Third-graders conduct oyster gardening project at DMC, Boothbay Register reports
Boothbay Register published a University of Maine news release about a group of third-graders from Great Salt Bay School who recently visiting the Darling Marine Center. The nearly 50 students visited the center to continue the oyster gardening project they started last fall. In addition to dissecting oysters, they learned about intertidal zones, tagged and measured oysters and studied sea creatures under a microscope. The junior oyster gardening program began with a conversation between a teacher at Great Salt Bay School in Damariscotta and Dana Morse, a Maine Sea Grant professional and shellfish aquaculture researcher. “It’s really a natural fit,” Morse said. “You’ve got biology, ecology, math, writing skills all wrapped up into one, and since there’s a living animal involved, kids just get really engaged. Working with the teachers and students at Great Salt Bay has been a blast.”