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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- 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
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- wildlife
> Curriculum Guide 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
Schoolyard Habitat Project Guide, Second Edition
This “how-to” guide provides the basic steps needed to restore or create wildlife habitat on school grounds. It will take you and your students through each step of the process: planning, installing and sustaining a project. This is not a book about why schoolyard projects are important; this is a guide about how to make the best one for your site. It is also designed to engage students the completion of several tasks that will lead to establishing a schoolyard woodland, meadow or wetland.
Subject(s):
Science, Technology
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide
Level(s):
Early Learning, Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Keywords:
biodiversity, habitat and niche, restoration, schoolyard habitat, water quality, wildlife, student action
Are You a River Keeper?
Learners will utilize fundamental techniques to determine the health of a local river. They will collect, compile, display and interpret their data. The students will focus on how water speed affects rates of erosion and deposition. They will focus on the history of, reasons for, and possible solutions to excessive deposition in the southern branch of the Muskegon River or waterway in their community. Through the writing and performing of a short theatrical activity, learners will summarize articles they have read to increase environmental awareness. Learners will become aware of global issues of clean water scarcity. Learners will investigate the many causes of river water pollution and relate them to their sources. Students will then identify four sectors of society and how each can be an agent for change. They will locate and write letters to public service, nonprofit organizations in support of water clarity. After presenting their findings to peers, students will distribute a self-designed pledge, requesting households to commit to positive change.
Subject(s):
Art, Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Technology
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide
Level(s):
Middle School
Keywords:
pollution, water and energy conservation, erosion, water quality, water testing, student action
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
Trout In the Classroom Activity Guide
This activity guide and reference list gives teachers the background necessary to raise trout in their classroom.
Subject(s):
Science, Technology
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide
Level(s):
Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Keywords:
restoration, stream study, wildlife, fish
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
Pollution Prevention Toolbox
The Pollution Prevention Toolbox is a series of lesson plans on various pollution prevention concepts. Each fact sheet provides lesson plans, hands-on activities and information on how students and teachers can prevent pollution.
Subject(s):
Science, Social Studies, Technology
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide
Level(s):
Middle School
Keywords:
pollution
Maryland Project WET Training and Curriculum Guide
After completion of a six hour training, educators are given a free Project WET curriculum and activity guide packed with 91 hands-on activities that cross many disciplines in the study of water and water resources - chemistry and physics, life science, earth systems, natural resource management, history and culture. During the workshop educators learn how to incorporate local issues into the lessons.
Perfect for 4-H Youth Development, Scouts, and other youth organizations as well, the goal of Project WET is to facilitate and promote the awareness, appreciation, knowledge, and stewardship of water resources through the development and dissemination of classroom ready teaching aids.
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
Keywords:
pollution, watershed, biodiversity, culture and watermen, ecosystem and biomes, water quality, wildlife
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
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
NOAA Get Smart: Smart Growth Lesson
What is Smart Growth, and what advantages does it have compared to other approaches to community development? Teach your students with this lesson! Upon completing this lesson, students will be able to describe the concepts of sustainability and Smart Growth, identify at least three benefits that may be expected from Smart Growth, and discuss at least three different perspectives on Smart Growth that might be found among stakeholders in a coastal community
Subject(s):
Science, Social Studies, Technology
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide, Lessons and Activities, Multimedia
Level(s):
High School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
National Science Education
Keywords:
population growth, development, green development, smart growth
Estuaries 101 Curriculum - Chesapeake Bay Module
In the Chesapeake Bay Module, students (in grades 8-12) investigate the Chesapeake Bay, examine the dynamics of the Bay; how it changes on daily, tidal, and seasonal cycles and then conduct their own investigations into living shorelines. Exploring maps and accessing real, often current data, students look at the terrain of the Bay and its watershed, investigate changes in salinity, temperature, pH, and other abiotic factors, and consider how these affect and cause changes in the life and habitats of the Bay.
Subject(s):
Science, Social Studies, Technology
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide, Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
Middle School, High School
Keywords:
water cycle and movement, watershed, water quality, water testing
EPA Tools to Reduce Waste in Schools
EPA’s Tools to Reduce Waste in Schools helps your school and school district reduce the amount of waste you generate. You’ll learn how to start a waste reduction program or expand an existing one. The guide will show you how your program can benefit your school, your community, and the environment by reducing, reusing, and recycling your waste.
Subject(s):
Science, Technology
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide, Books and Publications
Level(s):
Early Learning, Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Keywords:
air pollution and fossil fuels, water and energy conservation, litter, trash and recycling
Track Your Family's Water Usage
During this lesson, students will examine the amount of water their family uses on a typical Saturday, record the information in a Microsoft Office Excel 2007 template, analyze and compare their water usage to that of others in the class, and suggest three ways to conserve water.
Subject(s):
Mathematics, Science, Technology
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide, Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
Middle School, High School
Keywords:
water and energy conservation, student action, Drinking Water
Think Green Lesson 4: Don't Waste - Recover!
Students will investigate the process of energy conversion and relate that process to waste-to-energy technology. Students will define and identify different types of energy, identify how energy converts from one form to another in a series of everyday activities and during the waste-to-energy process, complete an investigation that demonstrates energy conversion, identify the correct order of the waste-to-energy process, and summarize how the energy conversion process they’ve demonstrated relates to the waste-to-energy process.
Subject(s):
Science, Social Studies, Technology
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 Lesson 1: Trash Talk
Students increase awareness about the human and environmental consequences of too much waste and identify potential solutions to the problem. Students will: Examine several items that could be found in their class or home trash and predict the path each may take from trashcan to landfill, identify how long waste items last in a landfill, as well as several facts about the history, current status, and future of waste production in the United States, investigate the environmental and human consequences of increased waste production in the U.S, and brainstorm how technology could help create solutions to these problems.
Subject(s):
Science, Social Studies, Technology
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide, Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
Middle School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
National Science Education
Keywords:
litter, trash and recycling
Bay-B-C's Guide
This booklet is a compilation of Bay related activities and lesson plans for K to 3rd grade students.
Subject(s):
Art, Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Technology
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide, Lessons and Activities, Books and Publications
Level(s):
Early Learning, Elementary School
Keywords:
pollution, wetland, watershed, habitat and niche, restoration, water quality, wildlife
"On the Air" Curriculum Units 1-7
The On the Air curriculum facilitates the understanding of air pollution by studying: Criteria Air Pollutants, the Air Quality Index, Ozone, Particulate Matter, the Health Effects of Air Pollution, Community Sources and Solutions of Air Pollution and Climate Change. Each unit consists of the following: activity description, curricular ties, time needed, learning objectives, materials needed (kit), teacher preparation, teacher background reading, teacher demonstration procedures, activity procedures, technology connections, student handout, student packets and student worksheets.
Subject(s):
Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Technology
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide, Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
Middle School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
Maryland,
Virginia,
District of Columbia
Keywords:
climate change, acid rain, air pollution and fossil fuels
What Does the Sun Give Us Guide (5 Activities)
Where does the energy to build, light, and heat our houses and schools come from? The sun has actually created almost all of the energy we use today. If we want to find more energy, we can look back to the sun itself. All the light and heat we feel is energy that we might be able to use. How much energy could the sun give us? How much would this energy cost us? How can we capture the energy and use it for our needs? This lesson has five experiments that will begin to answer these questions.
Subject(s):
Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Technology
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide
Level(s):
Middle School, High School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
National Science Education
Keywords:
water and energy conservation, green development
Exploring Solar Energy Teacher and Student Guides (7 Activities)
These seven activities are hands-on explorations that teach the scientific concepts of solar energy and photovoltaics.
Subject(s):
Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Technology
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide, Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
Middle School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
National Science Education
Keywords:
green development
Energy From the Sun Teacher and Student Guides (7 Activities)
These hands-on explorations introduce the scientific concepts of solar energy to elementary students.
Subject(s):
Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Technology
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide, Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
Elementary School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
National Science Education
Keywords:
green development
Geothermal Energy (5 Activities)
This lesson includes five activities that will give your students information on the principles of heat transfer and the technology of using geothermal energy to generate electricity.
Subject(s):
Science, Social Studies, Technology
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide, Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
Middle School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
National Science Education
Keywords:
green development
Schoolyard Habitat Project Guide
This guide provides the basic steps needed to restore or create wildlife habitat on school grounds. It is designed so that students complete several tasks that will lead to establishing a forest, meadow or wetland.
Subject(s):
Science, Technology
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide
Level(s):
Early Learning, Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Keywords:
biodiversity, habitat and niche, restoration, schoolyard habitat, water quality, wildlife, student action
Project WILD Curriculum Guide
The Project WILD Curriculum Guide emphasizes aquatic wildlife and aquatic ecosystems. Each Project WILD Aquatic activity contains all the information needed to conduct that activity including objectives, method, background information, a list of materials needed, procedures, evaluation suggestions, recommended grade levels, subject areas, duration, group size, setting, and key terms.
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:
adaptation, biodiversity, water and energy conservation, habitat and niche, predator prey relationships, schoolyard habitat, wildlife
