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.
Begin by choosing the criteria for your search. It is only necessary to include the criteria you wish to use to limit your search. The more specific your search the more focused and narrow the results.
If you know of a great teaching resource that is not included in the Bay Backpack please let us know by suggesting a resource.
Subject
- All Subjects
- Art
- Language Arts
- Mathematics
- Science
- Social Studies
Technology
Level
- All Levels
- Early Learning
- Elementary School
- Middle School
- High School
Type
- All Types
- Books and Publications
- Curriculum Guide
- Data
- Lessons and Activities
- Multimedia
- Posters and Maps
- Supplies
Alignment
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
> Lessons and Activities Stream Cleaner
Use different BMP practices to reduce the amount of pollution coming from farms and urban areas into the local stream. (Just click visitor when the site opens). An associated lesson plan and West Virginia standards correlations are available here: http://www.cacaponinstitute.org/PDF/Pollution%20Curriculum%20Lesson%20Plan.pdf
Subject(s):
Mathematics, Science, Technology
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities, Multimedia
Level(s):
Middle School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
West Virginia
Keywords:
pollution, non-point source, watershed, agriculture, development, forest, water quality
Watershed Creator
Learn all about a watershed while creating one virtually. (Just click visitor on the page). An associated lesson plan for using this module with your class is available here: http://www.cacaponinstitute.org/PDF/Watershed%20Curriculum%20Lesson%20Plan.pdf
Subject(s):
Science, Technology
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities, Multimedia
Level(s):
Middle School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
West Virginia
Keywords:
water cycle and movement, photosynthesis, ecosystem and biomes, forest
Chesapeake Bay FieldScope Activity: Investigating Nutrient and Sediment Pollution
Students investigate the sources of nutrient and sediment pollution in a sub-watershed of the Chesapeake Bay. Students will be able to identify the sources of nutrient and sediment pollution in a watershed, read pie charts and relate them to geographic areas on a map, and consider the effects of different land uses on the watershed and estuary ecosystem
Subject(s):
Science, Technology
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities, Multimedia, Data, Posters and Maps
Level(s):
Middle School, High School
Keywords:
nitrogen and carbon cycle, pollution, watershed, sediment, soil and rocks, water quality
Chesapeake Bay FieldScope Activity: Dissolved Oxygen in the Chesapeake Bay
Students analyze how dissolved oxygen conditions change in the Chesapeake Bay over the course of the year and learn about the danger of low dissolved oxygen conditions to underwater habitats. Students will be able to understand how dissolved oxygen levels change throughout the Chesapeake Bay over the course of a year and identify factors and inputs affecting dissolved oxygen levels in the Chesapeake Bay.
Subject(s):
Science, Technology
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities, Multimedia, Data
Level(s):
Middle School, High School
Keywords:
watershed, water quality, dissolved oxygen
Chesapeake Bay FieldScope Activity: Changing Turbidity
Students explore the effects of turbidity on Chesapeake Bay ecosystems and learn about the driving forces behind high turbidity levels in Chesapeake Bay estuary waters. Students will be able to understand how turbidity varies by location, understand how turbidity changes over time, analyze graphs to understand the conditions affecting turbidity levels recorded at buoy monitoring stations throughout the Chesapeake Bay, and analyze student-input data on turbidity and compare the data to buoy monitoring data from NOAA
Subject(s):
Science, Technology
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities, Multimedia, Data
Level(s):
Middle School, High School
Keywords:
watershed, sediment, soil and rocks, water quality
Chesapeake Bay FieldScope Activity: Changing Temperatures in the Estuary
Students consider how water temperature changes with different parameters by examining factors such as time, depth, and location in the estuary. Students compare their data to data from professional monitoring systems.
Subject(s):
Science, Technology
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities, Multimedia, Data, Posters and Maps
Level(s):
Middle School, High School
Keywords:
watershed, stream study, water quality, water testing, Temperature
Chesapeake Bay FieldScope Activity: Sharing Data in FieldScope
After participating in field study, students will return to the classroom and assess the collected data to produce the highest quality dataset. The class will then use the National Geographic FieldScope tool to upload the data in order to share their findings with the citizen science community.
Subject(s):
Science, Social Studies, Technology
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities, Multimedia, Data, Posters and Maps
Level(s):
Middle School, High School
Keywords:
stream study, water quality, water testing, student action
Chesapeake Bay FieldScope Activity: Collecting Data in the Field
Students measure water quality and document local conditions in the field in order to focus on parameters that can illustrate something about the health or degradation of a waterway. Students will be able to record water quality data for later analysis, take notes and other observational data on conditions in the ecosystem and reflect on local and regional environmental factors and how they might be affecting water quality and the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem
Subject(s):
Science, Social Studies, Technology
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities, Data
Level(s):
Middle School, High School
Keywords:
stream study, water quality, water testing, student action
Chesapeake Bay FieldScope Activity: Preparing for Field Investigation
Students consider what it means to be citizen scientists, learn how notes and photographs can enhance a field investigation, and review techniques for choosing and recording sampling locations.
Subject(s):
Science, Social Studies, Technology
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities, Multimedia, Data
Level(s):
Middle School, High School
Keywords:
stream study, water quality, water testing, student action
Chesapeake Bay FieldScope Activity: Pollution in the Watershed
In this activity, students are introduced to the role of wetlands in the Chesapeake Bay as natural filters for sediment and nutrients that can negatively affect our waterways. Students use what they learn about land cover and human actions to predict where pollution might occur. Students will use National Geographic FieldScope mapping tools to explore the spatial distribution of wetland habitats throughout the watershed and predict areas where pollution will occur based on the surrounding land cover.
Subject(s):
Science, Technology
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities, Multimedia, Posters and Maps
Level(s):
Middle School, High School
Keywords:
pollution, wetland, watershed, water quality, Geography
Chesapeake Bay FieldScope Activity: Take a Trip Down Your Tributary
In this activity, students work with National Geographic FieldScope to begin to build their identity as citizens of a vast and ecologically important watershed. Students will trace the tributary network path that connects their
location to the Chesapeake Bay, adding key information to a watershed profile along the way.
Subject(s):
Science, Technology
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities, Multimedia, Posters and Maps
Level(s):
Middle School, High School
Keywords:
watershed, Geography
Chesapeake Bay FieldScope Activity: The Human Footprint in the Watershed
Students explore how humans have shaped the landscape in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Students work with map layers in the National Geographic's FieldScope tool to consider land development patterns and development trends over time, in order to investigate why people settled where they did.
Subject(s):
Science, Social Studies, Technology
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities, Multimedia, Supplies
Level(s):
Middle School, High School
Keywords:
land use, watershed, development, Geography
Chesapeake Bay FieldScope Activity: Define Your Watershed
Students work with National Geographic's FieldScope map layers and tools to delineate watersheds. Students will consider the scalability of watersheds and begin to think about watershed management.
Subject(s):
Science, Technology
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities, Multimedia, Posters and Maps
Level(s):
Middle School, High School
Keywords:
watershed, Geography
Chesapeake Bay FieldScope Activity: Investigating Water Flow Patterns
Students explore diverse landscapes and water flow paths by zooming in on specific areas of the watershed using National Geographic FieldScope. Students will be able to understand how the physical geography of a region affects water flow patterns and compare water flow patterns in diverse landscapes across the Chesapeake Bay watershed
Subject(s):
Science, Technology
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities, Multimedia
Level(s):
Middle School, High School
Keywords:
water cycle and movement, watershed, Geography
Leaf Pack Network Database
Student collected data from leaf pack experiments that assess stream health by using aquatic insects as their indicator species. Data is available for the Susquehanna, James and Patapsco Rivers.
Subject(s):
Science, Technology
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities, Data
Level(s):
Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Keywords:
stream study, water testing, 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
Build-A-Pizza Box Solar Oven Activity
Check out this staight forward lesson, that can be adapted for all grade levels, on how to build a solar oven.
Subject(s):
Science, Technology
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
Early Learning, Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Keywords:
water and energy conservation, green development
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
A Scientific Cleanup Lesson
Students will learn about problems associated with litter and marine debris. They will design an experiment to investigate litter distribution, make predictions of litter distribution, and participate in a cleanup at the site. Based on the data students collect, they will make conclusions relating litter to the local ecosystem as well as human health and safety.
Subject(s):
Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, Technology
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
High School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
Virginia
Keywords:
experiments and investigations, litter, trash and recycling, stream study, water quality
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
NOAA Tides and Water Levels Tutorial
Maritime activities throughout the world depend on accurate tidal and current information for safe operation. NOAA's National Ocean Service collects, studies and provides access to thousands of historical and real-time observations as well as predictions of water levels, coastal currents and other data. The Tides and Waters Levels Tutorial is an overview of the complex systems that govern the movement of tides and water levels. The Roadmap to Resources complements the information in the tutorial by directing you to additional information and data from NOAA and other reliable resources. The Subject Review would be useful for teachers to use as a worksheet for students to answer questions as they go through to tutorial, or could help generate quiz questions. This website also includes a video on storm surges and a podcast on tides.
Subject(s):
Science, Technology
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities, Multimedia
Level(s):
Middle School, High School
Keywords:
water cycle and movement, weather
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
Science Fair Central
This website from Discovery Education has a lot of great science fair project ideas for your students to browse through, or that you can re-design into a classroom lesson. It is also a great resource for teachers and administrators looking to plan a science fair.
Subject(s):
Mathematics, Science, Technology
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
Early Learning, Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
West Virginia
Keywords:
experiments and investigations, student action
