Get Nuts for Clean Water

Field studies are a great way to get your students involved in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, but they don’t always have to take place off of school grounds. There are plenty of things you and your students can do right on your campus to help learn about the environment and perform restoration activities. If you are part of the Potomac River watershed, you should consider the Potomac Watershed Partnership and Potomac Conservancy’s Growing Native program.

The Growing Native program is designed to have volunteers of all ages collect native tree seeds across the region. Once these seeds are collected and dropped off at a designated collection site, they are donated to state nurseries in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, where they are planted and used to restore streamside forests throughout the Potomac River’s watershed.

Since the program began in 2001, more than 50,250 volunteers have collected more than 150,600 seeds for Growing Native. Your classroom or school can be a part of this great effort in the Potomac and Chesapeake Bay watershed!

The Growing Native website has a full section devoted to educational resources so that you can teach your students how healthy forests can lead to healthy water in the Potomac and the Chesapeake Bay. While the weather is still nice and crisp and as nuts and acorns begin to fall on your schoolyard, get your students outside to “get nuts for clean water” by collecting and identifying the tree and shrub seeds that can help the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay!

Visit the website today to learn more about how you can begin collecting, register your group and find the donation site closest to you!

Additional Resources:
Growing Native.org
Forest teaching resources - Bay Backpack
Forest field studies - Bay Backpack