Lack TIC 2011-2012

The UPS man has made many deliveries at Lack Tuscarora Elementary school since the beginning of school remaining unknown to the students. But on November 3, 2011, he fulfilled his true purpose here at Lack according to one little girl and received a new identity. From now on, he is known as the fish guy- the man who brought our brook trout eggs.


I can not believe we are beginning our fourth year with the Trout in the Classroom Program! Each year something new challenges us to keep enough trout alive to release in the spring. I wonder what it will be this year...I am thankful for the success we have experience so far and remain hopeful that all will go well again this year.



Our shipment this year contained 402 eggs. After sorting the eggs (dead/living), I placed 319 eggs in the tank. Since that time all the eggs have hatched into alevin, however some did not withstand the process. Some were deformed. Others were stillborn. Some never hatched. Over the course of the week, I removed a total of 32 egg/alevin from the tank. Leaving 287 living alevin in the tank. Alevin have a yolk sac that feeds them until early December at which time it is absorbed and they become fry.



The students are enjoying learning about the lifecycle of a brook trout as they witness it first hand. Our current reading series stories are about fish and the lifecycle of a frog. What a great way to compare the two lifecycles.



Check back soon to keep informed on the adventures of raising brook trout at Lack Tuscarora Elementary as witness by the eyes of my first grade class.

Trout Release 2011

Karl B. Guss Park

Thankfully we had a mostly rainfree day for our trout release at Karl B. Guss Park on Thursday May 19, 2011. We did end the day with a brief shower just to make things interesting. We released 216 trout total between Juniata High School and Lack Tuscarora Elementary. East Juniata lost over 100 trout on April 29, 2011 due to the power outage during a storm. Check out the video of all the fun activities the students participated in! Thanks so much to everyone who helped to make this day a success!

http://www.kizoa.com/slideshow/d1728207k6319076o1/lack-tuscarora-elementary-trout-release-2011

Modern Day Pen Pals

Modern Day Pen Pals

Mrs. Winey and Mrs. Glock can hardly wait to get our schools together. We wanted to have the students get know each other a little before the trout release. We will be blogging back and forth to get to know each other. Modern day pen pals-what fun!

Hello from Mrs. Winey's first grade class! My students are so excited to interact with you! We were sorry to hear about your "jumper"( the fish that jumped out of the tank to his untimely dealth). We experienced the same thing last year. We watched some fish jump up at flies that flew over the tank. So we assumed that when we found some beside the tank that they must have seen something to entice them to jump out. We lost several until we decided to lower the water level some.It helps if you do not fill the tank as high.

Comments from Mrs. Winey's First Grade:

Aiddan: I am really looking forward to seeing you.

Hunter: I can't wait to see your trout.

Marissa: I was wondering how big your trout are and how many you have alive?

Nate: I wanted to thank you for the trout that you gave us even thought many of them have

died.

Cameron: I am excited to see you because I did not get to go to the release last year because I

was at a different school.

Duane: I was wondering what you look like. Maybe you could take a picture and post it so we can

see you...

Joceline: I want to know how you are doing?

Dyllan: I wonder what your trout look like?

Heaven: I want you to know I miss you from last year.

Cheyenne: I can't wait to see you this year at the trout release.

Bethany: I want to thank you for the trout you gave us because I love to feed the trout.

Gabby: I want to see your trout on the day of the trout release.

Jordan: I wonder how your fish are doing?

Leah: I want you to know that we have about 30 fish alive. Many have been dying.

Trout Crew

Wow-it seems amazing to me that the month of February has escaped me without posting an update on the trout. Forgive me!

We received a shipment of about 30 trout in January bringing our total count to around 50 until yesterday when we experienced a failure of one of the small pumps intended to help the water circulate from the bottom of the tank. The trout crew found about 10 dead trout yesterday. I attempted to clean out the pump and sponge. I was able to get it moving some water, but I fear we will need to replace the pump.

On a happier note, I have begun the planning process for our release! We are coordinating our release with Juniata High School's release which will make the day that much more fun! This week I plan to adopt some trout from the high school because they have too many for their aquarium to maintain good water quality so we are more than glad to help them out by taking some fish.

The students are eager for the spring rains because they remember in years past how much fun it is to feed the fish fresh earthworms.

Trout Journal

We received our new fluval filter and things have settled down some. We have lost a few more fish. We estimate the count to be about 20. The students are concerned but hopeful that things will go well from here on out.

Trout Journal:
1-6-11
Brandon, Ethan, David, Jess, and Mar:
Today was a very good day! There wasn't anything dead or alive in the bucket. The temperature is 50.8 (as I speak this minute). Trout Rule!!! TROUT are very awesome.

1-7-11
Malachi:
We had a good day. It was 48.4 degrees in the tank. Six were dead. It was a good day.

1-10-11]Brandon:
Today is Dillon, David, Austin, and my day. Temp 48.3-only three dead. Trout Rule! Trout are awesome.