This website, www.terrapinbook.com, will help elementary school children learn about the amazing reptile, the diamondback terrapin, and its need for protection and restoration in its natural habitat.

Maryland's Department of Natural Resources (DNR) funded this website. The project is managed by the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute. Other partners include the Maryland State Department of Education and author Jennifer Keats Curtis.

Maryland's Department of Natural Resources (DNR), which provided financial support to make this program possible, encourages educational efforts involving the state reptile and other natural resources. The DNR Police enforce conservation laws and regulations, and assist in protecting terrapin nesting sanctuaries on private lands, which helps to keep populations of terrapins and other bay species abundant.

The University of Maryland Biotechnology (UMBI), in partnership with the Maryland Sea Grant Extension Program, has developed and expanded the successful Science and Technology Education Program (SciTech) to address the well-documented need for better science education. SciTech makes science more accessible, exciting and relevant for teachers and for students through a number of engaging programs that connect participants with their environment, specifically the Bay. UMBI cooperates with the Terrapin Institute on research and educational initiatives and gathers data about headstarted terrapins in order to gain more understanding about this unique creature. UMBI also supports the work of the Institute by providing tagging and animal care supplies. (click link).

The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) administers numerous programs to support public education. All of the materials associated with Scute Salute are based on Maryland standard educational requirements. The MSDE provided expertise and guidance on the curriculum components for Scute Salute.

Jennifer Keats Curtis' first book on oyster siblings and their quest to save the Chesapeake Bay, Oshus and Shelly Save the Bay, won the Frederick Douglass Award (Maryland Council of Teachers of English Language Arts). Besides writing children's stories, Jennifer writes for a wide variety of magazines. During in-school visits, she helps teachers and students address literary issues as well as those pertaining to terrapins.

Turtles in My Sandbox is published by Sylvan Dell Publishing. The company is on a mission to create picture books that excite children's imaginations, are artistically spectacular and have educational value. Each Sylvan Dell title features a three to five page educational section, "For Creative Minds." The "Turtles'" section includes facts about a terrapin's habitat, diet and nesting process and has a turtle craft, where children can make a diamondback terrapin, a loggerhead sea turtle and a desert tortoise.