Oysters in the Chesapeake Bay: Oysters Inside and Out
| Author/Organization | NOAA 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/Organization | NOAA 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/Organization | Louisiana 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/Organization | Louisiana 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/Organization | National 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/Organization | San 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/Organization | San 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/Organization | The 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/Organization | World 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/Organization | World 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/Organization | World 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/Organization | World 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/Organization | CSU 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/Organization | CSU 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/Organization | South 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/Organization | South 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 |