Bay Watershed Education and Training (BWET)
Climate Education for a Changing Bay
The Chesapeake 2014 Agreement states that at all students must have at least one meaningful Chesapeake Bay watershed experience in elementary, middle, and high school. The Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Virginia, is working to achieve this standard by implementing a program entitled Climate Education for a Changing Bay (CECB). This program provides meaningful watershed educational experiences (MWEEs) that are fully integrated and systemic into the classroom curriculum for 9th grade Earth Science students in Gloucester and Mathews County, Virginia. The overall objective of CECB is to improve climate literacy within local high schools by advancing the use of locally relevant environmental data and information in classroom curriculum, field experiences and professional teacher training. Understanding changes in sea level and inundation, and the associated responses of critical habitats and coastal communities are key to the Chesapeake Bay region. Throughout the school year, each high school receives classroom lessons given by CBNERR education staff and a field experience at the CBNERR educational facilities for each Earth Science student. Student involved in this program are gaining real world skills and knowledge to understand the local impacts of climate change. The Climate Education for a Changing Bay program is funded by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) grant.
For activities and resources created through this grant, click here!