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.

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Create Your Own Field Study

Learn how to create your own field study at a local park or on your school grounds.

All Studies by Location
Records: 28

Theme

Level

Length

Organization

Keywords

Field Studies > Restoration   > Elementary School  
1 - 25 of 28

Oystering Tour

In this hands-on program, students explore the history of the ‘greatest oyster factory on Earth’, the Chesapeake Bay, and how the oyster shaped the culture, industry, and environment of the Bay and its people. Students will get to learn about an historical Bay where oysters lay ‘thick as stones’ through maps, activities, and giant oyster shells, hear the tales of the Oyster Wars and an ‘oyster gold rush’ in the cabin of a skipjack, and investigate close-up an oyster nurseries’ crabs, fish, and baby mollusks.

Organization(s): Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum
Location: 213 N. Talbot Street St. Michaels, MD 21663 (Map It)
Theme(s): Habitats and Critters, History and Culture, Pollution and Pressures, Restoration
Level(s): Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Program Length(s): Day Trips
Keywords: oyster, culture and watermen, restoration
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Build-a-Buoy

Participants learn about bay health and research through STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) activities. This program incorporates learning the importance of team building, communication and problem solving skills while utilizing and understanding the importance of technology in bay restoration efforts. Teams of students design and construct a buoy monitor, calculate expenses, and compete against other teams to create the most effective buoy.

Organization(s): Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center
Location: 600 Discovery Lane Grasonville, MD 21638 (Map It)
Theme(s): Restoration
Level(s): Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Program Length(s): Day Trips
Keywords: restoration, water quality, water testing
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The Remarkable Oyster Program

Discover the amazing filtering ability of this important mollusk and its effects on Chesapeake Bay water quality. Participants will learn about the life cycle of an oyster and the process of restoring the oyster population that many restoration organizations are currently engaged in. Participants will also explore the importance of oyster reefs so vital to the Bay’s biodiversity by learning different reef structures and configurations and the success of these artificial habitats.

Organization(s): Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center
Location: 600 Discovery Lane Grasonville, MD 21638 (Map It)
Theme(s): Habitats and Critters, Restoration
Level(s): Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Program Length(s): Day Trips
Keywords: oyster, biodiversity, ecosystem and biomes, habitat and niche, restoration
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Creepy Crawler Program

Get up close and personal with some creepy, crawling insects!

Organization(s): Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center
Location: 600 Discovery Lane Grasonville, MD 21638 (Map It)
Theme(s): Habitats and Critters, Restoration
Level(s): Early Learning, Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Program Length(s): Day Trips
Keywords: wildlife
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MD-DC-VA Audubon School Programs

At the Audubon Naturalist Society we offer a wide variety of educational programs that foster an appreciation, understanding and stewardship of the natural environment. Our programs are open to public schools, private schools, homeschool groups, and scouts in preschool through Grade 5. For programs with middle and high school students, please contact us to learn how we can tailor a program for your students. We can accommodate children with varied needs and are happy to work with teachers to meet their academic goals. We give teachers the convenient choice of taking a field trip to one of our beautiful nature sanctuaries in Chevy Chase, Maryland or Leesburg, Virginia OR having a naturalist come to your school with our Naturalist in Your Classroom program. We provide multilevel programs that meet state standards as well as developmental milestones in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

Organization(s): Audubon Naturalist Society
Location: 802 Children's Center Road Leesburg, VA 20175 (Map It)
Theme(s): Habitats and Critters, Pollution and Pressures, Restoration, Land Use and Agriculture
Level(s): Early Learning, Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Program Length(s): Day Trips
Keywords: food web, forest, habitat and niche, schoolyard habitat, wildlife
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Project WET and Project Wild Aquatic

Teachers discover an educational methodology for water resources through hands-on, investigative and easy-to-use activities. A curriculum guide of water and aquatic resources activities that is correlated with national educational standards is provided to all teacher workshop participants. We adapt activities to include content relevant to local resources. Teachers can receive re-certification credits for completing a workshop. Students benefit because their teacher will have the skills to guide aquatic investigations and discoveries that will hopefully lead to environmentally responsible behaviors. Students learn how to think, not what to think.

Organization(s): Aquatic Resources Education Center
Location: Anacostia Park Washington, DC 20020 (Map It)
Theme(s): Habitats and Critters, Pollution and Pressures, Restoration
Level(s): Early Learning, Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Program Length(s): Day Trips Multi-Day Trips
Keywords: watershed, water quality, water testing
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Conservation of Natural Resources Program

Explore the influence of human activity on ecosystems, learn the differences in renewable and nonrenewable resources and about the management of these resources. Then learn how to conserve water and energy and reduce waste.

Organization(s): Apple Ridge Farm
Location: 541 Luck Avenue Roanoke, VA 24016 (Map It)
Theme(s): Pollution and Pressures, Restoration, Land Use and Agriculture
Level(s): Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Program Length(s): Day Trips
Keywords: land use, development, water and energy conservation, ecosystem and biomes, forest, habitat and niche, renewable resource
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Rice Rangers

The Rice Rangers program equips teachers with training, lessons, and materials necessary to empower students to grow native wetland plants from seed in the classroom and transplant into tidal marshes. It also provides students with a service learning opportunity to increase filtering capacity and habitat in the rivers that flow into the Anacostia River and Chesapeake Bay. During the course of the project, students will investigate the Anacostia Watershed’s built and natural environments, and analyze the effects of human activities that alter the equilibrium of natural processes. Specifically, participants will learn that stormwater runoff from the built environment contributes to a variety of pollution issues, which pose serious challenges to a watershed system. The students actively learn to restore equilibrium of natural processes through wetland restoration.

Organization(s): Anacostia Watershed Society
Location: 2000 Half Street, SW Washington, DC 21046 (Map It)
Theme(s): Pollution and Pressures, Restoration
Level(s): Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Program Length(s): Day Trips
Keywords: pollution, stormwater, water quality
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Shad/Herring Awareness & Restoration Program

The Shad and Herring program provides an opportunity for students and teacher throughout the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area to turn their science classrooms into working fish hatcheries during the months of April and May. Participants put their scientific knowledge to practical use by learn how to set up and maintain an aquarium full of fish eggs laid by American Shad and native Herring. Students return hatched juveniles to the Anacostia River in an effort to repopulate dwindling fish populations.

Organization(s): Anacostia Watershed Society
Location: 4302 Baltimore Avenue Bladensburg, MD 20710 (Map It)
Theme(s): Habitats and Critters, Restoration
Level(s): Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Program Length(s): Multi-Day Trips
Keywords: habitat and niche, restoration, wildlife
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Poplar Island Restoration Tour

Poplar tours and educational programs are available to the public Mondays through Fridays, from March through November. Students will receive an abbreviated tour of Poplar Island while participating in a variety of wetland activities. A variety of topics such as water quality, erosion, relationship to the Port of Baltimore’s economic impact, wetland studies, terrapin studies, birding, Maryland’s Dredged Material Management Program, and restoration techniques can be tailored to fit your group.

Organization(s): Amry Corps of Engineers
Location: 21548 Chicken Point Rd. Tilghman, MD 21671 (Map It)
Theme(s): Habitats and Critters, Restoration
Level(s): Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Program Length(s): Day Trips
Keywords: pollution, wetland, ecosystem and biomes, erosion, habitat and niche, restoration, water quality, wildlife
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Stormwater Education

Stormwater pollution is one of the leading non-point source pollution causes of stream health degradation in Pennsylvania and in the nation. Our local stream that runs through Carlisle, the LeTort Spring Run, is no exception. In 2007, ALLARM commenced a partnership with the Borough of Carlisle to collaboratively achieve the public education and public participation requirements of the Borough’s MS4 (Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System) permit. This partnership has resulted in a dynamic campaign that has grown to include Cumberland Valley Trout Unlimited and LeTort Regional Authority to carry out two goals: 1. Educate the Carlisle community about stormwater runoff and its effects on the Letort Spring Run; and 2. Promote stream-conscious behaviors or healthy stream habits. To achieve these goals ALLARM has designed and disseminated educational material including posters, fact sheets, and theater advertisements. ALLARM also engages in several community-based events that focus on direct stormwater education including an annual festival, stormdrain marking events, and rain barrel construction workshops.For details on stormwater, please see LeTort Connection. For other resources on stormwater, click Stormwater resources

Organization(s): Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring
Location: Dickinson College - Environmental Studies Dept. College & Louther Streets Carlisle, PA 17013 (Map It)
Theme(s): Pollution and Pressures, Restoration
Level(s): Early Learning, Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Program Length(s): Day Trips
Keywords: watershed, stormwater, water quality
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K-12 Aquatic Resource Programs

ALLARM partners with greater Carlisle elementary, middle, and high schools as well as youth-based organizations to teach students about aquatic ecosystems and connect students to their local environment. Our programs are developed for different age groups and are tailored to meet the goals of partnering organizations. In our K-12 program ALLARM works together with teachers on an individual basis to design presentations to fit seamlessly within their lesson plans. ALLARM currently has longstanding partnerships with a dozen local teachers but will also respond to ad-hoc requests throughout the year.

Organization(s): Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring
Location: Dickinson College - Environmental Studies Dept. College & Louther Streets Carlisle, PA 17013 (Map It)
Theme(s): Pollution and Pressures, Restoration
Level(s): Early Learning, Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Program Length(s): Multi-Day Trips
Keywords: pollution, water cycle and movement, watershed, stream study, water quality, water testing
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VIMS Discovery Labs

The monthly Discovery Lab series provides fun, family-friendly experiences and lifelong learning. Each lab focuses on a specific topic through a series of stations that provide hands-on activities for kids and adults. Participants look through microscopes, observe live animals, partake in crafts and games, and view research posters.

Organization(s): Virginia National Estuarine Research Reserve at VIMS
Location: Gloucester Rd Gloucester Point, VA 23062 (Map It)
Theme(s): Habitats and Critters, Pollution and Pressures, Restoration, Land Use and Agriculture
Level(s): Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Program Length(s): Day Trips
Keywords: pollution, land use, watershed, blue crab, experiments and investigations, habitat and niche, restoration, water quality, wildlife, fish
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Susquehanna Watershed Education Program (SWEP)

The Susquehanna Watershed Education Program (SWEP) is a hands-on mobile watershed education program that enables students to explore local rivers and streams in central Pennsylvania, monitoring the effect of agriculture and other land uses on water quality. Traveling by canoe on a local creek, river, or lake, students investigate the local flora and fauna, perform water quality tests and biological surveys, and explore local issues, history, and geography.

Organization(s): Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Location: 14 North Front Street, Suite G Harrisburg, PA 17101 (Map It)
Theme(s): Habitats and Critters, Pollution and Pressures, Restoration, Land Use and Agriculture
Level(s): Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Program Length(s): Day Trips
Keywords: pollution, land use, watershed, development, ecosystem and biomes, habitat and niche, restoration, water testing
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Clagett Farm Program

CBF’s 285-acre, organic working farm in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, provides both day and overnight programs that foster in-depth discussions about agriculture’s impact on the watershed. Exploring the farm by foot and hay wagon, or canoeing on the nearby, Patuxent River, students gain true awareness of environmental issues, sharpen critical thinking skills, and practice problem solving. Student action projects may be available. This meaningful watershed experience can be tailored to engage students in 2nd through 12th grade.

Organization(s): Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Location: 11904 Old Marlboro Pike Upper Marlboro, MD 20772 (Map It)
Theme(s): Habitats and Critters, Pollution and Pressures, Restoration, Land Use and Agriculture
Level(s): Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Program Length(s): Day Trips Multi-Day Trips
Keywords: non-point source, land use, agriculture, erosion
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Karen Noonan Study Center Residential Program

The Karen Noonan Memorial Environmental Education Center is situated on 20 acres of marsh in southern Dorchester County, Maryland. Participants explore pine forests, underwater grass beds, and native oyster reefs that surround the center. The nearby Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, one of the largest tidal wetlands on the East Coast, also provides opportunities from which to investigate this ecosystem. Once one of the great Chesapeake hunting lodges, the Karen Noonan Center was completely renovated in 1995 to create an environmentally sound, state-of-the-art residential center. Participants in our program can see how a “green building,” with its alternative energy sources and composting waste facilities, can function not only as a learning tool, but also as a home.

Organization(s): Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Location: 1304 Phillips Gunning Club Rd. Crocheron, MD 21627 (Map It)
Theme(s): Habitats and Critters, Pollution and Pressures, Restoration, Land Use and Agriculture
Level(s): Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Program Length(s): Multi-Day Trips
Keywords: pollution, wetland, watershed, water and energy conservation, green development, habitat and niche, renewable resource, restoration, stream study, water quality, water testing, wildlife
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Virginia Watershed Education Program

The Virginia Watershed Education Program (VWEP) gives participants an exciting new perspective on their own local tributary and its connection to the Bay. While paddling freshwater, non-tidal rivers and streams, students and educators examine the relationship between human activities and water quality in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Hands-on activities encourage sensitivity and knowledge of local ecosystems, giving relevance and greater understanding to classroom curricula. Our program staff provides opportunities for careful observations, data collection, analysis, and synthesis of information gathered during the field study experience. They encourage participants to explore the complexity of the watershed, and to see themselves as part of the solution. Serving, Charlottesville and Virginia west of Interstate I-95.

Organization(s): Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Location: 1108 East Main Street, Suite 1600 Richmond, VA 23219 (Map It)
Theme(s): Habitats and Critters, Pollution and Pressures, Restoration, Land Use and Agriculture
Level(s): Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Program Length(s): Day Trips
Keywords: boats, canoes and kayaks, nitrogen and carbon cycle, pollution, land use, watershed, agriculture, ecosystem and biomes, habitat and niche, water quality, water testing
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Virginia Canoe Program

From Northern Virginia to Richmond to Virginia Beach, the mobile Virginia Canoe Program travels to a river or stream near you. Trip participants probe the Bay's biologically diverse flat water to learn about the effects of creekside land uses and study the area's plants and wildlife. CBF staff travel to many Virginia rivers to investigate some of the most scenic waterways in the watershed. While paddling these tidal rivers and streams, students and educators examine the relationship between human activities and water quality in the Chesapeake Bay

Organization(s): Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Location: 1108 East Main Street, Suite 1600 Richmond , VA 23219 (Map It)
Theme(s): Habitats and Critters, Pollution and Pressures, Restoration, Land Use and Agriculture
Level(s): Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Program Length(s): Day Trips
Keywords: boats, canoes and kayaks, nitrogen and carbon cycle, pollution, land use, watershed, agriculture, ecosystem and biomes, habitat and niche, restoration, water quality, water testing
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Merrill Center Education Program

This program makes use of an exceptional location between the shores of the Bay, the woods of Bay Ridge, the tidal marsh of Black Walnut Creek, and the local fields of tall native grasses. While experiencing the natural surroundings, students will survey the flora and fauna that make up an ecosystem's biodiversity. The Merrill Center building itself is a model of green architecture and has won a Platinum Award from the U.S. Green Building Council. It is an exemplar of the minimal impact that even large-capacity office buildings can have on the environment.

Organization(s): Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Location: 6 Herndon Avenue Annapolis, MD 21403 (Map It)
Theme(s): Habitats and Critters, Pollution and Pressures, Restoration, Land Use and Agriculture
Level(s): Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Program Length(s): Day Trips
Keywords: population growth, wetland, land use, watershed, development, stormwater, water and energy conservation, green development, habitat and niche, renewable resource, restoration, water quality, wildlife
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Half-Shell Shipboard Program

Join the Living Classroom Foundation for an opportunity to sail aboard a historic buy boat, Half Shell. While onboard, students participate in hands-on activities centered on applied science and math, history, language arts, and the physical environment. The program is customizable so that it fits with the curriculum covered in the classroom.

Organization(s): Discovery Creek
Location: 2233 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W., Suite 410 Washington, DC 20007 (Map It)
Theme(s): Habitats and Critters, History and Culture, Pollution and Pressures, Restoration
Level(s): Elementary School, Middle School
Program Length(s): Day Trips Multi-Day Trips
Keywords: boats, canoes and kayaks, pollution, land use, oyster, blue crab, water quality
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Watershed Field Investigation

Take your students outdoors! Examine how the health of their schoolyard affects the entire Chesapeake Bay Watershed by using GPS units, taking soil samples and testing for nutrient pollutants.

Organization(s): Nauticus
Location: 1 Waterside Drive Norfolk, VA 23510 (Map It)
Theme(s): Habitats and Critters, Pollution and Pressures, Restoration, Land Use and Agriculture
Level(s): Elementary School, Middle School
Program Length(s): Day Trips
Keywords: nitrogen and carbon cycle, pollution, land use, watershed, geocaching (GIS/GPS), sediment, soil and rocks, stream study, water quality, water testing
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Watershed Mapping Walk Program

Students learn about non-point source pollution and then take a walk in the neighborhood of their school to look for examples of pollution. Returning to the classroom, students will discuss what they found and brainstorm ways to improve water quality through changing human behavior.

Organization(s): The Schuylkill Center
Location: 8480 Hagy's Mill Road Philadelphia , PA 19128 (Map It)
Theme(s): Habitats and Critters, Pollution and Pressures, Restoration, Land Use and Agriculture
Level(s): Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Program Length(s): Day Trips
Keywords: pollution, land use, watershed, geocaching (GIS/GPS), stream study, water quality
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Choptank Discoveries

Explore the shores of the Choptank River! Catch fish, crabs, and other aquatic life, including jellyfish, plankton, and a myriad of other spineless creatures. Visit the oyster hatchery, and find out what Horn Point Laboratory is doing to help oysters in the Chesapeake Bay.

Organization(s): Horn Point Laboratory
Location: 2020 Horn Point Road Cambridge, MD 21613 (Map It)
Theme(s): Habitats and Critters, Restoration
Level(s): Elementary School
Program Length(s): Multi-Day Trips
Keywords: oyster, blue crab, habitat and niche, wildlife
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Chesapeake Champions and Teasure Our Waters

During the 30-minute program each week, students meet people who work on, work with, or are inspired by the Chesapeake Bay and together they explore the natural and cultural history of the Chesapeake Bay through hands-on experiences and exploration opportunities not available in school. The first six weeks have included a boat ride, an in-depth exploration of oysters and terrapins, meeting a working waterman, and writing their own Bay-inspired song with singer-songwriter Janie Meneely.

Organization(s): Annapolis Maritime Museum
Location: 723 2nd St Annapolis, MD 21403 (Map It)
Theme(s): Habitats and Critters, History and Culture, Pollution and Pressures, Restoration, Land Use and Agriculture
Level(s): Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Program Length(s): Day Trips Multi-Day Trips
Keywords: boats, canoes and kayaks, pollution, watershed, oyster, habitat and niche, water quality, wildlife, fish
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Anacostia Non-Native Plant Removal Program

Volunteer to help the Anacostia Watershed Society remove invasive plants to protect several local parks. Students will learn to identify and remove invasive species like Multiflora Rose, Lesser Celandine, Garlic Mustard.

Organization(s): Anacostia Watershed Society
Location: 4302 Baltimore Avenue Bladensburg, MD 20710 (Map It)
Theme(s): Restoration
Level(s): Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Program Length(s): Day Trips
Keywords: invasive species, wildlife
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