Hard Bargain Farm Environmental Center

Online Lessons & Resources

Students dipnetting at Hard Bargain Farm The educational activities on this Web site are designed to complement the environmental education courses taught at Hard Bargain Farm, while incorporating science, reading and math. However, the topics are universal and of value to teachers and students everywhere.

Please let us know if you enjoy using our activities with your students.


 

Classified InformationClassified Information: Students learn the basic concepts of classification by sorting imaginary creatures to create an identification key in "Creature Feature", then, move on to using a key to classify and identify some of the local species of fish here at Hard Bargain Farm in "Fishin' for a Name". Recommended as a preparation or follow-up activity for Animal Adaptations, Habitat Exploration, Up A Creek, and Ecosystem Diversity courses at Hard Bargain Farm.

Cow In and Out GameCow In and Out Game: In this fun and informative activity, students learn the "ins" and "outs" of cattle. The "Cow In and Out Game" requires students to decide what goes into the cows, and what comes from them by sorting a variety of items. Recommended as a preparation activity for any of the agriculture courses offered at Hard Bargain Farm, especially for younger students.

Student drawing of a Bald eagle Ecosystem Food Web Mural: Freshwater Marsh In this classroom activity, students conduct research and present information on organisms in a specific ecosystem; then assemble their information to create a food web mural. Recommended as a preparation activity for Habitat Exploration, Up A Creek, Animal Adaptations, and Ecosystem Diversity field studies at Hard Bargain Farm.

  • "Ecosystem Food Web Mural: Freshwater Marsh" - (700 KB) PDF

Let's Take a Dip "Let's Take a Dip" is a virtual dip netting activity. Students get to "virtually" catch the kinds of organisms they might find when they really dip net here at Hard Bargain Farm. Students will make predictions, collect, organize and compare data and practice the principles of the scientific method. Recommended as a preparation or follow-up activity for Habitat Exploration, Up A Creek, and Ecosystem Diversity courses at Hard Bargain Farm.

Macroinvertebrate Macroinbertebrate Identification is an interactive lesson that helps students identify benthic macroinvertebrates using key characteristics. It also emphasizes the special adaptations each has to its aquatic habitat and demonstrates how macroinvertebrates can be indicators of the health of the stream.


 

Overflowing Trash Can Nature Recycles: Shouldn't We All? helps students learn how to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Activities include packing a "Trash Free Lunch" online, comparing and ranking lunches, "Trash Sorting", and analyzing their lunch trash data collected during the field trip. Recommended as a preparation activity for any of the courses offered at Hard Bargain Farm, especially Waste Management: Man and Nature Recycles.

Plant Identification Plant Identification is an interactive lesson that helps students learn plant identification and classification using a dichotomous key. Plant keys provide a systematic way to identify plants. This activity uses a visual key is based on leaf shapes, margins, and their arrangement on a stem.

Swim for Your Life Game "Swim for Your Life" is an interactive game that teaches students the life cycle of anadromous fish and the perils they encounter in their journey from spawning grounds to ocean and back. Can be played alone or in teams.

Ways of a Watershed Ways of a Watershed: What in the world are watersheds? This interactive online lesson defines what a watershed is, and follows a single raindrop on its journey from the sky to the ocean. Recommended as a preparation activity for any of the courses offered at Hard Bargain Farm, especially Runoff & Erosion and Earth's Surface Features and Waste Management: Man and Nature Recycles.

The Water Cycle Water Cycle: Water on the Move allows students to explore the water cycle through a series of interactive lessons. Recommended as a preparation activity for any of the courses offered at Hard Bargain Farm, especially Runoff & Erosion and Earth's Surface Features.


 

Potomac Watershed Timeline covers major Potomac Watershed events dating back to the 1500s.

Ears of Corn Where's the Corn? This classroom activity introduces students to the importance of corn in our society by having them discover that corn products are unexpectedly found in numerous foods. Recommended as a preparation activity for Farm Life and the Science of Agriculture and Technology Through Time field studies at Hard Bargain Farm.

Alice Ferguson Foundation
2001 Bryan Point Road, Accokeek, Maryland 20607
webmail@fergusonfoundation.org
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