Students learn about the needs of animals and the survey their school grounds to learn if their schoolyard has all of the pieces to meet the needs of a squirrel.

Each year our first graders learn about the importance of pollinators. Part of the lesson involves creating a habitat on school grounds (or during virtual learning in their own back yard) to support pollinator needs. This involves a field trip to Cypress Swamp.

Students learn the importance of recycling to conserve natural resources and to prevent the need for additional landfill space. There is a field trip to the landfill each year that goes along with the unit. This is taught every year.

Every year, our third-grade students take part in the Aquarium's Terrapins in the Classroom program. Each classroom takes care of a baby diamondback terrapin through the school year, learning more about this iconic native species and its habitat, before releasing their turtle on Poplar Island in the spring. Data collected by the students participating in the program contributes to the ongoing conservation and scientific study of the species.

Students learn about reducing their carbon footprint through video and books such as Energy Island, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, and a River Ran Wild. They are each tasked with creating posters or informative brochures on ways to conserve energy that is shared with their school community. They also perform an energy audit in their school.

Students learn the importance oysters play in the health of our bay. They all attend a field trip where they assist in the maintenance of the oysters gardening project. They share their findings to the Calvert Department of Natural Resources and the Maryland Sea Grant. They create posters to educate their school community.

Students are asked “What is life like in the country and in the city”? Students will understand farms are in the country and the city is a busy place. They are read “My Farm”, “Apple Farmer Annie”, and “Max Goes to the Market” and have different learning goals for each reading.

An all-staff email went out explaining what was needed to complete the application.

We had tower gardens donated to our all of the elementary schools. One teacher from each school attended a professional development session on how to use them and incorporate them into a the lesson plans.

The terrapin training is for all of the third-grade teachers who will be keeping the baby turtle in their classroom and will be the caretaker.

The terrapin training is for all of the third-grade teachers who will be keeping the baby turtle in their classroom and will be the caretaker.

Our 2nd grade teachers attended a virtual PD session during covid.

Ms. Gatens attended a PD event for the oyster reef ball builds that our fifth graders do.

In addition to building reef balls and participating in collecting data that is provided to our local DNR office, students are also tasked with creating posters and various public service announcements about the research they do on how we can play a role in improving the oysters’ populations and how oysters help keep the bay filtered.

This is a celebration of what students perceive to be life on the Chesapeake Bay. It is evident that the Chesapeake’s rich and unique environment inspires, and touches students' lives in a powerful way. This allows students to translate that emotion into artwork that can inspire the viewer to feel the love that they portray. Our students participate every year. We currently have our work on exhibit now during the month of March.

Every spring, our fourth graders learn about reducing their carbon footprint through video and books such as Energy Island, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, and a River Ran Wild. They are tasked with creating posters or information brochures on ways to conserve energy that is shared with their school community.

In addition to the public education piece through posters, petitions, letters to authority figures, they also perform an energy audit of their school. This is a unit taught every 4th quarter.

4th grade students were learning about the dangers of air pollution and the causes. They created posters with the explaining what is and what can be done to mitigate it.

During the Help Save the Earth unit that is taught every year to our second graders, they each decorate a reusable bag with a message about recycling. The bags are then handed out to the local market where they pass them out to customers on Earth Day! What a great way to reach our local community!

One of our classes was asked to make their own box to put items in for class. The students choose cereal boxes from home and brough them in.

Our students are involved with collecting the recycling that is in the bins located in every classroom. This is ongoing all year.

In addition to building the reef balls the students also attend a field trip to either Fishing Creek in Chesapeake Beach or Flag Ponds. They assist in the maintenance of the oyster gardening project located at both sites. They perform various tests to measure the conditions of the bay that may impact the oyster gardening project. They report their findings to the Calvert Natural Resources Division and the Maryland Sea Grant.

Each year our first graders learn about the importance of pollinators. Part of the lesson involves creating a habitat on school grounds (or during virtual learning in their own back yard) to support pollinator needs.

Students build reef balls that are placed in our St. Mary River. This activity aligns with the unit that is taught on Healthy Ecosystems. This is a new thing our fifth graders are doing, and we are so excited to share this with you. The unit is all about the importance oysters play in the health of the bay and rivers.

Every year, more than 40 schools across the state of Maryland (including all of our 3rd graders) take part in the Aquarium's Terrapins in the Classroom program. Each classroom takes care of a baby diamondback terrapin through the school year, learning more about this iconic native species and its habitat, before releasing their turtle on Poplar Island in the spring. Data collected by the students participating in the program contributes to the ongoing conservation and scientific study of the species.

Students learn the importance oysters play in the health of our bay. They all attend a field trip where they assist in the maintenance of the oysters gardening project. They share their findings to the Calvert Department of Natural Resources and the Maryland Sea Grant. They create posters to educate their school community.

This is an ongoing partnership with all 5th graders for the past several years.

Students learn the importance oysters play in the health of our bay. They all attend a field trip where they assist in the maintenance of the oysters gardening project. They share their findings to the Calvert Department of Natural Resources and the Maryland Sea Grant.

Data from our students supports Dr. Roosenburg's work and helps to establish population-level impacts of head-start programs like Terrapins in the Classroom. Dr. Willem Roosenburg, associate professor of biology at Ohio University, a national authority on terrapins and a leading voice in the conservation of the species.

The 5th graders make the oysters reef balls during the healthy ecosystem unit taught in fall. These reef balls are placed in a local St. Mary's River for oyster spat to be planted on. The St. Mary's River Watershed Association provides us with help and then our reef balls help them.

Every year, more than 40 schools across the state of Maryland take part in the Aquarium's Terrapins in the Classroom program. Each classroom takes care of a baby diamondback terrapin through the school year, learning more about this iconic native species and its habitat, before releasing their turtle on Poplar Island in the spring. Data collected by the students participating in the program contributes to the ongoing conservation and scientific study of the species.

A field experience at a Chesapeake tributary engages students with measuring young oysters, collecting data on water quality, and investigating the organisms that inhabit an oyster reef community. The field program is taught by CCNRD educators with support from the Chesapeake Beach Oyster Cultivation Society, a local volunteer group.

Second-grade students learn about natural resource conservation through a visit to the local landfill. After the classroom component, where students learn that virtually every product they use can be traced back to something that came from the Earth, they visit the local landfill to find out what happens to these items once they are thrown away. A trip to the recycling center helps them generate a list of items that can be recycled locally. Students are inspired to act when they visit the transfer station and witness the vast amount of potentially recyclable material being loaded up for a one-way trip to the landfill.

A second component of the second-grade field trip is a visit to the Annmarie Sculpture Garden and Arts Center, where students learn to craft a persuasive message using art as a medium and complete a creative reuse project to apply their skills.