Field Studies

Field studies coupled with classroom activities are an integral part of Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences. Find a field study program that gets your students’ feet wet and hands dirty.

Find a Program Near You

Begin by choosing the criteria for your search. Locations with matching field study programs will be displayed as pin-points on the map below. Click on a pin-point for links to programs offered at that location.

If you know of a great field study not included in the Bay Backpack let us know by suggesting a field study.

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Growing Up Green: Exploring the Life Cycles of Plants and Animals

In this exciting outdoor environmental education program, kindergarteners compare and contrast the life cycles of four plants and animals through hands-on investigation. Activities include using dip nets and buckets in the Arboretum’s wetland to see what frogs look like at each stage of the life cycle, searching for caterpillars and eggs in the butterfly garden, and exploring the Arboretum’s woodlands in a tree life cycle scavenger hunt. The program is aligned with MSDE standards LS4a–d, LS6a–b, and EN15a–b.

  • Organization(s): Adkins Arboretum
  • Location: 12610 Eveland Road, Ridgely, MD 21660
  • Theme(s): Habitats and Critters
  • Level(s): Early Learning
  • Program Length(s): Day Trips
  • Rating:
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What’s in the Water? An Investigation of Minute Life in the Wetland

Third graders will collect and examine macroinvertebrates in the Arboretum’s wetland to determine water quality. Students will use hand lenses and microscopes to assist their discoveries, sketch wetland organisms, and explore the flow of matter and energy within the wetland food chain. The program is aligned with MSDE standards ES2a–b, LS3a–d, and LS5c–d.

  • Organization(s): Adkins Arboretum
  • Location: 12610 Eveland Road, Ridgely, MD 21660
  • Theme(s): Habitats and Critters
  • Level(s): Elementary School
  • Program Length(s): Day Trips
  • Rating:
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Nature Puzzlers: Putting Together the Pieces to Make a Whole

Second graders will investigate how the parts of a tree work together in a “build a tree” activity, use magnifying glasses to examine and categorize leaves, and investigate the impact of sunlight and the water cycle on plant growth and development. A leaf hunt through the Arboretum’s woodlands is sure to delight! The program is aligned with MSDE science standards 2.D.2a; 3.A.1a; 3.B.1a, b; 3.B.2a, b, c, d.

  • Organization(s): Adkins Arboretum
  • Location: 12610 Eveland Road, Ridgely, MD 21660, USA
  • Theme(s): Habitats and Critters
  • Level(s): Elementary School
  • Program Length(s): Day Trips
  • Rating:
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Untangling the Web of Life

Students will use hand lenses to classify leaves by their observable features and use their skills of observation on a leaf scavenger hunt. A game of Habitat Hoochikoo will emphasize how changes in an organism’s habitat can be beneficial or harmful. Students will also have the opportunity to act out the water cycle through dramatic interpretation and explore interrelationships within food chains by creating an interactive web of life. The program is aligned with standards LS10a–b, and LS7a–d, and ES5a–d.

  • Organization(s): Adkins Arboretum
  • Location: 12610 Eveland Road, Ridgely, MD 21660
  • Theme(s): Habitats and Critters
  • Level(s): Elementary School
  • Program Length(s): Day Trips
  • Rating:
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Wetland Discovery

Students will explore animal and plant adaptations through wetland investigations. Stations will focus on how wetland plants are adapted to their watery environment, beaver bioengineering, microscopic wetland organisms, pollution, and the wetland web of life. Students will use scientific equipment, create nature sketches, participate in ecological games, and build beaver dams. The program is aligned with standards LS4aa–e, LS6, and LS8a–c.

  • Organization(s): Adkins Arboretum
  • Location: 12610 Eveland Road, Ridgely, MD 21660
  • Theme(s): Habitats and Critters
  • Level(s): Elementary School
  • Program Length(s): Day Trips
  • Rating:
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Woodland Explorers: Energy Flow in the Forest

This program explores how organisms are linked by the transfer of energy and matter in a forest investigation. Students will delve into photosynthesis by making transpiration bags, examine predator-prey relationships in a forest game, and learn about trophic levels by investigating a decaying log. On a woodland walk, students will discuss the relationship between humans and land resources while following the path of succession from meadow to hardwood. The program is aligned with MSDE core learning goals 6.2.1 and 6.2.2.

  • Organization(s): Adkins Arboretum
  • Location: 12610 Eveland Road, Ridgely, MD 21660, USA
  • Theme(s): Habitats and Critters
  • Level(s): High School
  • Program Length(s): Day Trips
  • Rating:
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Advanced Biome Investigations

High school and college groups may use the Arboretum’s natural resources for real-world application of lessons and techniques learned and practiced in the classroom. In these teacher-led field experiences, students may:

• Conduct and analyze an ecological survey
• Study an Arboretum habitat
• Sample populations of aquatic invertebrates, water quality, and plant communities
• Observe and document species interactions
• Collect, organize, interpret, calculate, and communicate data

Permission is required prior to any collecting or sampling, and the Arboretum staff asks that students share their findings.

  • Organization(s): Adkins Arboretum
  • Location: 12610 Eveland Road, Ridgely, MD
  • Theme(s): Restoration
  • Level(s): High School
  • Program Length(s): Day Trips
  • Rating:
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Science is for the Birds!

Students will investigate how bird beaks have adapted for survival in different environments. They’ll compare the life cycle of birds with that of other living organisms, including the plants that birds eat. This will lead to a seed dissection activity. Students will also look for birds in the Arboretum’s meadow, wetland, and forest habitats and find examples of how birds meet their survival needs. The program is aligned with MSDE standards LS5a–b, LS3a–d, LS4a–c.

  • Organization(s): Adkins Arboretum
  • Location: 12610 Eveland Road, Ridgely, MD 21660
  • Theme(s): Habitats and Critters
  • Level(s): Elementary School
  • Program Length(s): Day Trips
  • Rating:
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Day Trips to Fairview

Programs focus on animal studies, astronomy, campfire, canoeing, challenge course, fishing, geology, hiking, orienteering, weather study, stream study and adventure activities.

  • Organization(s): Fairview Outdoor Education Center Facilities
  • Location: 12808 Draper Road, Clear Spring, MD 21722
  • Theme(s): Habitats and Critters
  • Level(s): Early Learning, Elementary School, Middle School, High School
  • Program Length(s): Day Trips
  • Rating:
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School Year Programs at Clearwater

Located within Cosca Regional Park, Clearwater Nature Center offers a variety of interpretive programs hosted by park naturalists. Environmental education is strongly supported at this facility through interesting exhibits, displays, programs, special events, clubs, trips, and volunteer opportunities. The nature center features a small indoor pond, live animal exhibits, a lapidary laboratory, and seasonal herb and butterfly gardens.

  • Organization(s): Clearwater Nature Center
  • Location: 11000 Thrift Road, Clinton, MD 20736
  • Theme(s): Habitats and Critters
  • Level(s): High School, Early Learning
  • Program Length(s): Day Trips
  • Rating:
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