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‘‘No, that’s real,” Hartlett, of College Park, told the kids. ‘‘Everything you see out here today is real.”

Even though the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife preserve is just 20 minutes from Rockledge Elementary School in Bowie, the sight of actual wildlife was unfamiliar to most of the children.

It’s a common question, Hartlett said. Kids today spend more time in front of technology than in nature.

‘‘They’ve gotten used to those animatronic statues like you see at Disneyworld,” he said.

Less than a mile away the same day, state and national lawmakers met at the refuge visitor center to make sure that environmental outings like the Bowie children’s Earth Day field trip become a regular part of instruction across Maryland.

‘‘I can’t think of a better way to celebrate Earth Day,” said Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who announced an executive order to create an advisory board that will encourage environmental lessons and instruction in the state schools.

Tuesday’s Earth Day celebration marked the 38th anniversary of the day set aside to raise awareness about the environment and promote clean habitats – a process lawmakers want to happen daily in classrooms.

‘‘When children graduate [from] high school, they should have a base-level understanding of the environment,” said Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Dist. 3) of Towson, who appeared with O’Malley to announce a funding bill dubbed the ‘‘No Child Left Inside” Act aimed at promoting environmental education.

In current form, the bill would give states $500 million in education funding over the next five years to train teachers in how to instruct their children on environmental topics and incorporate outdoor education into their lesson plans. Sarbanes sponsored the bill, which is still in committee.

The ultimate goal is to make children more aware of how human behavior can disrupt nature, in hopes they will continue to advocate for less pollution and sustainable living.

‘‘When we get them in the environment and learning about the Chesapeake Bay, about their carbon footprint, we’re creating stewards for the future,” O’Malley said.

And it’s practical too, advocates say. In addition to instructing in the sciences such as biology and chemistry, a good teacher can incorporate any subject into environmental study, said Brian Day, executive director of the North American Association for Environmental Education, a non-profit that has pushed for the new bills encouraging outdoor lessons for children.

‘‘It’s not just science. It’s history. It’s social sciences, it’s government, mathematics ... it’s about the relationships between human beings and their surroundings,” said Day, who attended the meeting with other environmental advocates, area school children and lawmakers supporting the law. ‘‘When you expose children to the real world, the real world opens up for them.”

It’s a lesson Koontz has seen herself at Rockledge Elementary, where she has taught for 18 years. In addition to Tuesday’s trip to Patuxent Wildlife refuge, where her class toured the forest, spotted birds and tested streams for water quality, the children are also growing bay grasses to plant later this spring.

‘‘It gives them a sense of ownership,” she said. ‘‘Once they plant those grasses, they know the bay is there, and that it is their responsibility.”

For more information on the No Child Left Inside movement, visit www.nclicoalition.org.

E-mail Daniel Valentine at dvalentine@gazette.net.