Programs
Programs
Duxbury Beach Reservation, Inc. has several public education and outreach programs that are available to the general public, school children, and all guests of the beach. Through outreach, we provide the public with educational and recreational opportunities to enjoy the beach and understand the barrier beach’s role as a storm buffer protecting Duxbury Bay and the mainland - and learn more about the plants and animals that call the beach home!
Programs
Enrichment Duxbury Public Schools
July
Adults & Families (all ages)
Get Crabby!
Tuesday, 7/9/2024, 9:30AM-11:00AM
There are 4,500 species of crabs that ply the world's oceans, explore the several species that make Duxbury Bay home.
Adults & Families (all ages)
Mudflat Limbo
Thursday, 07/11/2024, 9:30AM-11:00AM
Explore the mudflats searching for mollusks, crabs and other creatures. Wear your boots because you are bound to get muddy!
Adults & Families (ages 8 & up)
Salt Marsh Ecology
Saturday, 07/13/2024, 9:30AM-11:00AM
We will look at all the reasons why salt marshes are essential to every critter of the sea and our ability to live in a coastal community.
Adults & Families (ages 8 & up)
Bathyscopes: Underwater Windows
Tuesday, 07/16/2024, 9:30AM-11:00AM
Eliminate the barriers and open a window to a fascinating world of life.below the water's surface.
Adults & Families (ages 8 & up)
Piping Plovers Pint Sized Dynamos
Thursday 07/18/2024, 9:30AM-11:00AM
Join us and discover the incredible life stories of this pint-sized dynamo.
Adults & Families (ages 0 & up)
Beachscape Collaborative Mural
Saturday, 07/20/2024 9:30AM-11:00AM
We invite you to add your talents to a collective art piece illustrating the bounty of the beach.
Adults & Families (all ages)
Sea Creature Feature.... Horseshoe Crab Sand Sculptures
Tuesday, 7/23/2024, 9:30AM-11:00AM
Celebrate this ancient beast as we build sand sculptures depicting both this unique creature and its fellow citizens of the beach. Bring your buckets and pails.
Adults & Families (ages 0 & up)
Horseshoe Crabs: Living Fossils
Thursday, 07/25/2024, 9:30AM-11:00AM
Horseshoe crabs date back more than 450 million years. Let’s look at what makes them unique.
Adults & Families (all ages)
Mollusk Mania
Saturday, 07/27/2024, 9:30AM-11:00AM
We will explore the many specialized capacities of mollusks.
Adults & Families (ages 8 & up)
Walking the Wrack Line
Tuesday, 07/30/2024, 9:30AM-11:00AM
The wrack line is the graveyard of the oceans. Explore the life of the sea and remains on the beach
August
Adults & Families (ages 8 & up)
Exploring Barrier Beaches
Thursday, 08/01/2024, 9:30AM-11:00AM
Duxbury Beach is the classic barrier beach, stalwart but fluid protector from winter storms, a geological marvel subject to both positive and negative influence by humans. We will consider the importance of this celebrated resource.
Adults & Families (ages 8 & up)
Shorebirds Rule!
Saturday, 08/03/2024, 9:30AM-11:00AM
Learn how shorebirds all eat at the same table and compete with each other for the shoreline's bounty.
Adults & Families (ages 8 & up)
Beach Style Botany
Tuesday, 08/06/2024, 9:30AM-11:00AM
We will challenge ourselves to identify twenty species of plants or algae that thrive in the seashore community.
Adults & Families (all ages)
Get Crabby!
Thursday, 08/08/2024, 9:30AM-11:00AM
There are 4,500 species of crabs that ply the world's oceans, explore the several species that make Duxbury Bay home.
Adults & Families (all ages)
Mollusk Mania
Saturday, 08/10/2024, 9:30AM-11:00AM
We will explore the many specialized capacities of mollusks.
Adults & Families (ages 8 & up)
Salt Marsh Ecology
Tuesday, 08/13/2024, 9:30AM-11:00AM
We will look at all the reasons why salt marshes are essential to every critter of the sea and our ability to live in a coastal community.
Adults & Families (ages 8 & up)
Seaweed Walk
Thursday, 08/15/2024, 9:30AM-11:00AM
Walk a stretch of the beach between the road and tideline, with guide books in hand, we will challenge ourselves to identify twenty species of plants or algae that thrive at the seashore.
Adults & Families (ages 8 & up)
Piping Plovers Pint Sized Dynamos
Saturday 08/17/2024, 9:30AM-11:00AM
Join us and discover the incredible life stories of this pint-sized dynamo.
Adults & Families (ages 8 & up)
Compass Treasure Hunt
Tuesday, 08/20/2024, 9:30AM-11:00AM
Learn how to use a compass and search for buried treasure... maybe even talk like a pirate! Bezels, meridian lines and bearings. Arghh!
Adults & Families (ages 8 & up)
Shorebirds Migration
Thursday, 08/22/2024, 9:30AM-11:00AM
Join us for a short walk as we search for resident and migrating birds.
Adults & Families (all ages)
Mudflat Limbo
Saturday, 08/24/2024, 9:30AM-11:00AM
Explore the mudflats searching for mollusks, crabs and other creatures. Wear your boots because you are bound to get muddy!
Adults & Families (ages 4 & up)
Beachside Predator Prey
Tuesday, 08/27/2024, 9:30AM-11:00AM
Through a few games we will study the food chain of Duxbury Bay.
Adults & Families (ages 8 & up)
Walking the Wrack Line
Thursday, 08/29/2024, 9:30AM-11:00AM
The wrack line is the graveyard of the oceans. Explore the life of the sea and remains on the beach.
Public Outreach Programs
Education Night
Our annual Ed Night usually takes place during the winter or spring. Every year a topic related to the beach is selected with past presentations including the formation and migration of the beach, oystering, tidal pools, sand sharks, and hawks and snowy owls, and rising sea levels. Ed Night programs also address the “State of the Beach” with an overview of the work being done at the beach and the plans for the following year.
Grass Planting (March)
Every Spring our Technical Committee evaluates the planting needs of the beach after the winter wear. Many volunteers come out to the beach to plant beach grass and woody vegetation, including bayberry, beach plum, and rosa rugosa, on the sand dunes.
Beach Sweep (September/October & March)
Each September and March, Duxbury Beach Reservation in conjunction with volunteer leaders, hosts a Duxbury Beach cleanup as part of a statewide beach cleanup program. A community of volunteers gather to help remove trash and assorted marine debris from Duxbury Beach. Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management provides gloves, bags, and data sheets. The Duxbury Department of Public Works (DPW) hauls the bagged debris off the beach. The trucks are weighed empty and then full to provide an accurate accounting of the weight of the debris. Annually in Duxbury, many volunteers walk the 4.5-mile beach, collecting between 5,000 and 25,000 pounds of trash. All work is coordinated with the Harbormaster Department and the Endangered Species Officer. The information compiled by the yearly COASTSWEEP effort in the United States is reported to Congress and provides a scientific basis for legislation and regulations limiting the types and locations of offshore dumping activities, and to establish safeguards to protect beaches in the future. Visit our Volunteer page to sign up for this Spring’s beach sweep!
Enrichment Programs in the Duxbury Public Schools
As part of our education efforts, we offer instructional sections for various schools of the Duxbury Public School (Chandler, Alden, and DMS). Students use the natural resources of Duxbury Beach in a diverse curriculum that is aligned with the standards recommended by the Massachusetts Frameworks. As the scope and sequence changes to meet higher expectations, teachers and students work to address the key understandings and essential questions in Earth/Space, Life, and Physical Sciences.
To schedule a school visit, please complete the School Field Trip Application.
Kindergarten
Students visit Duxbury Beach and have an instructional session at Chandler in the late spring to understand about living sea creatures and their environment. The students use observation, exploration, and discussion skills as they learn more about habitats and the relationships between those habitats.
Grade Seven
The 7th Grade Life Science Program at the Duxbury Junior/Senior High School studies Duxbury’s ecosystems in the spring term each year. A major part of this study is the final unit of study specifically focusing on the ecology of Duxbury Beach. After three weeks of preparation, students have a full day of field study on Duxbury Beach, followed by a week of follow-up lab work in the classroom.
Prior to the field study, students learn about the formation of Duxbury Beach, the erosive forces upon the beach, beach flora and fauna, and relative environmental factors that have the greatest impact potential upon the preservation of Duxbury Beach. The full day of field study involves making a comparative study of the Duxbury Ocean and Duxbury Bay microsystems. Data is collected on site to make these comparisons.
The Back River channel contour is surveyed yearly along Powder Point Bridge and data are compared to the previous year’s data. Dune and bay transect surveying is done on site to estimate flora and fauna populations. Relative turbidity, temperature, geology, and salinity are compared from bay to ocean. Plankton samples from both sides of the beach are collected, surveyed, and compared through microscopic observation in the high school laboratory. The ultimate goal of the unit is to provide an appreciation of Duxbury¹s great natural asset of Duxbury Beach. This is done through the direct interaction of the students with this environment.
Beach Status
Click here to
see the latest beach status information
from the
Duxbury Beach Operations Division.