Teacher's Overview

What does BTW Offer...

• Performance-based curriculum modules

  Five stand-alone, performance-based curriculum modules and new site-specific modules were created specifically for the BTW program. Although lessons are interdisciplinary, the core of the curricula focuses on science and math. Each module contains pre-field study activities, preparation for a one-day field study in a national park, and post-field study investigations. Click here for the Curriculum Overview

• Training

  To bring students to a national parks in your area, you are encouraged to participate in teacher workshops, held throughout the year, or the BTW Annual Summer Institute. Teachers participating in the summer institute receive a stipend and have the option to receive graduate credit. Click here for a list of our upcoming trainings.

• Resources

  After completing a training with BTW you will be given access to additional online resource materials to help you and your students get the most from a BTW field study in one of our five stand-alone modules.  Additionally, all of our current and future site-specific modules have resource pages for you to access and download materials essential to preparing for, participating in, and elaborating on a site-specific field study.  Curriculum resource materials are available using the menu to the left of the page.

• Assistance

  For an assortment of reasons, it is getting tougher and tougher to get students out of the classroom these days.  We know the difficulties, but we still work with over 2,000 students every year!  If they can work with our program, you can too!  If there is anything we can do to assist you in participating in a BTW field study, please ask.  Chances are we have dealt with the problem before, and may know just how to help.

• The Field Study

  When students participate in the BTW program they should be reminded that they are not on a field trip, but a field study.  While in the parks, they will work with park rangers to explore the cultural resources unique to each park.  The park rangers and the BTW educators will help to show your students  how the cultural resources have affected and have been affected by the natural resources of the park.  During the field study your students will learn to collect data using both the equipment and the methods used by field professionals.  They will then have a chance to analyze the data they have collected to learn more about the resources around them. 

• Online Resources

  On this web site, students can engage in interactive activities to help them learn plant identification, using a dichotomous key, and benthic macroinvertebrate identification using key characteristics. There is also an interactive game to teach students the life cycle of anadromous fish and the perils they encounter in their journey from spawning grounds to the ocean and back. The watershed timeline, which goes back to the 1500s, shows major Potomac watershed events; and a watershed glossary contains terms used in the BTW curricula. You can also find downloadable lessons for the park-specific units that deal with general environmental science topics.

• Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience

  The Chesapeake 2000 Agreement

  In 1983, the states of Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, as well as the District of Columbia, EPA, and the Chesapeake Bay commission recognized the Chesapeake Bay’s economic, ecological and cultural value and agreed to dedicate themselves to the protection and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem by signing the Chesapeake Bay Agreement. Commitment to this partnership and to the ecological integrity of the Chesapeake Bay was renewed with the signing of the Chesapeake 2000 agreement. Of the several commitments in this agreement, the most applicable to Bridging the Watershed is the dedication to “Stewardship and Community Engagement.” The goal and objectives of this commitment are as follows:

  Goal:
  • Promote individual stewardship and assist individuals, community-based organizations, businesses, local governments and schools to undertake initiatives to achieve the goals and commitments of this agreement.

  Objectives:
  • Beginning with the class of 2005, provide a meaningful Bay or stream outdoor experience for every school student in the watershed before graduation from high school.
  • Provide students and teachers alike with opportunities to directly participate in local restoration and protection projects, and to support stewardship efforts in school and on school property.

  Chesapeake 2000 and Bridging the Watershed

  The BTW program addresses and accomplishes both objectives by providing Meaningful Bay Experiences to high school students through their participation in BTW field studies and service projects.

  The Chesapeake 2000 agreement asks educators to go beyond a simple nature walk when providing Meaningful Bay Experiences to students. The experience must include rigorous academic learning standards, promote a sense of wonder, and nurture a sense of community that will connect students to the Chesapeake Bay and move them to take action toward its protection and restoration. For this reason, Meaningful Bay Experiences are very narrowly defined. Outdoor experiences must meet eight criteria to qualify as a Meaningful Bay Experience. These eight criteria and specifically how the Bridging the Watershed curriculum meets them are outlined below.

  • Experiences are investigative or project-oriented
  • Experiences are richly structured and based on high-quality instructional design
  • Experiences are an integral part of the instructional program
  • Experiences are part of a sustained activity
  • Experiences consider the watershed as a system
  • Experiences involve external sharing and communication
  • Experiences are enhanced by interaction with interpretive rangers
  • Experiences are for all students

  Experiences are investigative or project-oriented
  The structure of the BTW field studies exemplifies this criteria. While participating in a BTW field study, students are field scientists investigating environmental issues through the collection and analysis of field data on one of the following subjects: runoff and sedimentation, trash, water quality, macroinvertebrates, and alien plants. Students might use water testing equipment or a dichotomous plant key. GPS equipment is routinely used is each field study. Combined with interpretative messages from National Park Service rangers, the subject matter is put into context and directly related to the Bay, its tributaries, and the social, economic, and historic issues of the watershed.

  Experiences are richly structured and based on high-quality instructional design
  The design of the curriculum includes three components – pre-field study activities, the field study, and post-field study activities. Pre-field study activities are completed in the classroom where science concepts are introduced and explored. The field study involves students collecting authentic data in a national park. In the post-field study activities, students analyze data collected.

  Experiences are an integral part of the instructional program
  Each of the BTW modules is interdisciplinary, geared to environmental science concepts, and has strong math, social studies, geography, and language arts components. BTW curriculum is based on local and national education standards.

  Experiences are part of a sustained activity
  The BTW curriculum involves pre and post classroom experiences as well as a field study. The formal education component of the curriculum is extended through the participation in a service project.

  Experiences consider the watershed as a system
  The Potomac watershed is integrated in all five of the BTW curriculum modules. BTW educators and NPS rangers use maps, satellite photos, and hands-on activities to help students see the bigger picture and how the field study site is part of a greater whole – the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay watersheds.

  Experiences involve external sharing and communication
  Data gathered in BTW field studies is shared with all BTW partners in an on-line database. Through this database, students can compare their data to that of other students throughout the watershed.

  Experiences are enhanced by interaction with interpretive rangers
  National Park Service Rangers participate in all BTW field studies and service projects. Each four-hour field study gives rangers the opportunity to get to know the students personally and help them make personal connections with their area parks.

  Experiences are for all students
  BTW has made field studies accessible to students with physical and mental challenges. The ratio of educators to students in BTW field studies is kept at one instructor to every 10 students. This allows educators and rangers the opportunity to work with students who have special needs.

• Opportunities for Community Service

  After completing any BTW field study, the educators will recommend activities sponsored by the Alice Ferguson Foundation or one of our partner organizations that students can participate in to earn community service hours/credits they may need.