As we discuss and expose our students to the Chesapeake Bay we must stress the importance of keeping the Bay clean.  Many schools and groups organize group to provide clean up opportunities.  The article listed below can be used as a tool to get our students involved in the efforts of cleaning the Chesapeake Bay.

 

 

 

NEWS

EPA gives mixed grades on Chesapeake Bay cleanup plans

By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun | February 18, 2012

Federal regulators have given mostly high marks to the latest Chesapeake Bay cleanup plan drafted by Maryland but found fault with Pennsylvania's and Virginia's restoration blueprints. In reports posted online late Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency said Maryland's draft "watershed implementation plan" for meeting the agency's bay pollution reduction goals "meets EPA's expectations. " Maryland and the other five states that drain into the Chesapeake have been working with the agency for the past three years on a "pollution diet" aimed at reducing nutrient and sediment pollution fouling the bay by 20 percent to 25 percent.

http://cookiefly4life.blogspot.com/

March 2012 Periodical this March edition of the Cheasepeake Bay journal describes an endangered fish on the bay.  The students will use the article to connect with sea life located in the Bay.

The books listed below offers advanced reading about the Chesapeake Bay.  It is important that we provide enrichment opportunities for students who are reading above grade level.  In addition to a more complicated explanation of life around the Chesapeake Bay, some of them provide illustrations and texts that make the reading enjoyable and exciting.

Ernst, H. (2003). Chesapeake Bay Blues: Science, Politics, and the Struggle to Save the Bay (American Political Challenges). Rowman and Littlefield.

Ernst, H. (2009). Fight fot the Bay. Rowman and Littlefield.

Harp, D. (2008). The Nanticoke: Portrait of a Chesapeake River . The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Horton, T. ( 2003). Turning the Tide: Saving the Chesapeake Bay . Island Press.

Horton, T. (2007). Chesapeake: Bay of Light: An Exploration of the Chesapeake Bay's Wild and Forgotten Places . Mountain Trail Press.

One blogger believes that students can learn about the Chesapeake Bay without any direct contact with the Bay.  I disagree, I think a trip or visit to the Chesapeake Bay enriches the learning experience and provides invaluable learning experiences.

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States.  Students in the Mid-Atlantic region, have numerous opportunities to visit, tour and experience the Bay.  The Chesapeake Bay can provide lessons in geography, environmental science, biology and marine biology. 

My content area is Science.  I will be teaching a unit on Chesapeake Bay to students in grades 3-6.  To supplement and enrich this unit, I will be incorporating the following four trade books:

Bell, O. D. (2008). Awesome Chesapeake: A Kid's Guide to the Bay . Tidewater Publishers .

Bennett, K. (2006). Chesapeake Bay (Rookie Read-About Geography: Bodies of Water). Connecticut: Children's Press.

Horton, T. ( 2003). Turning the Tide: Saving the Chesapeake Bay . Island Press.

Winegar, D. (2001). Longstreet Highroad Guide to the Chesapeake Bay. Taylor Trade Publishing.

These are three websites that list and discuss the Chesapeake Bay. These websites allow students to explore and discover the benefits, resources, and recreation that the Chesapeake Bay provides. The Cheasepeake is important to all who live in the Mid-Atlantic region. This is a great start in allowing and providing our students with beginning knowledge of bay life.

http://www.cbf.org

http://www.chesapeakebay.net

http://www.baydreaming.com

In addition to the books I posted last week. These books about the Cheaspeake Bay can be extremely helpful as well.


http://www.amazon.com/Chesapeake-Bay-Rookie-Read-About-Geography/dp/0516297023#reader_0516297023

http://www.amazon.com/Estuary-Ecosystems-Action-Sally-Walker/dp/0822521377/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1328828489&sr=1-2#reader_0822521377

http://www.amazon.com/Olly-Oyster-Cleans-Elaine-Allen/dp/0870336037/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1328828609&sr=1-7

To excite your students about the Bay and all that it has to offer, I recommend letting the students explore these websites:

http://coastalscience.noaa.gov/education/cbbook.pdf-- this is an activity book that students can print and use. The students can work, in school, at home, or complete with a parent/guardian.

The website below: provides fun facts and information on all the bodies of water, boating and other activities to do on the Bay.
http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/01glance/html/ches.html