Lesson Plans and Resources

Oysters in the Chesapeake Bay: Oysters Inside and Out

Author/OrganizationNOAA Chesapeake Bay Office
Target Audience:Middle School
Material Type:Unit Plan
Subject:Science and Engineering
Description:This unit includes several parts that were written about East Coast oysters, but could be adapted to the Olympia oysters native to the West Coast. The lessons include a design challenge in which students build water filters and an oyster dissection. This unit provides a good example of how to link Next Generation Science Standards together to create a unit about oysters.
Link:https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/oysters-in-the-chesapeake-bay/middleschool/ms-lesson5.pdf

 

Oysters in the Chesapeake Bay: Save the Oyster Reef!

Author/OrganizationNOAA Chesapeake Bay Office
Target Audience:Middle School
Material Type:Lesson Plan
Subject:Science
Description:This lesson from NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office provides water quality data and the tolerance levels of oysters, and asks students to interpret and draw conclusions from the data sets. It could be adapated using local data. (There is a similar tolerance level chart in the San Francisco Bay NERR oyster lesson described below.) If you need help adapting it, or would like to share your adaptation, contact Sarah Ferner (daviess@sfsu.edu.)
Link:https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/oysters-in-the-chesapeake-bay/middleschool/ms-lesson7.pdf

 

Education on the Halfshell: Understanding a Dichotomous Key

Author/OrganizationLouisiana Sea Grant
Target Audience:Grades 3-5, 6-12
Material Type:Lesson Plan
Subject:Science
Description:This pair of lessons teaches students how to use a dichotomous key and then develop their own. It could be used to help students recognize other invertebrates common in oyster habitats.
Link:http://www.laseagrant.org/education/lessons/halfshell/understanding-key/ and http://www.laseagrant.org/education/lessons/halfshell/creating-key/

 

Education on the Halfshell: Writing a Descriptive Essay

Author/OrganizationLouisiana Sea Grant
Target Audience:Grades 3-5
Material Type:Lesson Plan
Subject:Writing
Description:Louisiana Sea Grant's lesson provides an example and directions for writing a descriptive essay about seashells (or marine invertebrates).
Link:http://www.laseagrant.org/education/lessons/halfshell/writing-essay/

 

The Great Oyster Mystery

Author/OrganizationNational Estuarine Research Reserve System
Target Audience:Grades 6-12
Material Type:Lesson Plan
Subject:Science and Math
Description:This set of lessons uses population and water quality data from the coast of Texas to investigate interaction between oysters, non-natives, and water quality. Although it is not about Olympia oysters, parallels could be drawn to our native species.
Link:https://coast.noaa.gov/estuaries/curriculum/the-great-oyster-mystery.html

 

Mysterious Die-off of Wild Oysters in the San Francisco Bay

Author/OrganizationSan Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve
Target Audience:Grade 7
Material Type:Lesson Plan
Subject:Science
Description:This lesson plan challenges students to investigate the cause of a die-off of Olympia oysters using authentic oyster population, water quality, and weather data.
Link:http://www.sfbaynerr.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/ChinaCampOysterMystery_v2.pdf

 

Artifical Reef Design Challenge

Author/OrganizationSan Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve
Target Audience:Grade 7
Material Type:Lesson Plan
Subject:Engineering
Description:This draft lesson plan introduces oyster reef balls as a component of living shorelines and then leads the students through an engingeering design challenge. Please share feedback or direct questions to Sarah Ferner at daviess@sfsu.edu. *In large class settings, we have modified the lesson to use qualitative rather than quantitative measures of wave height.
Link:https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ZYx3wr59ZD0cKAUzqq-J-e2zuJSTNPZ2

 

Wild Oysters

Author/OrganizationThe Watershed Project
Target Audience:Grades 6-12
Material Type:Field Trip, Classroom Visits
Subject:Science
Description:The Watershed Project leads an integrated classroom and field-based program about oysters. The program overview is linked to here. The program includes several in-class lessons, which we will try to add to this resource.
Link:https://drive.google.com/drive/u/2/folders/1W86bYOeEc6nuyxkcO-DXW0gJM5g24dGw

 

Species at Risk in Our Backyard

Author/OrganizationWorld Fisheries Trust
Target Audience:Grades 5-8
Material Type:Non-fiction Reading
Subject:Science, Reading
Description:The lesson includes an article about oysters and a worksheet to check for understanding and prompt discussion.
Link:https://drive.google.com/open?id=1fs3nWkHH0QcOL6yO1hpd2ljcimIgWbJm

 

Olympia Oyster Trivia Poster and Cards

Author/OrganizationWorld Fisheries Trust
Target Audience:Grades 5-8
Material Type:Non-fiction Reading, Game
Subject:Science, Reading
Description:This student-friendly article includes a trivia game about Olympia oysters. The linked folder includes the article/handout and the trivia cards. Although it is created for British Columbia, the trivia game can be easily modified for use in other places. Available in English and Spanish.
Link:https://drive.google.com/drive/u/2/folders/1h9dRuG5M4I-9lkfLU9tGXYY-01tb-r5t

 

Olympia Oyster Field Program

Author/OrganizationWorld Fisheries Trust
Target Audience:Grades 6-12
Material Type:Field Trip, Classroom Visits
Subject:Science
Description:The World Fisheries Trust leads an integrated field and classroom program that can serve as a model. The field trip overivew and data sheets in the linked folder include specifics so the program could be replicated in other regions by classroom teacher or environmental educator.
Link:https://drive.google.com/open?id=1KsAWGcKHGfUpwWDeqwcGGSa1Oviv-LUL

 

Facebook Template

Author/OrganizationWorld Fisheries Trust
Target Audience:Grades 9-12, undergraduate
Material Type:Lesson Plan
Subject:Science, Creative Writing
Description:The World Fisheries Trust created funny Facebook posts for oysters and other marine invertebrates. These can be used to launch a creative writing project. The Facebook Templates are in the linked folder. Available in French and English.
Link:https://drive.google.com/open?id=1KsAWGcKHGfUpwWDeqwcGGSa1Oviv-LUL

 

Teachable Tidbit: Native and Non-native Oyster Characteristics

Author/OrganizationCSU Fullerton, Zacherl Lab
Target Audience:Grades 9-12, undergraduate
Material Type:Interactive Presentation
Subject:Science
Description:Graduate student Victoria Wood developed an interactive power point presentation about native and non-native oysters.
Link:https://drive.google.com/drive/u/2/folders/1SStsPEPGv1Kx_of3VmQP2483RzyKtrhz

 

Alamitos Bay Olympia Oyster Restoration Field Trip

Author/OrganizationCSU Fullerton, Zacherl Lab
Target Audience:Grades 6-12
Material Type:Field Trip
Subject:Science
Description:Coastkeeper and Dr. Zacherl's lab developed a field trip in Alamitos Bay about Olympia oyster restoration. The linked document provides enough information to replicate the experience at another restoration or field site.
Link:https://drive.google.com/drive/u/2/folders/1SStsPEPGv1Kx_of3VmQP2483RzyKtrhz

 

Create an Oyster Reef Pop-up Book

Author/OrganizationSouth Slough NERR
Target Audience:Grades 1-5
Material Type:Lesson Plan
Subject:Art, Science
Description:South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve created art and directions so students can create and color a pop-up oyster reef out of cardstock, complete with predators and prey.
Link:https://drive.google.com/open?id=1u4JOH_nGfnAZGK9ciscEBH7IysHfjg3F

 

Oyster Dissection

Author/OrganizationSouth Slough NERR
Target Audience:Grades 4+
Material Type:Lesson Plan
Subject:Science
Description:South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve shared detailed directions for how to introduce and conduct an oyster dissection.
Link:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SuJBBgUFS7QMGg9dxqEK__IpAU2pvZx0/view?usp=sharing