Dalton News

Students Set Up Oyster Research Station with the Billion Oyster Project

Last year, as a part of their biology service learning project, several students in Teacher Alicia Reid’s 9th biology class proposed a partnership with the Billion Oyster Project (BOP) to participate in a day of service at Governor’s Island and set up an in-class oyster tank at Dalton. 

 
Oysters, a keystone species, make complex structures called oyster reefs, which provide shelter for marine organisms. Building off of last year’s successful collaboration with BOP, students in this year’s biology class collaborated with BOP to establish Dalton’s first oyster research station in the East River.  

Students took a stroll down to the E. 90th Street Ferry Terminal to set up their station. After being welcomed by BOP field educator, Rob Buchanan, students made observations about the external anatomy of oysters, used calipers to measure their length, and then conducted various biochemical assays (i.e., pH, nitrates, dissolved oxygen, salinity, etc.) to determine the East River’s water quality. Students carefully recorded all of their data and compiled it into a spreadsheet for analysis.  

As citizen scientists, they will monitor both oyster growth and water quality throughout the year and will send those data to BOP.  Students will also maintain their in-class oyster tank and track oyster development over time.
 
Photos taken by Dalton’s Science Research Coordinator Jessica Joiner, Sustainability Coordinator and teacher Evie Harrison, and MS/HS science teacher Alicia Reid.
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