Comparative Study of Barrier Island Communities

This full-day, outdoor program is intended for high school or advanced placement students. By exploring Sandy Hook's barrier beach, salt marsh, and maritime forest environments and participating in hands-on activities at each location, students will develop a sense of the inter-relationships and differences within the barrier island community.

Key Concepts

Plant and Animal Adaptation and Identification:

Zonation and succession
Food webs
Water quality testing: (dissolved oxygen, pH, salinity, and temperature)
Biological sampling
Sediment sampling

Students will participate in the following activities while at the salt marsh:

Seining: Students use a net to collect a sample of the nearshore community.
Sieving: Students use shovels and sieves to collect benthic invertebrates.
Plankton collection: A plankton net is set out to collect a sample.
Water quality testing: (dissolved oxygen, pH, salinity, and temperature)
Marsh hike: Students observe salt marsh structure, plants and animals

Students will participate in the following activities at the maritime forest:

Sediment sampling
Plant identification

Students will participate in the following activities at the coastal beach habitat:

Sand and sediment sampling
Zonation
Water quality testing: (dissolved oxygen, pH, salinity, and temperature)
Biological sampling

This program supports NJ Core Curriculum Content Standards: 3.1, 3.2, 3.5, 4.2, 4.3, 4.9, 4.10, 4.11, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7,5.9, 5.10, 5.12, 6.9

Program limited to thirty (30) students per class. Limit of two (2) classes per day.
Fee: $250.00 per class

Reserve your Comparative Study of Barrier Island Communities field trip online or contact Brian Harris, NJMSC's K-12 Program Coordinator at (732) 872-1300, ext. 16.

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