Join Thomas Johnson Elementary/Middle School students as they learn about and care for a turtle as part of the Aquarium's Terrapins in the Classroom program.
For some Marylanders, respect for the state reptile, the diamondback terrapin, starts in the classroom. Each fall, the National Aquarium's Education team brings hatchling terrapins from Poplar Island to live in Maryland schools for one school year before returning them to the island in spring. The Terrapins in the Classroom program teaches students how to care for their turtle and measure its growth. They also learn about protecting its home, the Chesapeake Bay. This program is part of the Terrapin Education and Research Partnership, which contributes to an ongoing research study about these reptiles.
Last fall, a turtle named Tiddles joined a third-grade class at Thomas Johnson Elementary/Middle School in South Baltimore. After learning about Tiddles' home, Poplar Island, the students created turtle habitat replicas with cardboard, sand, rocks and moss. In the 1990s, Poplar Island was almost completely destroyed by erosion, and only four of its original 1,100 acres remained. Federal and Maryland environmental agencies saw the island's value as habitat and have been restoring it since 2001 with dredged materials. Since then, native species like herons, eagles and terrapins have once again made the island their home.
Caring for a hatchling terrapin allows students at Thomas Johnson Elementary/Middle School and all across Maryland to foster a connection with the Chesapeake Bay. They learn how the health of the Bay directly affects the animals that live there and how protecting the Bay is the best way to keep "their" turtle, and all terrapins and other native species, healthy and safe.
