Field Trips
- Grade Level:
- Middle School: Sixth Grade through Eighth Grade
- Subject:
- Science
- State Standards:
- DC: Resources 6.6; Biological Evolution 7.6; Ecology 7.8
Virginia: Living Systems 6.5, 6.7; Scientific Investigation, Reasoning, and Logic 6.1; Life Science: LS.4 .7 .9 .10 .11
Maryland: 6B1, 61c, 7Aa, 8Bb
West Virginia: SCS63, SCS73, SCS81, SCS82, SCS83
Student will complete pre-visit, in-class activites to
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Familiarize students with the unique biology, botany and geology of the Potomac Gorge and identify how humans impact the gorge inside, out of, and adjacent to its boundaries,
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Have students explore the natural and human history of the Potomac Gorge through photographs and text, and
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To practice Leave No Trace principles and to get students familiar with the parks and destinations in the Gorge.
They will then complete a field study in either C&O Canal National Historical Park or George Washington Memorial Parkway to
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To engage students in the field study activity, to identify some of the ways human impacts affect organisms that live in the Potomac
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To assess human impact on a 20-meter stretch of trail in the park.
After the field study, they will then reflect and analyze their data in the classroom and develop a product (podcast, bumpersticker, short video, audio) that encourages visitors reduce their impact on the Gorge and to help improve the Gorge.
This field trip is part of the Bridging the Watershed (BTW) curriculum program. BTW is an outreach program of the Alice Ferguson Foundation, in partnership with the National Park Service (NPS) and area schools, designed to promote student academic achievement, personal connections with the natural world, lifelong civic engagement, and environmental stewardship through hands-on curriculum-based outdoor studies in national parks and public lands.
For more information on participating in this field study, contact the BTW program.
Last updated: March 22, 2021