Grafton High Oyster Restoration Project

Posted On: Friday, January 22, 2010

The marine biology students at Grafton High School are raising 4,000 oysters this year in Back Creek. Twice a month, students leave school for two hours to perform water quality tests and monitor oyster growth. At the site, students take quantitative measurements of dissolved oxygen, turbidity, pH, salinity and water temperature. After completing the water quality tests, students remove the oysters from the two Taylor rafts and then clean the rafts. The oysters are rinsed several times to remove sediment and pseudofeces. One hundred random oysters are measured and recorded. Back at school the students determine average size of the oysters and compare the abiotic data to the data from the previous trip. Students enjoy learning outside the classroom and helping the bay's ecology by restoring oysters.

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