Online Environmental Education Resources for Caregivers

Below is a running list of online resources which may be useful to Caregivers during school closures. If you know of additional resources that should be featured email info@baybackpack.com.

Activity Ideas

• Leaf Activities: No matter where you are, there are always leaves available! You can use leaves for a variety of fun activities.
• Track, Scat, and Sign Activities: Be a nature detective and look for a sign!
• Neighborhood Safari, Chesapeake Conservancy: Neighborhoods throughout the watershed are hosting “Zoofari” scavenger hunts. Participants place a stuffed animal in plain sight in their windows or front yards that can be visually found while folks are out on their daily walks.
• FieldScope Do at Home Inquiry Activities with Data: BSCS Science Learning has responded to the current situation by transforming a new set of citizen science lessons designed for classrooms into student-directed versions that can be done independently from home.
• National Park Trust Buddy Bison Activity: Think of this as a “choose your own” adventure experience. First, pick your park virtual tour. Second, print and color Buddy Bison based on the park you choose. Third, build your own park home for Buddy or write a comic strip based on his outdoor explorations. (Elementary)
• NEEF Environmental Education at Home: list of resources includes selected NEEF toolkits and activity guides that require minimal outdoor time.

Websites

• Ranger Rick Stuck Indoors: All digital magazines and activities are available for free through the end of June. The site also features guides for educators and parents. Most appropriate for early childhood and elementary grades. Activities in Spanish available here.
• U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, North Atlantic-Appalachian Region Blog: posts cover topics including backyard birding, scientific observation, soil science, plant surveys and more!

Webinars

• Archived NOAA Live! Webinars: This YouTube playlist is a growing archive of the webinars. Each webinar features a different NOAA expert/topic and a moderated question and answers session so that you can get a peek at what our NOAA scientists do in all the various NOAA offices. (Grades 2-8)

Other Lists

While not all within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, we hope these other lists can also help you.

• NAEE Online Learning Tools and Resources: This site includes a list of resources designed to keep learners of all ages interested and engaged during the crisis, from hands-on activities and lesson plans to websites, virtual tours, and more.
• NY Department of Environmental Conservation: Caregiver Resources While at Home, Surviving at Home with Youth: Activities to Stay Occupied
• MI Deparment of Natural Resources: Natural and Historical Education Resources for Home.
• Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Educators: Teaching Environmental Education at Home.
• Woods Hole Sea Grant Suggested Educational Resources: Woods Hole Sea Grant is pleased to be able to provide this list of educational resources to assist families with ideas and on-line programming for use during the shutdown of schools in response to COVID-19.
• NY Department of Environmental Conservation: Caregiver, Parent, & Educator Resources While at Home.