Bay Backpack

Bay Backpack provides educators with the tools they need to support Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences, or MWEEs, for their students. Explore Bay Backpack for teaching resources, action projects, field experiences, and funding opportunities related to the Chesapeake Bay.

An adult and child planting in a wetland restoration.

What is a MWEE?

Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences, or MWEEs, are the cornerstone upon which the region’s environmental literacy efforts have been built. MWEEs connect standards-based classroom learning with outdoor field experiences to create a deeper understanding of the environment. Through MWEEs, students of all ages develop a sense of environmental ethics and stewardship that will be essential to the long-term sustainability of our local watersheds and will serve as the foundation of a lifelong relationship with the environment.

Learn more about MWEEs

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Popular MWEE Resources for Educators

Teaching Resources

Discover a wealth of environment-related books, multimedia, curriculum guides, individual lesson plans and data sources.

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Action Projects

Effectively plan, utilize & sustain a wide variety of school environmental projects.

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Field Experiences

Find a field trip that gets your students' feet wet and hands dirty.

Explore Field Experiences

Need funding for your MWEE?

Find grant programs in your state.

The Latest Blog Post

In the left image, six teachers walk along a strip of marshland surrounded by water and blue skies. In the right image, two teachers look through microscopes at a table outside the Karen Noonan Center.

Social Emotional Learning: Supporting students, teachers and science investigations

Teachers learn social emotional learning skills at Teachers of the Estuary (TOTE) in response to school needs.

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