Eggciting News!

 My first graders have been eagerly awaiting the
arrival of our brook trout eggs for our Trout in the Classroom Program! We tested the water quality by checking the ph, ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite levels of the water to make sure everything was perfect for our trout. To my students, its just fun to see the water change colors as they count the drops of the chemicals that I add as we perform the chemistry tests...they simply learn that trout need certain conditions to live and grow which includes cold, clean water!

 The students announced the arrival the UPS truck and our driver agreed to celebrate our delivery with a picture!

The students observed a first hand lesson on
living and nonliving things as many of the eggs this year arrived dead. This was a little hard for them. However, we celebrated the ones that we placed in the tank hoping for the best. We received 235 eggs total. Unfortunately, we had 172 eggs dead upon arrival...We placed 63 living eggs in two baskets in our aquarium.  overnight some hatched, but died immediately. Over the weekend they all hatched with more dying. We currently have 27 alevin in our tank. The students remain optimistic, but also begin questioning what we will do if we do not have enough for them to release in the spring.

Here's a peek at how excited they were just prior to the eggs arriving! Wish us luck as this teacher is also concerned about each student being able to place a trout in the stream in the spring...every year is a new challenge...stay tuned to see how we make out!

Mr. Winey Goes To First Grade

    One thing I love about our Trout in the Classroom Program is that it is truly different every year! This year as I was setting up our trout tank I had quite a surprise! I couldn't wait to share it with my first grade class...little did I know it would lead into a shared writing post, new class mascot, a lesson on the voting process, and a first hand look at what happens to animals if they do not have their needs met.

 Below is our shared writing of the experience:

     Mrs. Winey was excited to get the tank ready for our trout. She was cleaning the tank and saw a skink. She thought it was alive and was a little scared.  She gently nudged it with a sponge to discover it was nonliving. She could not wait to show our class.  We talked about how it got in the tank and why it did not stay alive in the tank. We learned it did not have its needs of food and water met in the tank over the summer break.
     When Mrs. Winey showed our class, we wanted to keep it as a mascot and name it!. We thought about naming it Alex, Crawler, Tom, Bob, Peter, Jake, Max, John, Jewles, or Breadstick. But the winning vote was Mr. Winey. We learned that when we vote we may have a say but do not always get our way. We plan to show the school our new mascot at the bug fair and our families at our open house. We can't wait!

Our tank is ready for our Brook Trout eggs
set to arrive in November. We are building
good bacteria so our trout eggs will have what they
need to survive in our trout tank! Check back to
see what we learn as we take care of our Brook Trout!

   
The smile says it all...

 

     On May 14, 2016 Lack Tuscarora Elementary and Juniata High School's Trout In The Classroom Programs combined to release 280 Brook Trout into East Licking Creek at Karl B. Guss State Park with eighty-four total adults and children releasing Brook Trout raised through the two TIC programs this year.

     Mrs. Jessica Morgan's high school students raised 140 fry outnumbering Mrs. Winey's Lack Elementary fish by 3. However, Mrs. Winey enjoyed boasting of releasing fingerlings rather than fry with the largest one measuring 5 inches! Lack's students lovingly named the largest fish Jumbo and the smallest one Fishy-fish who measured only 2 inches.

    The attendees also enjoyed tree planting with Lucas Book from DCNR,  Fish Print T-shirts with the Juniata Conservation District, Fly rod casting and macro invertebrate identification with Penns Creek Trout Unlimited,  learning of local conservation efforts presented by Juniata Watershed Alliance as well as conservation games lead by Mrs. Morgan and  Juniata High School students.

     So thankful the weather held off...it began to rain as we were packing up for the day!