Teacher Resources

Below are many resources that will be useful to you in your classroom. If there's anything you think should be listed but isn't, please let us know. To find good aerial photos, go to Google Earth.

Field Data Access

General BTW Forms for Teachers

Mapping Our Parks: An Online GIS

Mapping our Parks Fieldscope

General BTW Activites

Shad Activity

Don't Get Sedimental

Talkin' Trash

Water Canaries

Watershed Watchdogs

Poster Slide Template for Final Institute Presentations

Take-Home Challenge

This concept was created by Allegany County teacher Tom Kozikowski. For his research paper and original documents, please click here. Scroll down to "How far does your environmental education go? Home Challenges."

The Take Home Challenge is a simple way to encourage your students to take basic water-saving or solid-waste-reducing actions in their lives. A teacher in Allegany County, Maryland developed the concept to provide some structure and support to his students. He found that, after an incentivized two-week period, most of his students continued to take the actions on their own.

We are inviting all BTW teachers to try this challenge with their students this spring. The class that has the highest success rate (# actions/student at 2 and 6 weeks) will receive a pizza party with your BTW Educator before the end of the school year.

How it works:

In a part of your curriculum where it would be appropriate, introduce the idea of the Take-Home Challenge to your students. This may be after your field study, as part of the culminating activities for a BTW module.

1. Facilitate a class discussion about the ways that they can practice water conservation or sustainable solid waste management at home, and why those actions have a positive impact on water quality.
2. Direct students to the Take Home Challenge survey (use this one for water conservation, and this link for solid waste management). There should be an incentive for participation in the challenge (as evidenced by completion of the surveys), such as homework credit. If your students do not have easy access to the internet, please contact us for a pdf of the survey that you can print for them.
3. For the next two weeks, remind students of their commitments.
4. At the two week mark, ask students to take this survey. We will send you copies of the results so you can lead a discussion with your students about their efforts, the benefits, and the challenges.
5. At the six week mark, ask your students to take this survey. We will send you copies of the results so you can lead a discussion with your students about their efforts, the benefits, and the challenges.

This is a new activity for Bridging the Watershed. We welcome your feedback on the concept and the logistics, as well as stories of how it worked for you and your students. Please email us with your ideas and suggestions.

Opportunities for Kids

Schoolyard Cleanups - April 12, 2012. Join the Alice Ferguson Foundation for the 24th annual Potomac River Watershed Cleanup by organizing a cleanup right at your own school! Download our flyer for more information.

Recruitment for the Virginia State Parks Youth Corps (VSPYC) will begin the first of the year. Youth crews will consist of approximately 10 young people, ages 14-17 from diverse backgrounds, and three crew supervisors, college-age or older. This team of young people will live in the park in a structured program of work and learning closely supervised by professional park staff and committed adult volunteers. By day, the crews carry out priority park development and environmental/cultural projects, and after hours they take part in planned environmental education, team-building, worklife or job readiness training and recreational activities. In short, to have more involved and dedicated citizens in the Commonwealth.

We would appreciate your assistance in promoting the program with your organization and youth that might be interested. To expand the horizon of participants and give them a better idea of Virginia's environmental diversity, we strive for geographic distance between the youth's home and the park where they work. We provide a program completion payment of $500 for the youth participants. Crew Supervisors will receive a $1,800 at the end of the three weeks program. A set fee of $350.00 will be provided to cover transportation cost to any required training and travel to and from the park(s) of assignment.

In 2008, DCR's Virginia State Park Youth Conservation Corps Program was presented with the Governor's Award for Volunteerism and Community Service as the most Outstanding Youth Organization in the Commonwealth. Likewise, in 2010 the program was honored with the U S Department of the Interior's Most Outstanding State Volunteer program in the nation award . The Take Pride in America award cited the YCC's "... outstanding commitment to the stewardship of America's public lands and natural and cultural resources."

Please visit: http://bit.ly/vspycc to apply. All applicants will need the e-mail address of two professional references.

Please contact the designated Youth Conservation Corps coordinator, Mr. Gaston Rouse Jr. at (703) 583-5497, fax (703) 583-2514, Cell (703) 901-1004, or Email for further information.

Expedition Chesapeake Launches Essay Contest for Students: Students in 7th and 8th grades who live in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, New York, West Virginia, Delaware and the District of Columbia are invited to participate in the essay contest and are asked in 500 words or less to discuss their favorite science teacher and how this teacher has had an impact on his or her learning. Complete contest rules and requirements are available by e-mailing or by calling (717) 234-1295. One winning essay will be chosen by a committee from the Expedition Chesapeake Advisory Panel. The winner will spend a day with international conservationist and educator Jeff Corwin on the set of Expedition Chesapeake during the 2012-2013 school year.

The deadline for essay submissions is May 31, and the winning essay will be chosen before June 25.

Make Waves with "Project Blue Planet" to Save the Oceans. Enter Project Blue Planet to earn your school a "Seal" of Approval. One lucky team from each age group will win a $1,500 cash prize to continue their green (and blue) efforts. Students can focus their projects on eliminating waste, reducing energy use, creating a healthier environment, or improving lifestyle choices. These categories are listed on the Zoo's website, along with advice about actions that students could use in their project from members of the Zoo's Green Team, which works to "green" the Zoo.

To be eligible, projects must be completed by June 1, 2012. Winners will be announced in July 2012. Judges will consist of representatives from the Zoo's Green Team, Whole Foods Market and the Officer Snook Water Pollution Program. Entries will be judged on their projects' environmental impact, educational content and creativity. Schools will not be judged on their previous green efforts, but on the changes and advancements implemented through Project Blue Planet. (This enables all schools to have an equal chance at the grand prize.

Along with the project, students will need to submit the following: a description of how the project educates others, documentation of up to 10 photos and/or a link to a video (five minutes maximum), a group photo of the team. To start a project today, visit the Zoo's web site for more details, ideas and registration forms.

Grant and Professional Development Opportunities

K-12 Students Invited to Tackle Environmental Issues in the Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge. The Siemens Foundation, Discovery Education, and the National Science Teachers Association have announced the launch of the third annual Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge, a program designed to educate, empower, and engage students and teachers across the United States to become "Agents of Change" in identifying and solving environmental problems.

All students, from kindergarten through grade 12, to team up with their classmates to create replicable solutions to environmental issues in their schools (grades K to five), community (grades six to eight), and world (grades nine to twelve).

Teams will be judged on both their ability to create a positive, measurable solution to a local sustainability issue or challenge using scientific methodology and their ability to explain how the solution can be replicated by other communities. Student and teacher/mentor prizes, which vary according to grade level, include savings bonds and school grants. $250,000 expected to be available; responses due 3/15/12.

ING Unsung Heroes Program invites K-12 Educators to Apply for 2012 Class Project Awards. For the past fifteen years, the ING Unsung Heroes awards program has recognized K-12 educators in the United States for their innovative teaching methods, creative educational projects, and ability to positively influence the children they teach. Educators are invited to submit grant applications describing class projects they have initiated or would like to pursue.

Each year, one hundred educators are selected to receive $2,000 each to help fund their innovative class projects. Three of those individuals will be chosen to receive awards of an additional $5,000, $10,000, and $25,000. All awards must be used to further the projects within the school or school system. All K-12 education professionals are eligible to apply. Applicants must be employed by an accredited K-12 public or private school located in the U.S. and be a full-time educator, teacher, principal, paraprofessional, or classified staff member working on a project with demonstrated effectiveness in improving student learning.

Excess Property from NIH. NIH (National Institutes of Health) gives away extra stuff they have (such as paper, computers, printers and other such things) to teachers. Click here for sample forms. Exact inventories are constantly shifting, so be patient! Teachers must go to the NIH site in Bethesda, MD for pickup.