During the week of June 26, 2006, educators from Michigan, Maryland, Ohio and Virginia gathered at the Smithsonian Institution's Conservation and Research Center in Front Royal, VA to explore the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.
Capital Region Earth Force, the Smithsonian National Zoo’s Conservation and Research Center and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality partnered to created a program that would highlight the different research and current issues of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and to provide educators with field experience in the rural, suburban and urban components of the Watershed.
Educators also received training in a myriad of different curriculums including Project Wet, Project Underground and the Wonders of Wetlands. How to incorporate service learning into the classroom was also explored and all of the week's activites worked towards preparing educators to implement a Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE) in their classroom upon returing in the fall.
Experts from the following organizations and agencies joined the educators during their field studies throughout the week to update them on current research around a variety of topics including karst, air quality, water quality, biodivesity and exotic, invasive species:
- Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
- Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
- Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
- Shenandoah River State Park
- Shenandoah National Park