Eggcitement at Lack!

The day was a buzz with... are the eggs here yet...are the eggs here yet? All the students were eagerly awaiting the arrival of our brook trout eggs. The students in my back row who could see the front door announced a false alarm when the Federal Express man arrived. I assured them that our eggs were arriving by UPS. At 2:30 p.m. the UPS man arrived and was mobbed by Mr. Hart and the 5th grade students with Mrs. Winey close behind.
We prepared the lobby by removing the light bulbs from the lights above the tank because 15 minutes of exposure to even natural light will kill the trout. Mr. Hart and his 5th grade class joined Mrs. Winey's 1st grade class for KidWriting. We paired the older students up with the younger students to proof read letters written by the first graders thanking the Penns Creek's TU for sponsoring our program. Meanwhile, Mr. Hart and Mrs. Winey recorded the temperature of the eggs upon arrival as 52 degrees F. We turned off the lights in the classroom and pulled the blinds. Then we called the students back to quickly take a peek at the eggs before Mr. Hart placed the bag of eggs in our tank for 1 hour to acclimate the water temperatures.
We were so glad that the eggs came before the students left for the day!
After dismissing the students, Mr. Hart and Mrs. Winey separated the live eggs from the dead eggs. We placed 312 viable eggs in the tank and recorded 82 dead on arrival. Of the 312, there were 4 that have already hatched. We received a visit from our TU sponsor, Larry Winey who was permitted to take a picture of the eggs in the tank without the flash. He enjoyed reading the letters the students wrote, especially one from a boy who wrote that he would like to join their club.
The students will begin fresh water changes and gathering data on the number of eggs that are removed from the tank as many will naturally die. An adult brook trout will lay 500-1000 eggs while only 10-20 survive to spawning age. If we have another successful year, we can expect approximately 250 of the eggs/fry to die before the release on May 15, 2010. The harsh reality of why we should appreciate a native 12" brook trout. We are hopeful to beat the odds. Check back soon the see how things progress.