Chesapeake Connections
Program
Chesapeake
Connections is the Outdoor Education outreach program which connects classroom
instruction with a series of relevant hands-on experiences that lead to
environmental stewardship.
Chesapeake Connections ultimate goal is to
support opportunities for environmental stewardship which we define as
"respecting and caring for the environment when no-one is watching."
This program
works with teachers and students to teach through the mandated state and local
curriculum.
Chesapeake Connections is
NOT an added subject to be
taught but rather it is an integrated part of the curriculum. Our focus is to
provide students with real life applications of information relevant to the
Chesapeake Bay Watershed.
We view the
Chesapeake Connections Program as a
"Five Course Meal" that is
rich in quality and quantity. It is important to note that schools can not
choose just appetizers or desserts, they must commit to all five courses.
1) Appetizers to excite the
quest for knowledge -
Staff Development - Teachers participate in a
6-day, 3-credit MSDE summer workshop. The workshop provides: 1) background on
Chesapeake Bay Watershed issues, 2) curriculum integration and 3) project
design.
Intermettzo Sorbet, cleanse
your palate to prepare for the year - Administrative Meeting - The
Coordinator of Environmental/ Outdoor Education and a
Chesapeake
Connections staff member will meet with the school principal and school
teacher(s) to plan the year's program and to gain commitment from all involved
partners. At the meeting, dates for classroom instruction, outreach, greenhouse
experience, and action projects will be scheduled. Our experience has shown that
this meeting is critical to assure program success.
2) Antipasta, a first taste
to engage students -
Classroom Instruction - Delivered by the
classroom teacher and directly aligned with the Maryland State Voluntary
Curriculum, teachers integrate Bay concepts and restoration as part of their
curriculum.
3)
Soup, a change in methods to support classroom instruction -
Outreach
Instruction - Hands-on outreach instruction by the Arlington Echo Outdoor
Education staff, taught in the school setting in direct support of classroom
instruction. Outreach instruction provides continual reinforcement of concepts
related to their restoration efforts.
Hot towels, to
prepare us for the real work at hand -
Design Phase - The
Chesapeake Connection staff guides the school through this process. Once
teachers and students have identified a watershed restoration project,
Chesapeake Connections staff provides technical designs and native plant
selections as well as resource connections, material needs development, grant
funding development, school system approval; all of the steps that teachers do
not have the expertise or time
to
accomplish.
4) Entree, a
hands-on experience that we have been waiting for -
Field Experience
- Depending on their restoration project, Chesapeake Connection classes are
involved in a field experience at the Center of Applied Technology North Green
Houses or Arlington Echo Outdoor Education Center to prepare for their
restoration projects. This experience reinforces previous learning, increases
student, parent and teacher ownership and lowers the costs of the projects.
5) Dessert, the fun
part of every meal -
Schoolyard Habitat, Community, Underwater grasses or
American Eel Raise and Release Project or Yellow Perch Restoration Project -
Each school has the option of developing and participating in a schoolyard or
community restoration, underwater grasses restoration and/or care and raise
Yellow Perch.
Outdoor Education staff provides technical support,
design support, equipment, grant development, maintenance communication, site
preparation, project preparations, and celebratory planting or release.
Restoration
Projects
Schoolyard or Community Restoration
Project
Restoration projects are conducted on the
schoolyard or in the community. These projects include wildlife habitat
restoration, meadows, raingardens or community stormwater management projects
with the Anne Arundel County Department of Public Works. Teachers and students
participate in assessing the schoolyard, design, growing the plants for the
project at the greenhouse, writing a grant for funding (usually Chesapeake Bay
Trust) and then planting and maintaining the restoration project. All of the
projects are planted with native plants and serve to help mitigate stormwater
runoff.
Grasses in Classes Project
In conjunction with Department of
Natural Resources and Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Grasses in Classes Program,
schools grow and propagate redhead underwater grass in the classroom. Teachers
and students set up experiments, record growth rates and record data. Students
will attend an in-service to learn about the care, propagation, status and
importance of underwater grasses to the Chesapeake Bay. Underwater grasses
raised will be planted at the soft shoreline restoration project at Arlington
Echo.
American Eel Raise and
Release Project
Arlington Echo is excited to begin a new project in cooperation with
Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the American Eel Raise & Release
Project! Teachers will be raising American Eels from the "glass eel" stage to
"yellow eel" stage. Teachers and students will be attending an American Eel
in-service to learn about their life cycle, care, threats and relation to the
Chesapeake Bay. They will then raise the eels throughout the spring.
Yellow Perch Hatch,
Raise and Release Project
Supported by the Maryland
Department of Natural Resource Aquatic Resource Education Grant, students
participate in the hatch, raising and releasing of Yellow Perch. Students take
data, observe and make predictions as they raise the fish. After the fish reach
one-two inches in length, they will be release into the rivers where their eggs
were collected. Yellow Perch Hatch Raise and Release begins with a "How To'
workshop for students in December, tank set-up in January, egg harvesting
February or March, raising and caring of fry (March-June) and release of perch
in June.
Terrapin Connection
Supplemental Project
(Requires
participation in other restoration project as part of Chesapeake Connections
Program.)
The Terrapin
Connection, a partnership between Arlington Echo and Poplar Island Environmental
Restoration Site, raises Diamondback terrapins hatchlings in the classroom. As
part of an ongoing research project looking at growth, survivability and nesting
habits, tagged hatchlings from Poplar Island are integrated into curriculum as
part of the Chesapeake Connections Program. Teachers integrate math and science
skills as the students measure, weigh and track the turtles' growth rates
weekly. All teachers will be required to participate in a training program,
which will include initial tank set-up, tank maintenance, care of the terrapins,
and record keeping. The Diamondback terrapins will be released at Poplar Island
at the end of the school year.
Chesapeake
Connections is part of the Anne Arundel County Public Schools Outdoor Education
Program at Arlington Echo Outdoor Education Center.
