Lesson Plan Green School Reaccreditation
3rd and 4th Grade
(Fall, Winter, Spring)
Learning Goal: Students will take part in an oyster restoration project. Students will understand that oysters are filter-feeders that clean the Chesapeake Bay’s waters and offer food and habitat to other animals. They will come to understand that over-harvesting, disease, and habitat loss have led to a severe drop in oyster populations. The students of St. Martin’s in-the-Field Episcopal School are working to manage harvests and establish sanctuaries by depositing oyster spat into the Magothy River. Fourth grade is the “host” grade for this school-wide program.
Essential Questions: Did you know that one single oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water in a single day? How important are oysters to the Maryland economy? What effect does over harvesting oysters have on the Chesapeake Bay?
Materials: http://www.chesapeakebay.net/issues/issue/oysters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQtRmi3VjME
Subjects Covered/Skills: Science, Reading, and Writing/Skills include observation, measurement, data recording, reading for content, reading for fluency, writing for clarity and accuracy, listening, speaking. A writing sample is included in this report.
Activity: Grades 3, 4, and 5 placed oyster spat in the Chesapeake Bay on September 4, 2014. This early-academic-year field trip set the stage for different grades to visit the oysters throughout the school year in order to clean the oyster cages and measure growth and water quality. Our parent-environmental educational consultant, Carl Treff, who is a volunteer with the Marylanders Grow Oysters Program, provided the context for the students through his talk to them. (See his statement in Community Partnerships.)
3rd and 4th Grade
(Fall, Winter, Spring)
Learning Goal: Students will take part in an oyster restoration project. Students will understand that oysters are filter-feeders that clean the Chesapeake Bay’s waters and offer food and habitat to other animals. They will come to understand that over-harvesting, disease, and habitat loss have led to a severe drop in oyster populations. The students of St. Martin’s in-the-Field Episcopal School are working to manage harvests and establish sanctuaries by depositing oyster spat into the Magothy River. Fourth grade is the “host” grade for this school-wide program.
Essential Questions: Did you know that one single oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water in a single day? How important are oysters to the Maryland economy? What effect does over harvesting oysters have on the Chesapeake Bay?
Materials: http://www.chesapeakebay.net/issues/issue/oysters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQtRmi3VjME
Subjects Covered/Skills: Science, Reading, and Writing/Skills include observation, measurement, data recording, reading for content, reading for fluency, writing for clarity and accuracy, listening, speaking. A writing sample is included in this report.
Activity: Grades 3, 4, and 5 placed oyster spat in the Chesapeake Bay on September 4, 2014. This early-academic-year field trip set the stage for different grades to visit the oysters throughout the school year in order to clean the oyster cages and measure growth and water quality. Our parent-environmental educational consultant, Carl Treff, who is a volunteer with the Marylanders Grow Oysters Program, provided the context for the students through his talk to them. (See his statement in Community Partnerships.)
Assessment: Writing Assignment
Selected students participated in an interview by the Severna Park Voice—a copy of their article is included in this report.
Celebration: After placing the oyster spat in the Magothy River, the students, their parents, and teachers from elementary and middle school enjoyed a lovely picnic. In the spring, 4th grade students will take a boat trip, carrying the oyster cages out to a sanctuary reef in the Chesapeake Bay.
Resources/Partnerships: This program is sponsored by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. More than 1,000 Maryland citizens participate in Marylanders Grow Oysters. Some thirty rivers in Maryland were stocked with spat in 8,000 cages.
Selected students participated in an interview by the Severna Park Voice—a copy of their article is included in this report.
Celebration: After placing the oyster spat in the Magothy River, the students, their parents, and teachers from elementary and middle school enjoyed a lovely picnic. In the spring, 4th grade students will take a boat trip, carrying the oyster cages out to a sanctuary reef in the Chesapeake Bay.
Resources/Partnerships: This program is sponsored by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. More than 1,000 Maryland citizens participate in Marylanders Grow Oysters. Some thirty rivers in Maryland were stocked with spat in 8,000 cages.