Main Content
Lessons are designed to address and supplement current national and NJ state curriculum standards, including the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS 2013) and the former, but still widely used, New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards in Social Studies. The Project PORTS Curriculum Guide offers a suite of cross-curricular activities and is divided into three main chapters: (1) The Delaware Estuary, (2) The Oyster as a Natural Resource and (3) Oyster Biology and Ecology. Each chapter begins with a primer that presents background information for the educator. The primer is followed by a series of classroom oriented activities and lessons. Copy-ready student worksheets are printed at the end of each chapter. Here you will find printable PDF files of the whole document, of each chapter and of each activity in the Project PORTS Curriculum and Activity Guide.
The Guides are based on “Calvo LM (2008) Project PORTS Curriculum and Activity Guide. Rutgers University, The State University of New Jersey, as revised in 2014.”
Delaware Estuary
1.1: An Estuary Nearby – Locate and map their school in relation to the geography/features of the region.
1.2: Going with the Flow – Construct a model of a watershed.
1.3: Life in the Estuary – Conduct research on common animals of the Estuary and create a class field guide.
1.4: Taking it with a Grain of Salt – Construct necklaces to explore how salinity varies within an estuary.
1.5: Seasons of Change – Create and interpret graphs comparing salinity measurements.
The Oyster as a Natural Resource
2.1: Too Many Bushels? – Prepare and analyze a graph of harvest data
2.2: Time Passages – Examine the history of the oyster fishery and create a visual timeline
2.3: A Look at the Numbers by Rail – Examine harvest numbers through mathematical word problems
2.4: What’s in the Can? – Design and construct their own oyster can labels
Oyster Biology and Ecology
3.1: Beach in a Box-Exploring Shell Collections – Investigate shell collections and reference sheets to identify common mollusks.
3.2: That’s Gross Anatomy – Examine the morphology and anatomy of an oyster through a dissection exercise.
3.3: Crunchy on the Outside, Soft and Squishy on the Inside – Understand predator –prey relationships and generate a model of an oyster parasite.
3.4: Cha, Cha, Changes – Prepare flip-books depicting the life cycle of the oyster.
3.5: Parasites on the Half-Shell – Correlate oyster disease data with environmental conditions in the Bay.
3.6: I can See Clearly Now – A Demonstration of Filter Feeding – Conduct an experiment to observe the feeding ecology of oysters and learn about their role in the environment.
3.7: One Fish, Two Fish – Assessing Habitat Value of Restored Oyster Reefs – Examine and graph fish data collected in an experiment to make conclusions about oyster restoration efforts.