An Interactive Program that Allows Students
to Participate in Restoring the Chesapeake Bay

The Bay Grasses in Class (BGIC) Program kicked off its twelfth season in 2009. Twenty first-year teachers attended a two-day training in January to prepare to grow bay grasses with the students in their classes. This year, a total of 100 teachers from 15 counties and Baltimore City have raised wild celery, redhead grass and water stargrass and will be planting these grasses in four Maryland waterways across the state. Beginning on May 6th, each class will have an opportunity to engage in a meaningful bay experience by attending a BGIC planting field trip. In addition to planting the grasses grown in the classroom, students will use seine nets to survey the aquatic life and learn to test the local water quality with the help of Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) staff.

Photos from bay grasses in classes

Since its inception in 1998, over 1,667 classes and 43,946 students have been involved with Bay Grasses in Classes. During this time students have planted over 3.0 acres of bottom surface in the Bay with the 500,000 plants grown in their classrooms. Aerial surveys taken each year by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) continue to map healthy grass beds planted by students in the program.

The Bay Grasses in Classes program is a hands-on, interactive education project that enables students to play a direct role in Chesapeake Bay restoration. Teachers are provided with all equipment and instructions required to grow bay grasses in their classrooms. In addition, an extensive curriculum has been designed to incorporate bay grass activities into the normal school day. During the semester, students perform experiments to study bay grass growth. Experiment data are posted on the Bay Grasses in Classes website. At the end of the semester, students take part in transplanting their bay grasses in select areas of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. By studying the ecological importance of bay grasses and actively participating in restoration, students also gain a sense of stewardship of the Bay. The Bay Grasses in Classes project is a partnership between the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (http://www.cbf.org).

Financial Assistance provided by the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amend, administered by the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).  A publication pursuant to NOAA Award No. NA070Z0118Maryland Coastal Zone Management Program, Department of Natural Resources