CHESAPEAKE BAY MARITIME MUSEUM Multidisciplinary Explorations for Grades 4-6 CHESAPEAKE BAY MARITIME This project was made possible by The Seraph Foundation Developed by: Patricia Turner Custard, Senior Associate, Institute for Learning Innovation The staff of the Breene M. Kerr Center for Cheapeake Studies: Ceres Bainbridge, Shelly Drummond, Pete Lesher, Otto Loggers, Melissa McLoud, and Lindsley Rice Advisory Group of Teachers, Specialists, and Supervisors Angie Asmussen Bill Parsons Gina Tillman-Young Talbot County Talbot County Anne Arundel County Heather Coats Ann Powell Emma Wagner Wicomico County Wicomico County Cecil County Tammy Kreppel Sara Rohr John Wood Worcester County Montgomery County Talbot County Jennifer Lostrom William Young Talbot County Queen Anne’s County Editor: Designed by: Michael Valliant Phil Jones Table of Contents Introduction 1 Explorations: At a Glance 3 Exploration 1 4 On Board a Skipjack Exploration 2 11 Dead Reckoning Exploration 3 16 Payday! Exploration 4 19 From Bay to Table Exploration 5 22 A Day in the Life of an Oyster Packinghouse Exploration 6 28 Oyster Wars!! Exploration 7 37 In the Can Exploration 8 44 The Mystery of the Disappearing Oyster Exploration 9 47 The Oyster Times Exploration 10 50 It’s About Time Additional Classroom Resources 56 Illustration Credits 57 Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum P.O. BOX 636 · NAVY POINT · ST. MICHAELS · MARYLAND · 21663-0636 · 410/745-2916 Dear Educator, The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum has developed these Explorations in conjunction with a new permanent exhibition, Oystering on the Chesapeake. Both the exhibition and these activities explore the following themes: • The Chesapeake Bay was once the greatest oyster factory on earth and oystering has shaped the lives of watermen, their families and communities, and the Bay as a whole. • The onboard experience of the captains and crews of the Chesapeake’s oyster harvesting boats • The people and processes responsible for bringing the oysters from the Bay to the dinner table • The story of the Chesapeake oyster fishery is one of great successes and fortunes but also is a story of conflict over resources and resource exploitation. • The devastation of the oyster fishery is due to many interrelated factors and we are all responsible. These Explorations are designed to introduce students in grades 4,5, and 6 to the themes covered by the exhibition and can be used in preparation for a museum visit or as a stand-alone classroom resource. Ten separate Explorations examine different topics related to oystering. You may choose to complete the Explorations that best suit your students’ needs and abilities. In addition, you can complete them in any order that works best for you. See the next page for a quick overview of the Explorations. Each Exploration is structured as follows: Overview Page Designed to help you present the Exploration to your class, this page is divided into these sections: • Overview: A brief description of the Exploration • Skills: Specific skills your students will sharpen by completing the Exploration • You Will Need: Materials and approximate time needed to complete the Exploration. • Teacher’s Notes: Suggestions on how best to proceed through the Exploration. • Vocabulary: Words or usage of words that may be unfamiliar to your students. You may wish to review these words with your students and have them use the new words in a sentence as you begin the Exploration. • Additional Resources: Additional sources of classroom or background materials. 1 Discover It! Page This page begins with a quote from a person in the oyster industry or from literature. You may wish to discuss the quote with your students before they begin the Exploration and help them to determine what the quote tells them about oysters or oystering. The quote is fol- lowed by a brief reading section that contains information related to the Exploration topic. We recommend that you make a copy of Discover It! for each of your students. Teacher’s Notes (described above) will give you suggestions on how to use the reading material for each Exploration. Explore It! Page This is the students’ activity page for the Exploration. It begins with a question at the top of the page that your students should be able to answer after completing the activity. The activ- ity is designed in easy-to-follow steps and instructions. The page ends with suggestions for activities to engage your students outside of the classroom and Bet you didn’t know…. - a fun or unusual fact relating to oysters or oystering. We recommend that you make a copy of the Explore It! page for each of your students. Exploration Cards Many of the Explorations include original resources such as primary documents or historic images for the students to use in completing the activity. These have been provided on card- stock pages following the associated Exploration. They can be removed and handed out to student groups or placed at stations around the classroom. In some cases you may want to make copies of the cards for each student, however, please be aware that copies may not clearly show important details in the historic images or documents. We hope that you will use these Explorations and the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum as a classroom resource. Please let us know how to improve them to make them more effective for you and your students. Enjoy! Robert Forloney Director of Education Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum P.O. Box 636 St. Michaels, MD 21663 2 Oystering on the Chesapeake Exlorations: At a Glance Environmental Science Informative Writing Decision Making Creative Writing Critical Thinking Social Studies Mathematics Observation Geography U.S. History Economics Reasoning Teamwork Reading Art Exploration 1 On Board a Skipjack Exploration 2 Dead Reckoning Exploration 3 Payday! Exploration 4 From Bay to Table Exploration 5 A Day in the Life of an Oyster Packinghouse Exploration 6 Oyster Wars!! Exploration 7 In the Can Exploration 8 The Mystery of the Disappearing Oyster Exploration 9 The Oyster Times Exploration 10 It’s About Time 3 On Board a Skipjack Overview Students will be detectives and learn about oystering by examining 1 Exploration photographs to discover clues about life on a Chesapeake Bay skipjack. Skills Critical Thinking, Informative Writing, Observation, Social Studies You Will Need • 60 minutes The skipjack E.C. Collier dredging for oysters • 4 Exploration Cards • Students in small groups Teacher’s Notes Begin with a discussion of the information contained on the Discover It! page. Divide Vocabulary the class into small groups. Give each Skipjack: a sailboat used to group a copy of the Explore It! page and an harvest oysters, also known as Exploration Card. a dredgeboat Remind students that they need to look very Cull: to sort the undersized closely at each photo and take clear notes. oysters from the legal-sized After several minutes have groups exchange photos. Continue until every group has seen each photo. You may then wish to lead a discussion, photo by photo, about what the students learned about life and work on a skipjack. or You may wish to defer this discussion until after the students have completed a quick write-up of their ideas about life and work on a skipjack. Dredge: a large basket-like piece of equipment used to Additional Resources scoop up oysters Maryland Watermen’s Association Lick: a pass with the dredge www.marylandwatermen.com over an oyster bar Oyster Recovery Project – Skipjacks of the Chesapeake Bay Harvest: to remove oysters www.oysterrecovery.org/skipjacks.html from the Bay bottom Maryland Marine Notes www.mdsg.umd.edu/MarineNotes/ CHESAPEAKE BAY MARITIME MUSEUM 4 On Board a Skipjack OYSTERING ON THE CHESAPEAKE Discover It! he skipjack E. C. Collier was built in 1910 and worked the waters of I loved the water. I tried some other Exploration 1 Exploration T the Chesapeake every winter until work…moving houses, stuff like 1988. Like all skipjacks, the E. C. Collier that. That didn’t stick too well, was a sailing boat and the crew used a so I went to work on the water…and dredge to scoop oysters from the Bay’s that just hit it, you know. I been out there ever since. I just love it. It’s hard bottom. There were usually a captain and work, too hard work, really. That’s five crew men on board. Each member something that gets in your blood. of the crew had a specific job to do on the skipjack. Working together as a team they were able to harvest oysters quickly Turk Cannon, a long-time E. C. Collier and efficiently and never miss a lick. crew member Jobs on board the E. C. Collier and other skipjacks include: Captain: The captain steers Jib Man: The jib man is responsible the boat over the oyster beds for the jib, the sail at the front of the and oversees all oystering boat. This sail helps turn the boat operations, choosing where and move it back and forth over the and when to dredge and how oyster beds. He may also help bring the crew will work. The captain the dredge on the skipjack. is in charge of every decision Deckhand: The deckhand helps to made on the boat. lower and raise the dredge, clean Culler: The culler quickly sorts the boat, and other jobs as needed. through the oysters brought Cook: A good cook can make or on board, separating those break a boat since good cooks large enough to be legally attract steady crews. Cooks usually harvested from those that The jib man gets some help with the dredging as well as must be returned to the Bay. help with his sail. preparing meals and snacks.