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Since 2003, DOEE’s Watershed Protection Division has led the effort to provide District students with Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs). MWEEs are multi-day programs that teach students about their local watersheds and the Chesapeake Bay through classroom lessons, field experiences, action projects, and reflection activities.
MWEEs are the cornerstone upon which the region’s environmental literacy efforts have been built. MWEEs connect standards-based classroom learning with outdoor learning 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.
Recognizing the value of hands-on watershed education, the D.C. Mayor 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. This work continues to be a priority in the current 2025 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement.
MWEEs contain four key parts:
- Issue Definition
- Outdoor Field Experiences
- Synthesis and Conclusions
- Environmental Action Projects
Learn more about the components on the Bay Backpack website.
Conducting MWEEs in the District
DOEE currently offers the following MWEE initiatives:
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Nature Near Schools MWEE: The program is composed of standards-aligned environmental literacy lessons for fourth grade District school students. Students learn outdoors and engage in scientific inquiry through data collection and observation.
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Overnight MWEE: The program provides District fifth grade students a three-day, two-night field study. Students participate in hands-on lessons about their local watersheds and sustainability that build off science standard curriculum.
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Middle School MWEE: The program provides District sixth grade students experiential lessons on DOEE’s targeted subwatersheds that foster an ethic of environmental stewardship.
This work is done in partnership with Casey Trees, Urban Adventure Squad, Living Classrooms, Nature Forward, Anacostia Watershed Society, Alice Ferguson Foundation, NatureBridge, and Anacostia Riverkeeper.
For more information on this program, please contact Adrienne Farfalla at [email protected].