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Embed Action into Curriculum with a MWEE

Students picking up trash along a water's edge
Photo courtesy of Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program
Taking action in the classroom can promote environmental stewardship and civic responsibility.

This is an action page for educators! If you are coming to Bay Backpack to support your green school application or just looking for student action ideas, also consider completing the project during class. Embedding an action project into a classroom can provide equitable access to the experience for all students.

Environmental action projects can be embedded into classroom curriculum using the Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE) framework. MWEEs are project-based learning that should not be “something extra” but rather support standards and learning outcomes. During a MWEE, students connect their classroom learning to a locally relevant environmental issue. Students direct the learning by asking questions, designing and completing investigations, and developing an evidence-back action project or solution to the issue they investigated. Learn more about how MWEEs can support teachers and students on the Why MWEE? page.

To learn more about MWEEs, watch MWEE case study videos, and to learn of the available planning tools, go What is a MWEE? or take the free, self-paced online MWEE 101 course.