Education Sails
Come Aboard AJ Meerwald for some hands-on learning!
Email Education@bayshorecenter.org for more info!
Experience the Delaware Bay on land and on the water!
Our Home Port Program combines shipboard activities
with landside programs to give students a 360-degree view of this one-of-a-kind environment.
Program Duration: 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM (4 hours).
Cost: $1,500 per group of 45 students/chaperones.
Education Sails are offered in any port May – October. *Sails in other ports are 2 hours, and do not include a land portion.*
Vessel capacity is limited to 45 students/chaperones at a time.
Two groups, with a total of 90 passengers, may be accommodated on the same visit day by alternating land and vessel groups. Cost for 90 students/chaperones, $3,000.
During the Sail:
Students take part in an educational sail aboard the authentically restored 1928 oyster schooner A.J. Meerwald, New Jersey’s official Tall Ship. After donning life vests and learning about vessel safety, your group will participate in an immersive, hands-on adventure aboard ship. Depending on weather and other conditions, activities may include:
● Work together to raise the sails and understand the physics of sail power
● Help haul a trawl net to discover local marine life
● Explore the complex food web that supports thriving estuary life
● Take a turn at the wheel and discover vessel steering mechanisms
● Read a simple nautical chart and spot aids to navigation
● Unpack an oysterman’s gear and learn about life long ago onboard an oystering vessel
● Take in the sights and sounds of the Delaware Bay during a brief silent observation time
● Learn the history of the A. J. Meerwald and maybe even sing a shanty or two!
Back on Land
Students deepen their knowledge with a shore-based museum exploration as they rotate through three learning stations. They’ll dissect a real oyster to learn about this amazing creature and its role in bay ecology and history.
Then, they’ll use primary sources and “read” artifacts to explore shoreside trades that supported the oyster industry: shucking and processing, boatbuilding, metalsmithing, and more.
Finally, the whole group participates in a shell bagging activity to support oyster restoration projects in the Bay. Every student leaves with a personal connection to the Delaware and its Bayshore, and an understanding that they can make a difference in protecting our natural resources.
This interdisciplinary program is designed to support New Jersey Student Learning Standards for science and social studies, with an emphasis on standards from grades 4 through 6. Content within the program can be adjusted to your group’s grade level and interests.
Additional Information:
● We recommend 1 teacher/chaperone for every 12 students. ● A lunch period is included in the group’s schedule. ● All groups should plan to arrive at the Bayshore Center by 9:30 AM.
How to Book the Program:
● Please email us at education@bayshorecenter.org or call at (856)785-2060.
To fill out a Registration online, click here
Land Based Programming
Experience the Delaware Bay Museum
Our Land Based Program combines history and science to immerse students into the unique environment of the Bayshore.
Half Program:
Program Duration: 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM (2 hours).
Cost: $15 per person – minimum 10 people – maximum 80
Land Based Education Programs are offered at the Bayshore Center at Bivalve May – October *Land program included in Home Port Education Sails*
Students deepen their knowledge with a shore-based museum exploration as they rotate through three learning stations. They’ll dissect a real oyster to learn about this amazing creature and its role in bay ecology and history.
Then, they’ll use primary sources and “read” artifacts to explore shoreside trades that supported the oyster industry: shucking and processing, boatbuilding, metalsmithing, and more.
Finally, the whole group participates in a shell bagging activity to support oyster restoration projects in the Bay. Every student leaves with a personal connection to the Delaware and its Bayshore, and an understanding that they can make a difference in protecting our natural resources.
This interdisciplinary program is designed to support New Jersey Student Learning Standards for science and social studies, with an emphasis on standards from grades 4 through 6. Content within the program can be adjusted to your group’s grade level and interests.
Additional Information:
● We recommend 1 teacher/chaperone for every 12 students.
Full Program:
Program Duration: 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM (4 hours).
Cost: $30 per person – minimum 10 people – maximum 80
Land Based Education Programs are offered at the Bayshore Center at Bivalve May – October *Land program included in Home Port Education Sails*
Multiple hands -on STEM Education Stations. Depending on weather and other conditions, activities may include:
● Plankton- catch, observe, and identify plankton
● Bioaccumulation and the Food Web- discuss the impact of pollution and the interdependency of the marine life
● Explore the complex food web that supports thriving estuary life
● Birding Walk with Bird Identification
● Wetlands walk with discussion of the Wetlands and Tidal Estuary
● Ship Building and Tool Time – experience artifacts hands on and discuss the tools and trade necessary to the Bayshore
● Build a Bird – piece together local birdlife based on clues and discuss their adaptations to their environments
● Watershed model – use an enviroscape to show the process of the watershed and the effects of water run off.
How to Book the Program:
● Please email us at education@bayshorecenter.org or call at (856)785-2060.
Fill out this Registration form here
