Educators

Three women holding kids fishing rods with paper fish on them.Whether you are looking for professional development, funding, educational resources, environmental data, or field experiences, we offer a variety of programs and materials to fit your needs.

Professional Development

  • Aquatic Invasive Species - learn about local aquatic invasive species and interactive lessons to teach about these species
  • Envirothon - learn about Maryland’s natural resources and compete in local and state competitions (grades 9-12)
  • Explore and Restore Maryland Streams - engage students in studying and monitoring streams and conducting stewardship projects to improve the health of our waterways (grades K-12)
  • Teachers on the Estuary - learn about the Chesapeake Bay through interactive, hands-on lessons (grades 6-12)
  • Growing Up WILD - learn how to connect young children to nature using developmentally appropriate practices aligned with state and national standards; elective curriculum credit for daycare providers may be available (grades preK-2nd)
  • Flying WILD - hands-on bird education curriculum supplement (grades 4-8)
  • Project Learning Tree - (grades K-8)
  • Project WET - learn ways to teach students about water and conservation through an interdisciplinary, hands-on workshop; partial MSDE credit may be available (grades K-12)
  • Project WILD - learn ways to teach students about wildlife and conservation through an interdisciplinary, hands-on workshop; partial MSDE credit may be available (grades K-12)
  • Green Eggs and Sand Curriculum and Workshops - A middle and high school science curriculum based on the horseshoe crab along with educator immersion workshops.
  • Outdoor Learning on Public Lands - Professional development for enriching your outdoor learning activities and getting acquainted with what our public lands have to offer. Half-day, outdoor workshops.

 


Funding


Educational Resources

Invasive Species Trunk
  • Aquatic Invasive Species Curriculum & Trunk - interdisciplinary lesson plans and resources designed to teach about Maryland’s aquatic invasive species (grades 2-12)
  • Arbor Day - activities for elementary students to learn about Arbor Day (grades K-5)
  • Bay Backpack - resources to supplement and to provide meaningful watershed educational experiences (grades K-12)
  • Career Day
  • Check Up - learn how to identify and implement actions that are good for the environment and make economic sense with this web-based guide (grades 6-12)
  • Climate Change 1 - a collection of climate and energy educational resources
  • Climate Change 2 - news, research, special reports, videos, all related to climate change
  • Envirothon - learn about Maryland’s natural resources and compete in local and state competitions (grades 9-12)
  • Explore and Restore Maryland’s Streams - instructional resources for studying and monitoring streams are based on work done by Department of Natural Resources scientists (grades K-12)
  • Estuaries 101 - interactive, web-based curricula on the world of estuaries (grades 6-12)
  • Scales and Tales - invite animal ambassadors into the classroom to learn about local wildlife, adaptations, and more (grades K-12)
  • Schoolyard Wildlife Habitat - learn how to make your schoolyard wildlife friendly; includes lesson plans, funding ideas, and identification tools (grades K-12)
  • Storm Drain Stenciling - participate in a service learning activity that raises awareness about storm drains (grades K-12)
  • Sunfish and Students - raise sunfish in the classroom and release (grades 4-12)
  • Trout in the Classroom - raise trout from eggs to fingerlings and then release them into a state-approved cold water stream or lake (grades K-12)
  • WILD at Schools - free, one hour (K-5) school programs focused on local wildlife and tailored to Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)​​
  • Wildlife Education Trunks - bring the outside into your classroom with these free hands-on, interdisciplinary teaching tools, which contain artifacts and activities to learn about wildlife (grades K-12)
  • Maryland State Department of Education Environmental Education ToolKit - resources to assist with meeting state environmental literacy standards: the Environmental Literacy Standards, Curricular Infusion By Grade-bands, and a number of additional resources and guidance materials for grades Pre-K to 12.

Environmental Data

Chesapeake Bay and Coastal Resources

Geology

Streams

Mapping

  • Maryland FieldScope - a project supporting the Explore and Restore Maryland Streams program. Enter watershed data and virtually explore your watershed.
  • MERLIN - (Maryland Environmental Resource and Land Information Network) - online mapping repository for Geographic Information System (GIS) spatial data for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Identify the closest natural resources that surround your school and community.
  • Maryland Stream Health - an interactive map showing stream health around the state
  • Coastal Atlas - an online mapping and planning tool that allows state and local decision-makers to explore and analyze data for coastal and ocean planning activities
  • Groundwater Level Mapper Tool - an interactive map that provides water levels measured in wells in the Maryland Observation Well Network
  • Coastal Plain Geologic and Geophysical Log map - an interactive map that provides access to logs of sediments/rocks encountered during drilling and borehole geophysical data.

Wildlife


Field Experiences