Field Studies
Field studies coupled with classroom activities are an integral part of Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences. Find a field study program that gets your students' feet wet and hands dirty.
Find a Program Near You
Begin by choosing the criteria for your search. Matching field study programs will be displayed as pin-points on the map below. Click on a pin-point for details about each program. Be sure to scroll through all your results using the "next" button at the bottom of the page.
If you know of a great field study not included in the Bay Backpack let us know by suggesting a field study.
Create Your Own Field Study
Learn how to create your own field study at a local park or on your school grounds.
Theme
Level
All Levels- Early Learning
- Elementary School
- Middle School
- High School
Length
- All Lengths
- Day Trips
- Multi-Day Trips
Organization
- All Organizations
- Abbott's Mill Nature Center
- Accokeek Foundation
- Adkins Arboretum
- Alice Ferguson Foundation
- Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring
- Amry Corps of Engineers
- Anacostia Watershed Society
- Anita C. Leight Estuary Center
- Annapolis Maritime Museum
- Apple Ridge Farm
- Aquatic Resources Education Center
- Arlington Echo
- Audubon Naturalist Society
- Black Hill Nature Center
- Blackbird State Forest Education Center
- Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge
- Brandywine Valley Association
- Cacapon State Park
- Calvert County Parks
- Calvert Marine Museum
- Carbon County Environmental Education Center
- Carroll County Outdoor School
- Casey Trees
- Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center
- Chesapeake Bay Field Lab
- Chesapeake Bay Foundation
- Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum
- Churchville Nature Center
- Clearwater Nature Center
- Delmarva Discovery Center
- Discovery Creek
- Echo Hill Outdoor School
- Environmental Concern
- Fair Hill Nature Center
- Fairview Outdoor Education Center Facilities
- Frederick County Outdoor School
- Genesee Valley Outdoor Learning Center
- George Washington Carver Outdoor School
- Gifford Pinchot State Park
- Great Valley Nature Center
- Greenwood Furnace State Park
- Harford Glen Environmental Education Center
- Hawk Mountain
- Hawk Mountain Sanctuary
- Hickory Environmental Education Center
- Hoffler Creek Wildlife Foundation
- Horn Point Laboratory
- Howard B. Owens Science Center
- Howard County Conservancy
- Indian Springs WIldlife Management Area
- Irvine Nature Center
- Jamestown 4-H Educational Center
- Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum
- Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary
- King's Gap Environmental Education and Training Center
- Lancaster County Environmental Center
- Lathrop E. Smith Environmental Education Center
- Little Buffalo State Park
- Little Pine State Park
- Living Classrooms Foundation
- Living Classrooms of the National Capital Region
- Locust Lake State Park
- Mariners' Museum
- Maryland Department of Natural Resources
- Maymont
- Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary and Visitor's Center
- Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area
- Millbrook Marsh Nature Center
- Montour Preserve
- Mt. Pisgah State Park
- National Aquarium in Baltimore
- National Arboretum
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
- Nauticus
- Nixon County Park Nature Center
- Nolde Forest Environmental Education Center
- North Bay Adventure
- Northumberland County Conservation District
- Oregon Ridge Nature Center
- Oxon Cove Park and Oxon Hill Farm
- Parker Dam State Park
- Pemberton Park
- Phillips Wharf Environmental Center
- Pickering Creek Audubon Center
- Prince Gallitzin State Park
- R. B. Winter State Park
- Renfrew Institute for Cultural and Environmental Science
- River & Trail Outfitters
- Rock Creek Park
- Rogers Environmental Education Center
- Saturaday Environmental Academy
- Shaver's Creek Environmental Center
- Shenandoah National Park
- Sideling Hill Exhibit Center
- Sizerville State Park
- Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
- Strawberry Hill Nature Center
- Stroud Water Research Center
- Sultana Projects
- Susquehanna Riverlands
- The Schuylkill Center
- The Watermen's Museum
- The Wildlife Center of Virginia
- Thorpewood
- Tuckahoe State Park
- Tuscarora State Park
- Valley Falls State Park
- Virginia Living Museum
- Virginia National Estuarine Research Reserve at VIMS
- Wildwood Lake Sanctuary
- William Schmidt Environmental Center
- York County Solid Waste Authority
Keywords
- All Keywords
- adaptation
- agriculture
- aquatic grass SAV
- beaver
- biodiversity
- blue crab
- boats, canoes and kayaks
- culture and watermen
- development
- dissolved oxygen
- economics
- ecosystem and biomes
- erosion
- experiments and investigations
- fish
- food web
- forest
- geocaching (GIS/GPS)
- 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
- 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
- water and energy conservation
- water cycle and movement
- water quality
- water testing
- watershed
- weather
- wetland
- wildlife
> agriculture The Pumpkin Ash Trail Tour
This tour is designed to introduce students to the environment, agriculture, and the rich human culture and history of the Chesapeake Bay region. Students will walk a quarter-mile nature trail through a forest and a wetland ecosystem before arriving on an eight-acre organic farm. The tour will address forest, wetland, and farm ecosystem dynamics; natural resource conservation; sustainable agriculture; and the interdependence of humans and nature, with a special focus on the unique relationship between Piscataway Indians and the natural environment of their homeland. Students will be provided with a field guide as they explore this eclectic piece of Piscataway Park.
Organization(s): Accokeek FoundationLocation: 3400 Bryan Point Road Accokeek, MD 20607 (Map It)
Theme(s): History and Culture, Land Use and Agriculture
Level(s): Elementary School, Middle School
Program Length(s): Day Trips
Keywords: land use, agriculture, John Smith and colonial times, Native American
Eve of the Revolution
Students take on the role of colonial reporters doing research for an article on how the rising conflict with England is affecting the life of an ordinary tobacco planter and his family in 1775. With press passes in hand, the “reporters” ask questions (pre-determined and their own) as they walk from the Potomac River with its view of Mount Vernon through the property of middling tobacco planter Benjamin Bolton. They also interview costumed interpreter “Mrs. Bolton” about how her life is being affected by the threat of war.
Organization(s): Accokeek FoundationLocation: 3400 Bryan Point Road Accokeek, MD 20607 (Map It)
Theme(s): History and Culture, Land Use and Agriculture
Level(s): Elementary School, Middle School
Program Length(s): Day Trips
Keywords: land use, agriculture, John Smith and colonial times
Time Traveling the Seasons of a Colonial Farm
Traveling back in time to 1775, students explore the Bolton farm from the perspective of 8-year-old Ben Bolton and 12-year-old Charity Bolton. They learn the important roles played by children in producing the cash crop of tobacco. They discover how each season brings its own set of tasks, from planting and caring for crops in the spring and summer, to harvesting and preserving food in the fall, to carding, spinning and knitting wool in the winter.
Organization(s): Accokeek FoundationLocation: 3400 Bryan Point Road Accokeek, MD 20607 (Map It)
Theme(s): History and Culture
Level(s): Elementary School
Program Length(s): Day Trips
Keywords: land use, agriculture, John Smith and colonial times
Colonial Farm Life
What would life have been like in 1775 for the children of a middling tobacco planter? Each child carries the picture of an object that was important on this farm and assists the museum educator when that object is discussed. Children help with the chores and try their hand at colonial games in this very hands-on tour.
Organization(s): Accokeek FoundationLocation: 3400 Bryan Point Road Accokeek, MD 20607 (Map It)
Theme(s): History and Culture, Land Use and Agriculture
Level(s): Elementary School
Program Length(s): Day Trips
Keywords: land use, agriculture, John Smith and colonial times
Sprouts
This nature-themed program pairs time spent outdoors with stories, songs, crafts, and games, to introduce preschoolers to the wonders of the natural world. Six seasonal themes are available: Seeds, Garden Colors, Garden Insects, Garden Birds, Autumn Leaves, and Rivers.
Organization(s): Accokeek FoundationLocation: 3400 Bryan Point Road Accokeek, MD 20607 (Map It)
Theme(s): Land Use and Agriculture
Level(s): Early Learning, Elementary School
Program Length(s): Day Trips
Keywords: land use, agriculture
