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The Bay Grasses in Classes Program
Wraps Up Ninth Season!
 The Department of Natural Resources, (DNR) in partnership with the Chesapeake
Bay Foundation (CBF), has completed its ninth season of the Bay Grasses in
Classes (BGIC) program. Since its inception in 1998, over 1,404 classes and
36,050 students have been involved in the Bay Grasses in Classes program. During
this time students have planted over 2.75 acres of bottom surface in the Bay
with the 475,000 plants grown in their classrooms.
Interested teachers from
across the State of Maryland were trained by DNR and CBF staff in January.
Teachers used the curriculum materials and online resources provided to educate
their classes on the importance of bay grasses. Teachers were provided with
materials necessary to construct growth chambers in their classrooms including
aquarium equipment, sediment, and seeds or adult plants to propagate.
Teachers then actively engaged students in each phase of growing bay grasses:
mixing the soil, setting up the aquaria, and planting seeds or vegetative
material from adult plants. Each week, they monitored the growth of the seeds or
cuttings, collected water quality data, and entered these data into the on-line
data entry system. Through this on-line database, students could look at graphs
that depicted the growth rates and water quality trends in their classrooms and
compare them to other schools in the program.
After 12-16 weeks of caring for their bay grasses, the students disassembled
their systems and transported the grasses to one of three restoration sites
throughout the state. There they took part in planting the grasses, as well as
seining and water quality activities designed to reinforce their knowledge of
bay grasses. By studying the ecological importance of bay grasses and actively
participating in restoration, students also gained a sense of stewardship of the
Bay.
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 In 2006, 135 schools with almost 4050 students participated in one or all phases
of this project. Ninety three classes attended a field trip at the end of the
program to plant their classroom-raised grasses at a restoration site in the
Chesapeake Bay watershed. Students planted more than 610 square meters of plants
this year, bringing the total for the project to 3,070. The overall survival of
the grasses planted this year was approximately 50%.
Bay grasses, also known as submerged aquatic vegetation or SAV, are the
fundamental nursery habitats for multiple species throughout the Chesapeake Bay
including fish and crabs. Current bay grass populations are less than 25 percent
of historic levels, due to multiple human and wildlife impacts including
excessive nutrient pollution and the destruction caused by the mute swan
population.
BGIC receives funding from the Chesapeake Bay Trust and the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Go to the Bay Grasses in Classes website
to learn more about the program and view pictures.
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