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Statewide Burn Ban in all Maryland Counties

Dry, windy conditions have increased fire risk across the state and fueled ongoing wildfires

Resources for Educators

Whether you are looking for professional development, curricula, funding, environmental data, or outdoor experiences, we offer a variety of programs and materials to fit your needs.

Professional Development

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)

View Upcoming Workshops

Curricula and Programs

Archery Hunter Survey
- a long running citizen science initiative that contributes greatly to the understanding of our State’s wildlife species

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
- 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 Connections:
- Help students considering a career in conservation with our guide and other great resources!

Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (CBNERR)
- Offers hands-on outdoor science learning with focus on wetlands, forests, and Bay watershed (pre K-12; public)

Check Up: Environmental Design In Your School
- 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)

Chronic Wasting Disease
- data on a fatal neurological disease affecting members of the deer family

Climate Change 1
- A collection of climate and energy educational resources and
Climate Change 2
- news, research, special reports, videos, all related to climate change

Environmental Education ToolKit (MSDE)
- 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.

Envirothon
- Learn about Maryland’s natural resources and compete in local and state competitions (grades 9-12)

Estuaries 101
- Interactive, web-based curricula on the world of estuaries (grades 6-12)

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)

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)

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)

Funding

Chesapeake Bay Trust Environmental Education Grant Program
- Apply for grants to expand and enhance Bay environmental education programs for pre-K through grade 12 students in Maryland.

NOAA Chesapeake Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET Chesapeake) grant program
- Apply for grants to support hands-on watershed education for students and teachers to foster stewardship of the Bay

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Environmental Education Grants Program
- Apply for grants that support projects promoting environmental awareness and stewardship.

Interesting Data

Monitoring Data

Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
- Provides data on harvested fish such as American eels

Chesapeake Bay Program
- A regional partnership that leads and directs Chesapeake Bay restoration and protection. FAQs about Bay and watershed.

Coastal and Estuarine Geology Program
- Provides information on coastal environment geology and changing shorelines of the Bay and the Atlantic coast.

Chesapeake Bay Monitoring Program
- Measures key components of the ecosystem, including pollutant inputs, water quality, habitat and living resources.

Eyes on the Bay
- Access real-time Chesapeake and Coastal Bays water quality monitoring data

Groundwater
- Online groundwater flow models and data

Maryland Geological Survey
- Reports, maps, and data on Maryland’s geology

Maryland Biological Stream Survey
- A comprehensive program to assess the status of biological resources in Maryland's non-tidal streams

Interactive Maps

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

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.

Groundwater Level Mapper Tool
- An interactive map that provides water levels measured in wells in the Maryland Observation Well Network

Maryland FieldScope
- A project supporting the Explore and Restore Maryland Streams program. Enter watershed data and virtually explore your watershed.

Maryland Stream Health
- An interactive map showing stream health around the state

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.

Annual Reports

Black Bears
- Annual report on Maryland's black bear hunt and links to overall population statistics

Game Birds
- Various reports and updates on wild game bird populations, such as turkeys, grouse, and waterfowl
White-tailed Deer
- Annual project report on Maryland’s deer population.