“Fishbanks: An Interactive Simulation on Sustainability”

Please note that this is a double session!

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Grades 6 and up

Fishbanks is a fun web based interactive, multi-player simulation in which participants play the role of fishing company managers seeking to maximize their net worth. Teams compete and deal with variations in fish stocks and their catch and how that catch impacts the fish population. This simulation takes the groups game play and uses it to drive home the concepts of sustainability and maximum sustainable yield in an interactive and impactful way.

Participants will play the simulation first as an introduction, followed by instruction on how to set up and administer the simulation to the students. Extensions will also be presented on policy writing, sustainability and graph interpolation using the framework of the simulation.

Fishbanks is a FREE simulation hosted by MIT/Sloan School of Management, that can be used once participants apply for a free account.

What Do You Know About Your H2O

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Grades 6 and up

Shellfish in the Classroom

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Grades 9 and up

Plastics & Ospreys: A Deadly Mix

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Grades K-12 and adults

Over the past fifteen years Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ has lead the New Jersey Osprey Monitoring Project. The mission is to continue the groundbreaking recovery efforts conducted over 40 years ago to help the species to rebound from the effects of DDT and habitat loss along the New Jersey coast. Today we survey around 80% of the known population each summer to help ensure that the population remains stable. Despite all of our efforts, there are emerging threats to the health of the osprey population.

As we all know, plastics in our rivers, estuaries and oceans is becoming an epidemic around the world. This growing problem threatens wildlife and the overall health of our environment. We estimate that almost every osprey nest in New Jersey contains some form of plastic, which they use to 'decorate' their nests. In 2019 we will begin to document the presence of plastics in nests. The data will be used to help raise awareness for the need to reduce our dependence on single use plastics. In this workshop will will provide information about ospreys and tools that educators can use to help incorporate environmental stewardship in their classrooms.

Beyond the Raw Bar: Utilizing Oysters in the Classroom

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K-12

Promoting Oyster Restoration Through Schools (PORTS) is a unique community-based restoration and education program that provides experiential learning in the K-12 environment. The formal education component utilizes the oyster as a vehicle to acquaint K-12 students with the Estuary and scientific concepts. The workshop will provide an overview of the ecological and sociological importance of oysters and demonstrate how Project PORTS links local science with school communities via oyster reef enhancement. Attendees will explore class activities that utilize real data in learning tasks and participate in the ever popular, That’s Gross Anatomy Lab.

MARE Based Art Infused Cetacean Session

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Grades K-5

This session is based off of a lesson from the MARE curriculum in which students will become familiar with whale anatomy, feeding behavior, and compare themselves to whale size through interactive outdoor games and activities. This session also includes art-infused history lesson on whaling and scrimshaw (art on bone or ivory). Participants will create an artificial piece of scrimshaw art.

Making Waves for Coastal Resiliency

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K-12

Coastal Geology and Beach Profile Changes Over Time

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Grades 6 and up.

This hands-on session will involve a discussion of the recent geologic history of the coast including the last glaciation and its impact on sea level, the coastal processed affecting the position and shape of the shoreline, the collection and use of the beach profile data, impacts of storms and fair-weather conditions on beach erosion, deposition, and climate change.

Fisheries Science and Management in Support of Sustainable Fisheries

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Grades 6 and up

New Jersey's commercial and recreational fishing industries annually account for more than $3 billion in economic impacts to the state economy and provide nearly 50,000 jobs. Given the high socio-economic value of these industries, it is critical that our marine fishery resources are wisely managed to support the long-term sustainability of these resources and the associated industries. This session will provide an overview of New Jersey's commercial and recreational fishing industries, and cover the fisheries science and management processes involved with managing New Jersey's fisheries. Information covered during the session, as well as educational resources that will be provided, will help educators to deliver educational programming on topics related to fisheries science and management in New Jersey and the Middle-Atlantic.

Marine Mammals of New Jersey

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Grades 9 and up

I was the primary photographer for the Marine Mammal Stranding Center from when it was founded in 1978, until 1998.  I have thousands of slides / pictures that I took of strandings and rehabilitations of whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, and sea turtles that I took during those 20 years.  During my last 27 years of teaching HS Sciences, I primarily taught Oceanography.  I used these slides in the course of teaching marine mammals. 

Topics covered during the session would include what makes a marine mammal different from land based mammals both legally and physically.  Many of the slides were taken during necropsy of different types, showing internal anatomy.   I also have numerous posters for display and photographing. 

Mucking Mordecai: A Visual Tour of Mordecai Island’s Diverse Habitats and Species

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Mordecai Island is a nationally recognized 45-acre salt marsh island that is managed by the Mordecai Land Trust and is located off Beach Haven’s coast on Long Beach Island.  Over the years the island has experienced substantial erosion to it’s western shores, jeopardizing the natural habitats and diverse species that the island supports and impacting the buffering and flood protection that it affords the neighboring Beach Haven community. 

In partnership with local and governmental agencies, several unique restoration and living break-water projects have recently been implemented, including the installation of Geotubes, oyster castle arrays, and beneficial use dredging.  Although these projects were designed to mitigate erosion, surprisingly, they have also created a microcosm for beach and salt marsh environments with over-lapping conservational benefits. 

LBIF trail tour

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All levels

Learning With Limulus -  A Model for Teaching Marine Education

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There is no animal more maligned and at the same time worthier of attention than the horseshoe crab; and if there were only one creature to bring into a marine biology class for study, Limulus should be on the top of your list. In this session, participants will describe physical adaptations used by horseshoe crabs for locomotion, feeding, protection and vision; and will use familiar items as analogies to 'construct' and study a horseshoe crab.  A 'Limulist' resource chest will be demonstrated, along images of larvae. Participants also will examine the great variety of epibionts that hitchhike on a horseshoe crab and how they save people’s lives every day with their “blue” blood - Limulus Amoebocyte Lysate (LAL).

LBI Field Trip Panel - What we offer. What would you like to see?

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 Grades 9 and up

Long Beach Island has a lot to offer for educational field trips. BUT...What would you like to see? This interactive session will provide an overview of things to see on LBI and will use those to stimulate the conversation about things you believe would be beneficial to you students.