This page will be regularly updated with educator training opportunities and events throughout the state. A list of professional development opportunities and resources can be found in our
educator resource section. Some workshops offer MSDE credit if combined with other workshops.
Would you like to request a Project WILD Terrestrial/Aquatic, Flying WILD, or Growing Up WILD workshop for your group or at your location? Email Sarah Witcher at
sarah.witcher1@maryland.gov!
Select a Category
Events & Workshops Classroom Programs Outdoors
Professional Development
Upcoming In-Person Workshops:
Archived Online Workshops:
-
5 Million Trees, Please: Maryland's New 5 Million Trees Program featuring State Forester Anne Hairston-Strang
-
How to Build a Nature-lover featuring the Maryland Master Naturalist Program and DNR's R3 efforts
-
Growing New Stewards featuring Emily Beck, director of the Chesapeake Watershed Semester and the Gunston School’s Dean of Instruction and Innovation
Return to Top
Classroom Programs
Sunfish and Students
Sunfish and Students provides classroom teachers and outdoor/nature centers with an opportunity to raise Bluegill, a type of Sunfish. The Department of Natural Resources supplies the equipment, fish, food, a teacher’s manual and lessons. Some of the lesson topics include Bluegill anatomy, habitat characteristics, using a dichotomous key, survival of the fittest, and water quality. The program culminates with a spring release of your fish into a freshwater body of water. DNR will fund sub coverage and 50% of bus cost for the release (subject to availability).
Check out a release event!
Prince George's County students release classroom-raised fish into the local reservoir - WJLA.
For more information on how to participate in the Sunfish and Students check out the program page:
Visit Sunfish and Students
Trout in the Classroom
Trout in the classroom provides students grades K-12 the opportunity to raise trout from eggs to fingerlings. Educators will work with the Potomac-Patuxent Chapter of Trout Unlimited and the Department of Natural Resources Aquatic Resources Education (ARE) program. Teachers will receive tanks, chillers, trout and educational materials. Lessons are aligned with NGSS and MD Environmental literacy standards.
Topics include trout anatomy, water quality, macroinvertebrates studies, fish populations, human health and invasive species. Teachers and students will release their Trout into a state-approved cold water stream or lake. DNR will fund sub coverage and 50% of bus cost for the release (subject to availability).
Check out a release event!
Current events: Hampden students release tiny trout into Stony Run - Baltimore Sun
For more information on how to participate in Trout in the Classroom check out our program page:
https://dnr.maryland.gov/ccs/Pages/trout-in-the-classroom.aspx
Follow Maryland Trout in the Classroom on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/MarylandTIC/
Horseshoe Crab Education
From
Green Eggs and Sand to Horseshoe Crabs in the Classroom there is a lot to learn about this fascinating organism and many ways to do it.
For more information on how to get involved, check out our program page:
https://dnr.maryland.gov/ccs/Pages/horseshoecrabs.aspx
Envirothon - Aquatic Resources
The Envirothon is a fun and exciting way for high school students in grades 9-12 to learn about the natural world around us. Envirothon teams are made up of 5 students who work together to study Maryland’s natural resources over the course of the school year. All topics are very hands-on and include practical skills and the training taught by experts in each field. Topics include; Aquatics, Forestry, Soils, Wildlife, and a fifth issue topic. Each year teams compete on a county level and then a state level competition. Winners are invited to compete nationally!
For more information on how to get involved, check out our program page:
https://dnr.maryland.gov/education/Pages/envirothon-aquatics.aspx
Return to Top
Outdoor Classrooms
State Parks, Research Reserves, and more offer the opportunity for teachers to take the classroom outside!
The Department of Natural Resources encourages teachers to use state parks and other public lands as engaging settings for outdoor environmental learning and to meet environmental literacy requirements. We recommend teacher-led programs and this site offers resources to help you.
Maryland’s public lands are a perfect confluence of natural and social systems—history, science, culture, geology and more--that will enrich your classroom work, provide great phenomena to anchor student investigations, and support your Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE). Use these natural outdoor laboratory investigations as comparisons to investigations students are doing elsewhere, such as on your school grounds.
Wait! What is a MWEE? MWEEs are learner-centered experiences where students can investigate environmental issues that lead to informed problem-solving and action. A MWEE is best accomplished as an integral part of the existing curriculum, as an approach to learning that helps you meet requirements such as Next Generation Science Standards and Maryland Environmental Literacy standards. The essential elements of a MWEE are:
-
Issue Definition (The BIG idea or the organizing question) -
Outdoor Field Experiences (Curriculum anchor; issue or phenomena investigation)
-
Synthesis and Conclusions (Where do students' observations and data lead them?)
-
Stewardship Action Projects (What can students do to address what they’ve learned?)
The Chesapeake Bay Program's MWEE Guide contains easy to use tools to help you plan your full MWEE, including classroom work and field investigations. The guide can help you to integrate the outdoor learning activities provided on this website within the context of a MWEE, delivering integrated content standards across your curriculum.
Maryland State Parks
Most state parks offer school group visits at low to no cost. If you are requesting a fee waiver for your visit, click on the Maryland Park Service School Group Waiver Form below, complete, and return to the park you would like to visit. You will find addresses on our
map page when you click on each park or site.
Are you a 4th grade teacher? The
Maryland Park Service will honor the
Every Kid in the Park passes for 4th grade classes to receive free admittance.
School Group Waiver Form
Before you visit a state park:
-
Contact the park you wish to visit and ask to speak to the Education Coordinator/Ranger to confirm any needed facilities and logistics for your visit.
- Please visit the park ahead of the trip to ensure you are familiar with the areas you will be using with your students. This is especially necessary for any stream investigations.
National Estuarine Research Reserves
There are many different kinds of public lands that can be used to support your environmental literacy efforts and field investigations. The Maryland Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (CBNERR-MD) offers three living laboratories for students and teachers of all disciplines. What sets them apart from other public lands are the facilitated field investigations offered for a small fee. If you're still looking for additional support and/or full-on field trip facilitation, consider the CBNERR-MD sites and
contact the reserve you wish to visit. These are also listed on our
map page.
Other Public Lands
Good communication and planning are needed if you are using public lands other than state parks, as facilities and resources will vary. Natural Resource Management Areas (NMRAs) are wonderful places for outdoor learning; however, some NRMAs have visitor and nature centers and some do not, and some allow hunting, so there are safety factors to consider during certain times of the year. You will find phone numbers on our
map page for the ones we recommend, so please check with the site you wish to visit for details. The ones listed welcome school groups. There are also many federal sites in Maryland, such as National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges, as well as sites specifically for environmental education. See
Bay Backpack for more ideas, resources, and locations for outdoor learning.
What can students do and learn there?
For a list of parks near you and what they have to offer, click
here. In the near future, we will add written activities to this website that are ready to use to investigate the various habitats and the wildlife at these outdoor laboratories. We will continue to build on this collection of outdoor lesson.
Safety First!
“Students who get to experience an outdoor learning environment tend to be more attentive, motivated and, therefore, have a better recollection of the information that was shared.”
Learning Liftoff, March 2, 2017
Return to Top
Professional Development Resources
-
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)
-
Green Eggs and Sand Curriculum and Workshops
- A middle and high school science curriculum based on the horseshoe crab along with educator immersion workshops.
-
Project Learning Tree
- Learn ways to teach students about trees and conservation through an interdisciplinary, hands-on workshop; partial MSDE credit may be available (grades K-12)
-
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 (including Aquatic WILD, Growing Up WILD, and Flying WILD)
- Learn ways to teach students about wildlife and conservation through an interdisciplinary, hands-on workshop; partial MSDE credit may be available (grades pre-K-12)
-
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
-
Teachers on the Estuary
- Learn about the Chesapeake Bay through interactive, hands-on lessons (grades 6-12)
Return to Top
