Students have had the opportunity to explore issues and questions scientists are asking about local natural resources in A Maine Lobster Case Study (Option A) and Natural Resources in Your Watershed (Option B). Now they will have the opportunity to share these natural resources with their watershed community. Raising Awareness: Maine’s Natural Resources gives students the freedom to create their own project in which they’ll share Maine’s natural resources with their peers, parents, and community. They will celebrate what they have learned, and have a chance to take pride in their accomplishments. Using the guiding questions and the ideas we’ve shared below as inspiration, students will share their knowledge about the natural resource(s) they studied and/or the issues they face with their watershed community.

With varying degrees of teacher guidance, students will identify natural resource issues and questions that interest them as well as design and do an investigation. This investigation, Natural Resources in Your Watershed, is modeled after Option A: A Maine Lobster Industry Case Study.

A natural influencing factor on lobster populations is the level of predation. Known predators of lobsters are groundfish (bottom dwelling fish, especially one of commercial importance such as cod, haddock, pollack, or flounder), primarily cod. Students will examine biomass (population estimate) graphs of both cod and lobsters in the Gulf of Maine to determine whether or not trends in cod populations may have an influence on the increasing lobster population. Evidence that students collect will be added to their Evidence Wall created in Idea Fishbowl to later be examined in That’s Why as they draw conclusions about why there are so many lobsters in the Gulf of Maine.

If students have participated in GMRI’s LabVenture! Lobster: Untold Tales program students are encouraged to reflect on their personal websites and include that evidence as well.

As a class, students will define a conclusion and parameters for forming a “good” conclusion. Using the Evidence Wall, each student will form a conclusion about “Why are there so many lobsters in the Gulf of Maine?” As a class, students will debate their ideas using evidence to come up with a class conclusion.

The first recorded lobster catch in Maine was in 1605, and although lobsters were plentiful in the 1600-1700s, they were considered to be a poor persons food. Demand for lobsters grew and the lobstering industry began in earnest in the late 1700s when custom-made boats, called “smacks” were used to fish and ship live lobsters. The first traps were set in 1850. Since then the lobstering industry has evolved and grown into the industry we are familiar with today. Mainers take pride in the lobster fishery and do all they can to protect and sustain the lobster population to ensure they remain healthy for future generations.

In this activity, students will explore different lobstering regulations to understand the process of lobstering and several ways the resource is managed. They will test their knowledge of regulations to determine which lobsters are keepers (or “keepahs” for us Mainers) and why.

Evidence that students collect will be added to their Evidence Wall created in Idea Fishbowl to later be examined in That’s Why as they draw conclusions about why there are so many lobsters in the Gulf of Maine.