Navigate:
|
Authentic Project 1: Critters of the CoastStudents research what lives at the sandy shore, and create an identification guide that can be displayed for public use.
Purpose: Oregon's sandy beaches are popular places for both locals and tourists, but few people know about (or get to see) the amazing wildlife that lives there. The identification guides that students create will help people learn about, and care about, our beaches. Authentic Audience: The public community. Group work: Assign groups of 3-4 students early in the project so they can begin to get to know one another. Have students work in these groups for all Learning Activities. For the creation of the identification guide, you can assign students to different roles as follows:
Teacher's Role: You are the Project Manager, overseeing students as they learn and create. You will provide each student with the materials they need to fulfill their above roles. You should make sure that students remain on-task and on-deadline while also ensuring that they have the freedom to design their identification guides however they want. You should also help students make sure that the information they're providing is correct and that their guides are easy to read and visually appealing — since ultimately their projects will be viewed by the public! Student research materials:
|
Community Partners:
PREPARE FOR SUCCESS: Use our Guide to Working with Community Partners to contact and secure your partner(s) ASAP.
Connect with an expert who may be able to visit your classroom, review student work, or assist during a field trip:
Places in the Lincoln County area willing to display student-created ID guides may include:
Connect with an expert who may be able to visit your classroom, review student work, or assist during a field trip:
- At Oregon Coast Aquarium: Sara Roberts, Teacher Programs Manager
- At Oregon State Parks: Paul Reilly, Regional Program Coordinator
- At Fish & Wildlife Service: Dawn Harris
- At Sitka Center for Art and Ecology: Tamara Jennings / (541) 994-5485
Places in the Lincoln County area willing to display student-created ID guides may include:
- Cape Perpetua visitor center
- Newport Historic Bayfront businesses
- Public Libraries: Newport, Siletz, Toledo, Waldport, Driftwood (Lincoln City)
- Oregon Coast Aquarium
- Hatfield Marine Science Visitor Center
- Pacific Maritime Heritage Center
- Alsea Bay Historic Interpretive Center
- Newport Farmer's Market
Learning Activities:
What is sand?
- PBS Deep Look video: The Amazing Life of Sand
- Sand Lab (from SeaWorld/Busch Gardens) - can be used with this student worksheet (from NJ Sea Grant)
- Animals That Make Shells categorizing activity (from Oregon Institute of Marine Biology)
- Interstitial Meiofauna activity (from Oregon Institute of Marine Biology) - use with this PowerPoint
- Video: Wildlife tracking on the Oregon Dunes
- Shorebirds, Beaks, And Feet (from Oregon Institute of Marine Biology)
- Supplemental resource: Handbook of Sandy Beach Organisms (PDF)
- Go to the school or local library. Have students locate and review several different identification guides (these can be for anything, not just the sandy shore). Ask students to write a report listing the books they reviewed, and what they liked and did not like about the guides.
- Using their library research, ask each student work group to generate a draft or explanation of what they would like their identification guide to include and look like.
Field Trips:
- Go on a field trip to a local beach (see the Field Trip Sites section on the Page 2 of visit this Oceanscape Network feature to find beaches.)Use the Handbook of Sandy Shore Organisms to search for and identify species. Consult the Handbook for information about the species you see. (NOTE: The Oregon Coast STEM Hub has field trip supplies you can borrow, such as ID guides, boots, and more. Visit their Resource Checkout page to learn more.
- Visit the Oregon Coast Aquarium and spend time in the Sandy Shores Gallery. Encourage students to observe the adaptations that help these animals survive in their environment.