watershed, agriculture, development, stormwater, air pollution and fossil fuels, aquatic grass SAV, ecosystem and biomes, erosion, experiments and investigations, forest, habitat and niche, identification, sediment, soil and rocks, water quality, student action
NOAA Estuaries Physical Science Module Activity 3: Human Impacts on Estuaries
In this activity, students make a model of a pollution spill that occurred at Bangs Lake, a tidal lake within the Grand Bay NERR in Mississippi, in April 2005, and measure water quality parameters in their model. Students then study the actual spill, analyzing various forms of data to determine the date of the spill and
identify how the spill changed water quality parameters in the estuary during and after the spill. They speculate on how various life forms in the estuary were affected. Finally, students produce a timeline of the spill event with recommendations to the state Department of
Environmental Quality about how to prevent large-scale pollution spills like this in the future.
Subject(s):
Language Arts, Science
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
High School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
National Science Education
Keywords:
pollution, water quality, student action
NOAA Estuaries Physical Science Module Activity 2: Dissolved Oxygen in the Estuary
In this activity, students (grades 9-12) learn about dissolved oxygen(DO) and its effects on life, with a focus on the chemistry. First, they are introduced to, and analyze data gathered from, water quality sensors in Narragansett Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR), observing how DO and chlorophyll-a change from the surface to the bottom and considering the relationships between DO and temperature. Then, in the unique environment of Azevedo Pond in the Elkhorn Slough NERR, CA, they analyze DO data and speculate about how hydrodynamics, abiotic factors, and biological processes cause extreme fluctuations in DO in the pond.
Subject(s):
Science
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide, Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
High School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
National Science Education
Keywords:
watershed, aquatic grass SAV, water quality, water testing, dissolved oxygen
NOAA Estuaries Physical Science Module Activity 1: Chemistry in an Estuary
In this activity, students (grades 9-12)investigate water quality parameters to study the nature of, and the cyclical changes inherent in, the chemistry of estuarine water. Students study key water quality factors at several stations in a single reserve over time — current, daily, and yearly time scales. Students also compare water quality values over a yearly time scale in three different estuaries within NOAA’s National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERR) —South Slough NERR, Oregon; Delaware NERR; and Old Woman Creek NERR, Ohio. Then students take water quality measurements at a site near them and compare their data to the water in the three geographically diverse NERR estuarine environments.
Subject(s):
Science
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide, Lessons and Activities, Data
Level(s):
High School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
National Science Education
Keywords:
watershed, water quality, water testing, salinity, dissolved oxygen
NOAA Estuaries Earth Science Module Activity 1: Observing Estuaries
In this activity, students (grades 9-12)investigate landforms and features associated with estuaries. They begin by taking a journey down a river to an estuary system where the river empties into the Gulf of Mexico near Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) to investigate how landforms differ between uplands and riverine/estuarine environments. Student teams then use Google Earth and other resources to engage in a scavenger hunt to locate and identify landforms and features of estuaries.
Subject(s):
Science
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide, Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
High School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
National Science Education
Keywords:
water cycle and movement, watershed
In Your Watershed
How do people impact a community's watershed and its
freshwater supplies? In this activity, students learn the components of a watershed, identify examples of point and nonpoint source pollution, and then build a 3-D watershed model.
Subject(s):
Science
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
Middle School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
National Science Education
Keywords:
pollution, point source, non-point source, watershed
Global Water Supply: Middle School Curriculum
Stand-alone lesson plans are part of larger units that cover a broad scope of subjects including English, science and technology, and social sciences like geography, civics and economics. Classroom activities cover everything from poetry seminars and vocabulary-building worksheets to science and math lessons about potable water availability. Activities are aligned to national standards.
Subject(s):
Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Technology
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide
Level(s):
Middle School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
National Science Education
Keywords:
adaptation, water and energy conservation, water quality, Drinking Water
Global Water Supply: High School Curriculum
Stand-alone lesson plans are part of larger units that cover a broad scope of subjects including English, science and technology, and social sciences like geography, civics and economics. Classroom activities cover everything from poetry seminars and vocabulary-building worksheets to science and math lessons about potable water availability. Activities are aligned to national standards.
Subject(s):
Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Technology
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide
Level(s):
High School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
National Science Education
Keywords:
pollution, land use, water and energy conservation, renewable resource, water quality, economics, Drinking Water
Project Learning Tree Curriculum Guide
The Project Learning Tree Curriculum Guide is a collection of 96 hands-on interdisciplinary activities that bring the environment into your classroom. The guide is designed so you can use a single activity or many over the course of a quarter or school year. Each activity includes an overview, background content and a teachers' step-by-step guide. The guide's five main themes are diversity, interrelationships, systems, structure and scale, and patterns of change.
Subject(s):
Art, Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Technology
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide
Level(s):
Early Learning, Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
Maryland,
Virginia,
New York,
West Virginia,
District of Columbia,
Delaware,
National Science Education,
Pennsylvania
Keywords:
pollution, land use, watershed, air pollution and fossil fuels, biodiversity, forest
Green Eggs and Sand
Green Eggs and Sand is a Tri-State Horseshoe Crab/Shorebird Education Program. The curriculum, designed for middle and high schools students, was developed by coastal managers and teachers from Maryland, New Jersey, and Delaware. Teacher workshops are held on the spawning of the horseshoe crab, the interrelationships with other species and how management decisions are made. The first three curricular modules were designed so you can introduce your students to the lives of horseshoe crabs, their extraordinary history, ecological niche, and interrelationships with other species. The fourth and culminating module integrates all this information to prepare students to confront the multi-faceted challenge of managing horseshoe crabs, a natural resource. Parts of this curriculum may be used independently. Optional extension activities are included to increase your flexibility. The curriculum interdisciplinary with lessons that integrate one or more of the following subjects: history, science, language arts, reading, and math.
Subject(s):
Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide, Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
Middle School, High School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
Maryland,
National Science Education
Keywords:
food web, habitat and niche, predator prey relationships, restoration, wildlife
Building the Basic PVC Wind Turbine Lesson
This lesson plan shows how to make a rugged and inexpensive classroom wind turbine that can be used for lab bench-based blade design experiments. While a few specialized parts are needed (a hub and DC motor), the rest of the components are easily found at most hardware stores.
Subject(s):
Science, Technology
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
Middle School, High School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
National Science Education
Keywords:
water and energy conservation, green development, renewable resource
Alternative Fuels Used in Transportation Activities
The projects included in this resource are designed to give students the opportunity to create their own investigation and test alternative fuels to discover how they influence transportation. The projects included will fit easily with regular classroom lessons surrounding scientific inquiry and the scientific method.
Subject(s):
Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Technology
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide, Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
Elementary School, Middle School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
National Science Education
Keywords:
water and energy conservation, transportation
Air Quality Index Toolkit for Teachers
This Toolkit provides teachers with easy-to-use and engaging lesson plans, additional activities, and other resources to teach students about the connections between air quality, health, weather, and other related science topics, as well as actions students can take to protect their health and reduce air pollution.
Subject(s):
Science
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide, Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
Early Learning, Elementary School, Middle School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
National Science Education
Keywords:
weather, air pollution and fossil fuels, water and energy conservation
Estuaries 101 Curriculum - Biodiversity in an Estuary
In this activity, students investigate the incredible biodiversity that exists in estuarine environments. They begin by exploring the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) using Google Earth. Students then produce an estuary biodiversity concept map and individual organism profile that becomes part of an estuary wildlife exhibit.
Subject(s):
Science
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
High School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
National Science Education
Keywords:
food web, biodiversity, ecosystem and biomes
Estuaries 101 Curriculum - Survival in an Estuary
In this activity, students investigate the range of
conditions that selected animal and plant species need tosurvive in an estuary. They examine data for abiotic factors that affect life in estuaries—salinity, dissolved oxygen, temperature, and pH. Students use archived data (trend analysis graphs) and real-time conditions at the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) to predict whether a particular animal or plant species could survive in an estuary.
Subject(s):
Mathematics, Science
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
High School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
National Science Education
Keywords:
ecosystem and biomes, water quality, salinity, dissolved oxygen
Estuaries 101 Curriculum - Nutrients in an Estuary
In this activity, students model estuaries, artificially
enriching both fresh and salt water samples with
different amounts of nutrients and observing the growth of algae over a several weeks. They relate their results to the phenomenon of algae blooms in estuaries. They then analyze data for different sites at the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve(GTMNERR) in Florida to discover the relationships between nitrogen, chlorophyll, and dissolved oxygen. Finally, they study how nutrients cycle through an estuary and suggest recommendations for reducing nutrient inputs to estuary waters.
Subject(s):
Mathematics, Science
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
High School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
National Science Education
Keywords:
nitrogen and carbon cycle, pollution, point source, non-point source, photosynthesis, development, stormwater, water quality, dissolved oxygen
Estuaries 101 Curriculum - Salinity and Tides
In this activity, students learn about tides and salinity in estuaries. They observe time-lapse models of tides and salinity distribution in the York River, part of the Chesapeake Bay, VA NERR. Learn how salinity changes with an incoming and outgoing tide, observing the dynamics of the salt wedge at various sites along the river. Students also make predictions about the salinity changes at each site based upon their observations of the animation. They then use salinity data from
monitoring stations along the river to see changes during a typical day. And, then describe the patterns of each salinity graph and compare the graphs.
Subject(s):
Science
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
High School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
National Science Education
Keywords:
water cycle and movement, salinity
Estuaries 101 Curriculum - Extreme Weather and Estuaries
Students investigate how hurricanes can affect NERRS
estuaries. Students begin by studying the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve (NCNERR) in the Cape Fear area with Google Earth and predict which areas of the reserve might be more vulnerable to the onslaught of high winds, heavy rain and storm surge than others. Then students monitor and interpret the changes in water quality factors day by day as a severe storm approaches, strikes the estuary, and then dissipates.
Subject(s):
Science
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
High School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
National Science Education
Keywords:
weather, watershed, water quality
Think Green "What is in our Trash?" Lesson Plan
Students begin the lesson by examining items to determine what they are made of—glass, paper, plastic, or metal. Next, students collect data to determine what types of trash they produce at lunch time. After making a class graph of this information, students discuss what happens when trash is thrown away and discover four strategies for using resources wisely (reduce, reuse, recycle, and recover). After learning more about recycling by exploring the ThinkGreen website, students display their new learning on a mini poster. Finally, the lesson is extended to the home, where students analyze the trash they produce and brainstorm strategies for reducing the waste.
Subject(s):
Mathematics, Science
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide, Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
Elementary School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
National Science Education
Keywords:
litter, trash and recycling
Think Green Sorting It Out Lesson 3 - Recycling Paper
Students begin the lesson by reviewing a diagram showing the cycle of how consumers use products: the products are sent to recycling facilities where they are sorted, sent back to manufacturers for reprocessing, and then sold back again to consumers. Next, students complete a hands-on investigation to discover how old paper is reprocessed to make new paper. The investigation is followed up by a short reading selection on how recycling paper impacts trees.
Subject(s):
Science
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide, Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
Elementary School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
National Science Education
Keywords:
litter, trash and recycling
Think Green Sorting It Out Lesson 2 - Plastics
In this lesson, students explore how physical properties are used to sort recyclable materials efficiently. After describing the look and feel of plastic samples, students complete an investigation to determine their relative densities. Next, students discover the type of plastic container the sample was taken from and search for the recycle symbol and number located on each container. Finally, students predict which type of plastic is recycled most at their school and investigate to determine the accuracy of their predictions.
Subject(s):
Science
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
Elementary School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
National Science Education
Keywords:
litter, trash and recycling
Think Green Sorting It Out Lesson 1 - Metals
In this lesson, students explore how physical properties are used to sort recyclable materials efficiently. After describing the physical properties of co-mingled materials in a recycling bin, students use knowledge of physical properties to solve a problem. Magnetism is used to identify steel from a mixture of different metals. A video visit to a recycling center helps students visualize steps in a sorting process.
Subject(s):
Science
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide, Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
Elementary School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
National Science Education
Keywords:
litter, trash and recycling
Think Green The Energy of Decay Lesson Plan
In this lesson, students explore how decaying organic matter can be harvested as a source of energy. After brainstorming ways that old metal, plastic, and paper can be a resource, students are challenged to find use for an old piece of fruit. Next, students view a video to discover how organic material is harvested as an energy source. Finally, by completing a well designed investigation, students observe conditions that promote the most rapid decay of a piece of fruit.
Subject(s):
Science
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide, Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
Elementary School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
National Science Education
Keywords:
litter, trash and recycling, renewable resource
Understanding Sea Level Using Real Data
This curriculum guide contains five activities designed for grades 6-8 that incorporate real data from NOAA. The activities are organized as a pathway with five levels of increasing sophistication. Students first need to understand how to access and interpret sea surface height and tide data. To understand how to interpret these data, students will review and practice computing mean values. Along the way, they will learn how different factors such as storms affect tide levels and how to meaure them. The goal is for students to become experienced with these kinds of data and the tools for accessing them, so that, by the end of the module, they can continue to explore data sets driven by their own inquiry.
Subject(s):
Science, Technology
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide, Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
Middle School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
National Science Education
Keywords:
climate change, salinity
