It's not just a field trip! DDOE's watershed education programs bring together field studies and classroom activities in multiple disciplines. Students learn about the Anacostia, Potomac and Chesapeake Bay watersheds. Their experiences are integrated into the rest of their studies, and sustained throughout the school year.
MWEEs
One form of Hands-on Environmental Learning is a Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience, or MWEE. A MWEE integrates field studies with multidisciplinary classroom activities and instruction. MWEE's are:
Investigative or Project-Oriented
Integrated within the Instructional Program
Involve Preparation, Action, and Reflection
Reveal the Watershed as a System
Sustained throughout the School Year
Conducting MWEEs in the District Recognizing the value of hands-on watershed education, the Mayor of the District and the governors of the Chesapeake Bay states signed the Chesapeake Bay 2000 Agreement to provide meaningful watershed experiences for every student in the Chesapeake Bay watershed before graduation from high school. In the 2006-07 school year, 5,865 MWEEs provided to District students took part.
DDOE, its partners, Anacostia Watershed Society, Living Classrooms, Environmental Concerns, Earth Force and the Alice Ferguson Foundation, provide a variety of watershed experiences to DC public school students. Funding for these experiences is provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s Chesapeake Bay Program.
