A Chesapeake Bay Trust project and partnership between the Blandy Experimental Farm and Clarke County Public Schools. Fourth grade students and teachers visited the Arboretum two times throughout the 2015-2016 school year and Arboretum staff visited the schools two times to provide a Meaningful Watershed Education Experience.  A curricular unit was developed for use in the classroom and outside in the schoolyard. The project also included teacher professional development wherein teacher and Blandy educators collaborated to create rich learning experiences for students. 

The following lessons were developed by Blandy Education staff for the project. 

Some activities were developed for use at Blandy; others were developed for use at the schools and include both classroom and outdoor activities. Click Here for a list of Virginia Standards of Learning covered by these lessons.

For Use in the Schoolyard or at the Arboretum	For Use in the Classroom
Pollination Station: Flower and Pollinators  Students explore a diversity of insects on flowers	What Plants are Good for Pollinators? Internet-based research for choosing native plants for a school garden
What Plant Where? Observing and measuring native plants in their habitats	Insect Investigations Examining adaptations for pollen and nectar collection
Habitat Mapping Exploring habitats and water flow
Roof Models Rooftop Runoff and Erosion Control	Picture Perfect Literacy- Down the Drain
Lepidoptera Timeline Understanding interactions of butterflies and moths with native host plants	Watershed Models Discovering watershed components
Schoolyard Surfaces	Runaway Rain Real world word problems to determine roof runoff.