Welcome to the Resource Library

The Potomac River is used for recreation and as a major water source for people in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. The Visible Trash Survey is an important tool for monitoring the sources and composition of land-based trash in our watershed. Analyzing the trash data collected through this program provides information in directing efforts and resources towards trash and litter reduction. The survey involves categorizing and counting visible trash along a 200 foot length along a body of water, road or land, within the confines of the Potomac River watershed. Visible Trash Survey volunteers spend approximately an hour of their time per site and you may certainly monitor more than one site. (Please note that you must receive permission by the landowner to monitor a site located on private property.)

Curriculum Unit to be used during a program in Rock Creek National Park. In this module, students will learn about river herring, their characteristics, and migration patterns, study the problems the fish encounter and the methods designed to correct the problems, learn basic fish identification and conduct a field study at Rock Creek Park in which they will collect data about the kinds and numbers of fish present in Rock Creek.

A Curriculum Module Written for C&O Canal National Historical Park & George Washington Memorial Parkway. Through this field study, students will use data and exploration to identify the relationship between humans and natural resources. Students will determine how human behavior in protected areas can help or harm an ecosystem.

A Curriculum Module Written for Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. The physical and historical geography of the Harpers Ferry area demonstrates how landscapes shape human history and how human endeavors profoundly affect natural landscapes—a powerful reminder that the actions of today determine the opportunities of tomorrow. Students will come to a deeper understanding of how human manipulation of river ways affects those rivers and how those rivers in turn affect human settlement.

The resources for the Watershed Watchdog module include activities relating to the understanding of the water quality index and a Watershed Watchdogs Parameters presentation.

This resource contains the lesson plan for teachers and additional documents needed for students to participate in the "Talkin' Trash" module.

This activity engages students by having them design and conduct a procedure to clean a polluted water sample.

This game of jeopardy contains questions and facts about the Potomac River watershed, including water quality and political involvement.

This guide is a pictorial glossary of leaf characteristics including leaf shape, leaf width, and arrangement.

This guide helps students identify the type of macroinvertebrate they are studying by using identifiable features.

After watching the video "Plastic Wars", students will answer a series of questions of six questions about what they learned.  

This data sheet helps students track the sustainability of the park they are visiting. Items tracked in this data sheet include visitor consumption, a solar scavenger hunt and the results of a wind energy engineering activity. Students will also make recommendations on how the park can be more sustainable.

This chart tracks personal consumption over a 24-hour period. By analyzing the data collected, students will be able to figure out how to reduce their impact on the environment.

This multi-choice trivia game teaches students fun facts and figures about the Potomac watershed and water quality.

Students will take measurements outside and then practice adding and subtracting decimals using their data.

Students will write a winter poem after going outside and experiencing winter weather.

Students will learn about hyperboles, hike part of the Dogwood Trail and make observations as they go. They will then write “chain” tall tales when returning to the classroom.

Students will read directions for a traditional Chinese children’s game, go outside and play the game, then write their own directions for a traditional game they enjoy.

Students will use the scientific method to determine how energy moves in ecosystems and go outside to make observations about the movement of energy.

Third graders will observe natural resources in their schoolyard. They will complete a concept map displaying their existing background knowledge about how the Earth's resources are used to meet human needs and what they learn from the lesson.

Did you know that 8 million tons of plastics enter our oceans each year? Plastics break down, but they don't truly decompose. This means that every piece of plastic ever made is still with us today. See what happens when plastics break down into smaller and smaller pieces with this stop-motion educational video.

An at-home student activity in which students observe the biodiversity in their neighborhood, their water and energy usage, etc. At the end of the observation period, students will reflect on how they and their community are doing through an environmental lens.

This lesson is an interactive story modeling how, as populations increase and land use changes, a river can be transformed from a valuable natural resource into a polluted waterway that is still necessary for humans and organisms alike. This graphic example demonstrates that we are all part of the problem - and that we must be part of the solution as well.

Students will investigate the rate of runoff and erosion on different land surfaces. After completing this activity, students will be able to explain the effect of land use on runoff, erosion, and water quality.

This guidebook will help schools reduce waste and litter by educating and empowering the entire school in direct environmental action. Educators can use this guidebook to engage students while teaching the process of how to recognize, investigate, and take action on an environmental issue.

Students will use common household objects to create a visual timeline depicting the rate of biodegradation of different materials.

Part of the "Discover Your Changing World with NOAA" series, this activity explores how human activities have changed the way that carbon is distributed in Earth’s atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere.

Students will assess the sustainability efforts of their school by making and recording observations pertaining to energy use, water use, waste, and transportation. After calculating the sustainability score for their school students will analyze how the students, teachers, and administrators can improve the school sustainability score.

This activity is meant to demonstrate the various ways carbon is released in the atmosphere and ways that it is scrubbed from the atmosphere.

Using cards and a game of spoons students will learn about how energy gets to their home and how renewable sources of energy may provide alternatives to nonrenewable energy sources in the future.

Originally developed to support 5th grade learning in Washington DC schools, this curriculum will walk you through how to turn students’ energy and excitement for nature into a meaningful, student driven, stewardship action project. This resource provides six comprehensive curriculum-aligned lessons and activities for a simple and effective way to implement a Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE) in a 5th grade classroom.

A one-pager of tips and tricks to help teachers make the most of an outdoor program or class. Adventures await!

This resource was created by Living Classrooms. Students will hike through the forest at Camp Fraser (through video) and learn to identify producers, consumers, and decomposers.

This resource was created by Living Classrooms. Students will explore (through video) streams and small bodies of water in the Potomac River watershed with nets and magnification tools to discover what organisms live in the water and assess the water quality based on their findings.

Students will use common items found during trash cleanups to create a visual timeline depicting the rate of biodegradation if these articles of trash were left in our environment.

Using the EPA Water Geoviewer (GIS) students will locate their watersheds and explain how human impacts to the environment affect water quality.

Utilizing different props, students will determine the processes in which rocks are turned into cheese.

When students step foot at Hard Bargain Farm they are immersed in our history, programs, and amazing wild spaces. Now, students can explore our educational campus all without having to leave the comfort of home.

Knowing how to make meaningful observations is the first step to training your mind to think like a scientist. These three prompts can guide individuals to make focused observations and form connections to their prior knowledge that will help them answer their own questions.

Did you know that the bottom of the stream is teeming with life? Amongst the rocks, macroinvertebrates are clinging-on, crawling around, catching food that comes by, or hunting their prey. Find out how clean your stream is with this easy-to-follow "Macroinvertebrate Investigation" learning activity.

Swim for Your Life is an interactive lesson and simulation game intended to appeal to students in middle and high school. During the game, virtual anadromous fish leave the open ocean each spring and travel into estuaries, coastal and freshwater rivers, and creeks to release their eggs.

Macro-Invertebrate Identification is an interactive lesson that helps students identify benthic macroinvertebrates using key characteristics.

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.

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.

The Water Cycle allows students to explore the water cycle through a series of interactive lessons.

An interactive classroom activity that gets kids moving and thinking about biodiversity and animal adaptations. This resource includes printable sheets, and instructions for both small and large groups of students.

In this activity, students explore cultural eutrophication: land use and impact on the watershed over time. Students analyze and report on real-time data, reflect the results, and apply their gained knowledge and comprehension to a real scenario in the watershed. Students are encouraged to use their field experience to engage in a service project such as joining a local stream monitoring group to examine the health of area streams.