Home-Based Environmental Education Resources (teachers, parents and guardians)
Home-based resources for teachers, families and caregivers
Teaching environmental issues is a critical component of providing students with Environmental Literacy opportunities.
Discover a wealth of online data sources, community/citizen science platforms, multimedia, curriculum guides, and individual lesson plans.
Resources provided in the sidebar to the right for teachers, parents, and caregivers, have been collated by Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE), Environmental Literacy/Science.
Grade levels/bands and subjects will be designated for each resource.
If you know of a great teaching resource that is not included please let us know communcations@maeoe.org
Links to Sections
- Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Forestry Activities
- 50th Anniversary of Earth Day
- Bayback Pack
- National Wildlife Federation (NWF)
- Project Learning Tree
- Green Centers and Partners
- Virtual Fieldtrips/Tours
- Spanish Resources/ Recursos en Español
- Climate Education Tools
- Community Science Tools
- Videos
- Professional Development and Webinars
- Activities
Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Forestry Activities
Educator Outreach Activities - This is an extensive list of activities curated by the Maryland DNR to support the growth of forestry knowledge in youth.
50th Anniversary of Earth Day
Earth Day - April 22, 2020 marks the 50th celebration of Earth Day! Get lots of ideas here and join over one billion people from around the world celebrate Earth Day each and every day and anywhere you are.
Earth Day Activities for Students
Happy Earth Day song from David Stokes!
Mr. Besley’s Forest: A documentary about Maryland’s first State Forester
Bayback Pack
Bay Backpack - In order to support students, caregivers and educators during the school closures associated with COVID-19 we've developed 3 running lists of online environmental education resources. Resources include upcoming webinars, activity sheets, professional development opportunities, etc. Please review the links below and email wisnero@chesapeake.org with any additional resources that should be promoted.
Online Environmental Education Resources for Educators
Online Environmental Education Resources for Caregivers
Online Environmental Education Resources for Students
National Wildlife Federation (NWF)
Virtual Climate Change Teacher PD – National Wildlife Federation, Project WET, and Project WILD have co-created a free, self-paced virtual Climate Education course for educators. The focus is on climate change and biodiversity/wildlife and includes the following topics of study: earth systems; climate vs. weather; phenology; extreme weather; biodiversity; soils; and oceans. The course is currently open through June 1. Upon completion, educators will receive free lessons from all three organizations that can be used to (virtually) celebrate Earth Day 50. Register here.
Project WILD Online Activities: Online Activities for Parents and Educators
National Wildlife Federation -check out this collection of activities and crafts to help you connect your students and children to nature, even from inside your home.
Eco-Schools USA Resource Library: https://www.nwf.org/Eco-Schools-USA/Resources
Ranger Rick Website – All digital magazines and activities are available for free through the end of June. The site also features guides for educators and parents. Most appropriate for early childhood and elementary grades. https://rangerrick.org/stuck-indoors/. Activities in Spanish available here: https://rangerrick.org/tag/spanis
Project Learning Tree
For Teachers, parents, and caregivers
Nature is a great teacher! Try these activity ideas from Project Learning Tree to connect the children in your life to the outdoors and nature.
Suitable for children ages 3 – 15, some activities work better for younger children, others are more suited for older children. The way you present them will change depending on your child’s knowledge and ability.
- Walking in the Forest
- Exploring a Local Park
- In Your Own Backyard
- When all else Fails, Inside
- Around your home
- Teaching with i-tree
Download each Family Activity here.
Download Activities to do with Children here.
12 Nature Walk Activities here.
Green Centers and Partners
Anacostia Watershed Society - Learning From Home is a collection of materials and resources to learn and explore the Anacostia Watershed from home. Whether you are a teacher, caregiver, parent, grandparent, etc. these materials are for you! This webpage will contain content related to each of their school-based environmental education programs, as well as more general resources that aren't tied to a specific program. This content is meant to be accessible to all – so even if you haven’t learned about mussels, wetlands, or American shad with us in school, you should still be able to understand, access, and benefit from what you find here.
Adkins Arboretum - The Indigenous Peoples' Perspective Project explores the importance of more than 20 native plants to the food, craftwork, and medicinal traditions of indigenous peoples of the Chesapeake region. Visit the page to learn more about the project, to explore self-guided Native Plants, Native People family activities, and to discover the importance of American Persimmon, Paw Paw, and Oak species.
Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) - Learn Outside, Learn at Home has active learning resources for students and teachers that can be done at home or in your local neighborhood. You will also find video and GIS tools to help students explore the watershed. They will be adding new lessons and video resources every week.
Virtual Fieldtrips/Tours
At-Home Learning through Public Television – link - Explore At-Home Learning to find weekday broadcast schedules for MPT, WETA, and WHUT, along with related learning resources and digital toolkits for educators and families.
Boeing and Discovery Education Virtual Field Trip Diving into Earth-Friendly Engineering – link - In preparation for Earth Day, Boeing and Discovery Education, present the ecoAction Virtual Field Trip, premiering on April 15, 2020.
National Aquarium - Broadcasting Live from the National Aquarium - View live stream video from the National Aquarium's Jellies, Blacktip Reef and Pacific Coral Reef exhibits.
"Ospreycam" at Marshy Point Nature Center Be sure to tune in late April when they lay their eggs and the young hatch 35-40 days later. This Ospreycam won the Alliance of Natural Resource Outreach and Service Programs Volunteer Project Award in 2019.
Wide Open School powered by Common Sense - link – resources for educators and families in multiple grade levels and content areas.
Delaware Sea Grant - Immersive multimedia experiences you can use to explore marine science in places that may be closed to the public or somewhere you’ll visit yourself someday. These virtual tours provide users with an engaging experience as they explore various laboratories and unique sites through 360-degree images and discover embedded videos or other additional information.
Farm, Garden, Food, Sustainability - Compiled by Great Kids Farm of BCPS (http://www.friendsofgreatkidsfarm.org/): a list of farm-based and related nature-based virtual programming opportunities for students.
Spanish Resources/ Recursos en Español
PBS LearningMedia resources in Spanish – link - Los maestros, los estudiantes y las familias se están preparando para el cierre de escuelas, y el equipo creador de las lecciones y los educadores de PBS LearningMedia se han unido para seleccionar una colección especial de recursos organizados por grado y materia. En la colección, hay videos, planes y actividades que apoyan el aprendizaje en el hogar.
Sesame Street en las Comunidades – link - El cuidado y apoyo que usted brinda a los niños puede cambiar sus vidas. En Sesame Street le ayudamos ofreciéndole actividades y consejos para enfrentar los retos y disfrutar de un camino lleno de alegría.
Ranger Rick Website (NWF) actividades en Español: https://rangerrick.org/tag/spanish/
La Naturaleza en tu Vecindario¡ Doce señales de la naturaleza que puedes encontrar cerca de ti!: link
Auditoría personal del agua - link- El agua es vital para la sobrevivencia de todo lo que existe en el planeta. Parecería que la Tierra tiene abundantes recursos de agua pero, de hecho, menos del uno por ciento del agua del planeta se encuentra disponible para el uso humano. Mientras las poblaciones humanas y la demanda por el agua incrementan, el abastecimiento de agua dulce se mantiene constante. En esta lección, tienes la oportunidad de observar tus patrones de consumo de agua y evaluarlos dentro de un contexto más amplio ―el contexto de un entendimiento global―.
Audubon Naturalist Society - link - La naturaleza en tu vecindario. Doce senales de la naturaleza que puedes encontrar cerca de ti.
Climate Education Tools
Carbon Footprint Calculator: https://www3.epa.gov/carbon-footprint-calculator/ The calculator lets you model what happens if you reduce in areas.
More available here: https://www.climategen.org/blog/carbon-calculators-reviewed/
Cleannet: https://cleanet.org/clean/educational_resources/collection/index.html (a set of vetted calculators comes up.)
Carbon Calculator lesson: https://eli.lehigh.edu/climate-change/instructional-sequence/day-16
Community Science Tools
eBird - Intuitive site for community scientists that is simple and fun to use
iNaturalist - Excellent site for any community scientist to keep track of many types of observations! Wonderful tool for observing & sharing the natural world around you with a helpful guide for how to get started.
Water Quality App - Stroud Water Research Center’s Education Department and the Foundation for Ohio River Education (FORE) are partnering to make the Water Quality Mobile App free for a limited time to at least 100 new users! This app is an excellent resource for those who want to dive deeper into learning about local creeks and streams.
Videos
Videos that you may find interesting from our community to be utilized to enhance your curriculum.
How Big is Your Tree? PLT #67
Carrie Murray Nature Center - Video Hike
Nature Nerds - Join Carly and Adventure Kid Sam - a show all about nature and getting outside!
Professional Development and Webinars
Project WET, Project WILD and NWF offer free online professional development through June.
PLT Canada Hosts Green Jobs Webinar Youth, forest sector professionals, and SFI-certified organizations from across Canada joined Project Learning Tree Canada’s Green Jobs E-Summit to learn about the diversity of green career pathways including the life of a forester, why conservation jobs matter, tracking grizzlies, and even how a green job could stop aliens!
North American Association for Environmental Education offers tips and strategies for communication during the COVID-19 pandemic to the environmental education community in this free webinar.
Green Teacher offers a series of free webinars for teachers, educators, and parents.
The North American Invasive Species Management Association FREE monthly webinar to hear from the experts about invasive species, with topics ranging from data management, education and awareness, invasive species management and legislation.
National Center on Accessible Educational Materials - webinars focused on supporting accessibility in distance education for teachers.
Bug Squad - UC Davis Entomology and Nematology webinars
Department of Natural Resources - Professional Development
PAEE Resources for adult professional development and learning
Presidio Graduate School - Strategies for teachers moving online
Activities
ecoRise - Easy and engaging resources for hardworking parents who have students learning from home.
FindingNature.org - user generated resources
National Geographic Kids - Lots of activities, including science experiments, fun games, videos and more.
NSTA - Daily activities for teachers and parents to engage students in authentic, relevant, science learning.
Washington Youth Garden - Distance Learning Activities
NCYGS Wildlife Cookies activity
LaMotte - Home-based activities including Soapy Solutions, Oil Spill Activity, and more!
Department of Natural Resources - Wildlife Activities
Pickering Creek Dream Birds Activities- What is a “dream bird?” A bird that you think does not really exist! We want you to come up with your own bird using this worksheet!
PAEE Resources for teaching EE at home
Carrie Murray Nature Center - Park Treasure Hunt
Carrie Murray Nature Center - Nature Coloring Page
NorthBay's Online Activities and Resources are updated weekly!
Childhood by Nature - Build a homemade natural history museum!
Survive the Sound Game - Real fish tracking data transforms into a fund competition to raise awareness about salmon populations in peril around the Pacific Northwest.
Nighttime Adventures - take advantage of summer nights and plan a nighttime adventure!
Created: April 03, 2020 at 12:20 PM
Updated: July 23, 2021 at 03:38 PM
