White Marsh Elementary Blacktop Mural
For their MWEE action project, Mr. Elliot's 3rd grade science classes at White Marsh Elementary School decided they wanted a blacktop mural about sturgeon to help other students learn about this endangered species. The students determined that they wanted the mural to show sturgeon and a map of the Chesapeake Bay. Students also brainstormed what to title the mural, how to use it to communicate information about sturgeon, and how to communicate the reasoning for the project to their community. ShoreRivers connected the students and their ideas with a professional designer, Pat Rogan, who installed the highly technical middle section of the mural. Students then stenciled recognizable animals that can be found in the bay around the central map, everyone adding their own artistic touch. Approximately 60 students overall participated in this project.
Canoeing, Seining, & Nature Trails at Horn Point
As a part of the 3rd grade Sturgeon Discovery and the 9th grade Students for Streams program, ShoreRivers conducts fields trips at our partner UMD Horn Point Laboratory's campus. As a part of these field trips, students complete their MWEE credit and prepare them for a lifetime of outdoor learning. Students canoe to explore the Choptank River firsthand, seine net to explore the ecosystem of the near-shore Choptank, and walk nature trails to learn new species of flora and fauna and witness the watershed firsthand. ShoreRivers utilizes dichotomous keys and identification guides to allow students self-discovery of the creatures they catch while seining. This way, students will later be able to identify fish and other wildlife in other contexts. Unfortunately, as of 2019 some of the trails students favor have fallen into disrepair. ShoreRivers recently applied for and received an award in the amount of $1250 cash and over $2,000 in labor match from the Chesapeake Bay Trust through the Chesapeake Conservation Corps program. This award will allow us to rehabilitate the trails at Horn Point and upgrade the education resources there. Work is scheduled for June 19, 2020. In the 2019-2020 school year, ShoreRivers brought nearly 600 high school students and over 1,000 elementary school students to Horn Point to utilize the outdoor learning structures there. This is less than usual, due to the cancellation of spring field trips.