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.
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- Language Arts
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- Science
Social Studies- Technology
Level
- All Levels
- Early Learning
- Elementary School
- Middle School
- High School
Type
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
> Elementary School > habitat and niche Oceans for Life Videos
http://oceanslive.gso.uri.edu/ is a marine science portal that offers live video and special content to educate people of all ages about the ocean, including national marine sanctuaries. Learn more about oceanography, marine life, conservation and preservation, marine research technologies, and the nation's maritime heritage.
Subject(s):
Language Arts, Science, Social Studies
Type(s):
Multimedia
Level(s):
Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Keywords:
ecosystem and biomes, habitat and niche, wildlife
"Be Part of Something Big!" Curriculum
This curriculum guide, produced by Maryland DNR, is designed for Grades 3-8 and provides educators and students the opportunity to gain hands-on experiences with water quality monitoring. This series of activities is designed to help your class or student group learn more about the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Topics addressed defining and identifying watersheds, the Chesapeake Bay and its tributary streams and rivers, problems associated with excess nutrients, chemical and biological characteristics of stream, and how to assess the health of a local stream. The curriculum guide also includes action strategies students can take to improve water quality in their local streams, and ultimately, the Chesapeake Bay such as trash clean ups, stream buffer plantings, and personal conservation measures.
Subject(s):
Science, Social Studies
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide, Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
Elementary School, Middle School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
Maryland
Keywords:
point source, non-point source, land use, watershed, water and energy conservation, habitat and niche, litter, trash and recycling, restoration, water quality, water testing, student action
TEAM DNR
TEAM DNR is a volunteer program, organized by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, that is dedicated to educating elementary and middle school students about the Chesapeake Bay and other natural resource issues in Maryland. TEAM DNR currently offers schools four different classroom programs and one outdoor program. Each program has pre and post visit activities to enhance the experience of your students. These programs are available upon request of the classroom teacher or school administrator.
Subject(s):
Science, Social Studies
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
Elementary School, Middle School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
Maryland
Keywords:
pollution, point source, non-point source, population growth, land use, watershed, oyster, culture and watermen, experiments and investigations, habitat and niche, predator prey relationships, restoration, stream study, water quality, water testing, wildlife, fish
Being a Forest Steward Lesson
In this lesson children will learn that a forest is made up of many different working parts, will discover that forest stewardship is the responsible use and planning of forestland management, and will realize that they can be a forest "friend" or steward.
Subject(s):
Science, Social Studies
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
Early Learning, Elementary School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
Pennsylvania
Keywords:
water and energy conservation, forest, habitat and niche, identification, renewable resource
Build-A-Horseshoe Crab Lesson
Following completion of this lesson, students will be able to: 1)identify and describe three main parts of a horseshoe crab 2)begin to know the history and habits of the horseshoe crab 3)state several reasons why horseshoe crabs are important 4)understand how to properly handle real horseshoe crabs.
Subject(s):
Art, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
Early Learning, Elementary School, Middle School
Keywords:
habitat and niche, identification, wildlife
Discover the Chesapeake
This portion of the Chesapeake Bay Program's website is one of the best Chesapeake Bay-related informational resources around. It features Bay 101 video clips, a Bay FAQ, a Bay glossary and provides information on the Bay ecosystem, history, and watershed. The website also includes one of the most comprehensive Field Guides to the Chesapeake Bay, completely available online!
Subject(s):
Science, Social Studies
Type(s):
Multimedia, Books and Publications
Level(s):
Early Learning, Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Keywords:
watershed, blue crab, development, biodiversity, culture and watermen, ecosystem and biomes, habitat and niche, John Smith and colonial times, restoration, water quality, wildlife, fish
Stream Creatures: Clues to Stream Health Lesson
Students will investigate the relationship between the health of macroinvertbrates and the health of the streams. Students will study the adaptations of some macroinvertebrates that enable them to spend part or all of their life cycle in a stream ecosystem and observe the effects of erosion and other pollution on stream macroinvertebrates and infer pollution's effects on the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed. Keywords: stream, water quality, habitat, macroinvertebrate, adaptation, pollution, erosion
Subject(s):
Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
Elementary School, Middle School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
Virginia
Keywords:
habitat and niche, stream study, water quality, wildlife
Native vs. Non-Native Species: Who Will Win Lesson
Students will explore the effects that human introduced non-native species have on estuarine ecosystems. Students will research non-native species that have caused problems in water and land habitats of the Chesapeake Bay, and classify them by habitat and by Kingdom. Students will then predict the percent of non-native plants in the schoolyard, identify plants, and classify them as native or non-native.
Subject(s):
Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, Technology
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
Elementary School, Middle School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
Virginia
Keywords:
invasive species, ecosystem and biomes, habitat and niche
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
Sultana's Chesapeake Bay Ecology Unit
This 67 page unit contains a variety of readings and creative classroom exercises that will help students better understand the ecology of North America's largest estuary. The unit can function as a stand alone curriculum as well as a pre-trip primer for students sailing on Sultana.
Subject(s):
Science, Social Studies
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide
Level(s):
Elementary School, Middle School
Keywords:
pollution, water cycle and movement, wetland, land use, watershed, blue crab, air pollution and fossil fuels, culture and watermen, ecosystem and biomes, habitat and niche, Native American, schoolyard habitat, water quality, wildlife
Maryland Environmental Education ToolKit
This Environmental Education Toolkit provides grade-specific resources for PreK-8 teachers. The toolkit links you to lessons connected to Maryland State Standards. Topics cover a wide range of environmental subjects.
Subject(s):
Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies
Type(s):
Curriculum Guide
Level(s):
Early Learning, Elementary School, Middle School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
Maryland
Keywords:
pollution, water cycle and movement, climate change, population growth, wetland, land use, food web, watershed, agriculture, development, biodiversity, culture and watermen, ecosystem and biomes, experiments and investigations, habitat and niche, renewable resource, water quality, wildlife
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
Project WET Curriculum and Activity Guide
The Project WET Curriculum and Activity Guide is a collection of over 90 science-based, interdisciplinary activities and lesson plans that emphasizes the importance of our water resources. These activities and lessons are teacher-tested and classroom ready for K-12 students.
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, watershed, biodiversity, ecosystem and biomes, habitat and niche, water quality, wildlife
The Bay Long Ago & Today Lesson
Students will read a primary source and use it to identify the physical characteristics of Maryland's Chesapeake Bay region in the 1600s. They will then identify ways people have modified the natural environment and compare and contrast the landscape existing at the time of the settlement of Maryland with that of today.
Subject(s):
Science, Social Studies
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
Elementary School, Middle School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
District of Columbia
Keywords:
culture and watermen, habitat and niche, John Smith and colonial times
The Chesapeake Bay in Captain John Smith's Time Lesson
Students will analyze primary sources in order to assess the presence of various animals and the quality of the Chesapeake Bay habitats in the 1600s. Then compare the Chesapeake Bay of the 1600s with that of today.
Subject(s):
Language Arts, Science, Social Studies
Type(s):
Lessons and Activities
Level(s):
Elementary School, Middle School
Aligned with the following standard(s):
Maryland
Keywords:
culture and watermen, habitat and niche, John Smith and colonial times
Bay Trippers Website
Use this site to search for lesson plans, take a virtual sailing trip around the bay, or explore way's you can help the Bay.
Subject(s):
Science, Social Studies
Type(s):
Multimedia
Level(s):
Early Learning, Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Keywords:
water and energy conservation, habitat and niche, restoration
Chesapeake Video Explorer
A series of video clips that show many of the critters that call the Chesapeake home.
Subject(s):
Science, Social Studies
Type(s):
Multimedia
Level(s):
Early Learning, Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Keywords:
habitat and niche, wildlife
Chesapeake Bay Map
This map of the Chesapeake Bay is made for printing and copying and can be customized as basic or detailed.
Subject(s):
Art, Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Technology
Type(s):
Posters and Maps
Level(s):
Early Learning, Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Keywords:
watershed, ecosystem and biomes, habitat and niche
