The Harbor Ecosystem

Students look at various images of Billion Oyster Project's oyster restoration work, and make observations and inferences about what BOP is doing in New York Harbor.

Students observe and analyze maps, quotes, and images about NYC in pre-colonial times and today. They work in small groups to summarize their inferences, and as a class begin to create a timeline of both oyster and human history in NYC.

Students explore the characteristics of living things through the lens of an oyster. They establish that an oyster is a living thing and an animal by gathering evidence about oysters at seven short stations.

Students use data to analyze how 3 tanks filled with varying amounts of oysters will change over time in terms of their turbidity. They then watch a video explaining the process of filtration by oysters.

In this hands-on lesson, students design and build a structure that can break wave energy before it hits land. They collaborate through the engineering design process and identify wave attenuation as another ecosystem function that oysters provide.

In this hands-on lesson, students use information cards about organisms in New York Harbor to create a model of the food web. They identify patterns in the interactions and learn new vocabulary to name those interaction types.

Students sort cards describing different interactions between organisms in New York Harbor. They identify shared characteristics of each interaction type and learn key vocabulary to label each interaction — many of which involve oysters.

Students add information about different types of interactions between organisms (mutualism, parasitism, commensalism) to their food web to create an Ecosystem Web Model. They use their model and Evidence Log to write an argument explaining why BOP is restoring oysters.

Students use images spanning the last 400 years of NY Harbor history to make observations and inferences, then put them in order to create a timeline. They read a brief history of the harbor to reassess their timeline choices.

Based on the images that draw their interest, students dive deep into particular eras of human history on New York Harbor using a Source Library. They make a claim about whether humans had a positive, negative, or neutral impact on the Harbor during a single era, and over time.

Students read, evaluate, and thoroughly discuss two restoration proposals. They work together to decide which proposal provides the greatest positive impact on the greater NY Harbor ecosystem, and advocate for their decision by preparing a project about their chosen proposal.

Students complete a values reflection to identify their own beliefs and perspectives about ecosystems and New York Harbor. After reading profiles of several stakeholders in BOP's restoration efforts, they reflect on the impact differing values can have on the restoration process.