Trout Journal

12-23-10
Ethan, David, and Brandon:
Today we found a couple of dead ones. We all like doing this. It is so fun! If there is one thing we could do for the rest of the year, this would be it.

1-3-11
Savannah and Ethan:
Today when we vacuumed there was a lot of live ones that came out in the bucket. The trout are so fun! But there are 6 dead. I hate when they die. Every time I find a dead one, I think of their place.

Austin:
Today there were six dead. I really like the trout.

Fried Filter Frantic Faculty...

Yesterday afternoon the trout crew realized the filter in the aquarium was not working. They removed approximately 30 dead fry from the tank, vacuumed the tank changing 5 gallons of water, and began to worry as Mr. Hart and myself set into action to get another filtration system from our local trout unlimited sponsor-Larry Winey.




Mr. Winey brought another filter that we were unable to get working after approximately a couple hours of intense problem solving. Thankfully, Mr. Hart is known for his aquariums and offered two other filter systems that he had in his classroom. I was reluctant to use them due to cross contamination. However, weighing the options we decided it was our only option. In order to keep the beneficial bacteria that we had built up in our filter, we transferred the filters and ceramic cylinders into Mr. Hart's filters. It appears to be working although we did have 23 more fish die today.


Things were going so smoothly so I guess it was time for a little excitement. The students love this project. I am hopeful that we will return to smooth sailing once again.

Trout Journal:

12-13-10 Savannah and Leda:

I love doing trout, having fun being able to do more stuff. I just got blasted with water. Trout are unique. Doing this-amazing!!

12-15-10 Leda and Savannah:

I'm thankful for the trout. They're amazing. They're a lot to work with, but we know it is worth it. Savannah says we are going to name them!! One is called Big Eyes and another Fishy Flyer.

12-21-10 David, Ethan, Austin and Dillon:

The trout are doing good. We found a couple dead ones. We are doing our best to keep the trout alive.

12-22-10 David, Austin, and Ethan:

A lot of trout are dying and we don't like that.

Article Written by Ethan Hosler published
in the Lack Tuscarora Times 12-17-10:

The Brook Trout Are Swimming Up

A few days ago we left some trout swim through the tank. They are doing well. My friend David and I are cleaning the tank every day. We love doing it. First we test ph. Then we vacuum the tank. After that we add water with buffer in it. Then we are done. That's all I have about the trout this time.

Loving It!!!

All 232 of the trout are swimming free in the tank. We will continue feeding them, changing 5 gallons of water each day, and monitoring water quality through testing.

My first graders love to feed the trout and watch them swim. I know as the trout grow it will become harder to maintain the water quality with the number of trout we currently have. What a good problem to have!

Today our tank crew consisted of two young ladies who were more than happy to tend the tank! They did a fine job.The students really do love taking care of the trout.

Trout Journal
12-13-10 Savannah and Leda:

Doing the trout is extremely fun! We love it. We just don't get to do much when we help because we are usually the cleaning ladies !!Lovin it!!

What do you know about trout? Take this quiz to find out!

Trout Quiz

If you win, you may receive some cool Orvis fishing equipment or a dream fishing trip for two!
Test your trout knowledge! Good Luck!

Little Swimmers!

Things have been going very well with our second shipment of sacfry. To date, we have 232 alevin/fry. We are entering a new phase of the life cycle of the brook trout. When they absorb the yolk sac and begin to search for food, they are called swim-up fry.

As they begin to swim to the top of the breeder basket in search for food, we have been lowering the basket to allow them to swim out if they choose. So far there are approximately 70 in the tank and the rest remain in the breeder basket. Soon they all will be in the tank which will be a new challenge for the tank crew. As they change the water daily, they will need to make sure they have not gathered any of the little ones which can be fun a challenge.

The little ones are still sensitive to light so we will keep the tank covered until they grow a little more. We have begun feeding them the size 0 food which is almost the consistency of saw dust. Hopefully, they will learn to eat.

Trout Journal
12-8-10Ethan, Malachi, Dillon, and David:
The trout are doing extremely good. We have no problems with them.

Eggcitement- Once again!

Once again our whole school was filled with excitement on November 3, 2010 waiting for our shipment of trout eggs to arrive. Mr. Hart and I were a little concerned when we opened the container to measure the temperature to find the initial reading at 72 degrees. We assumed that we had not let the thermometer in the container long enough to get an accurate reading so he readjusted the thermometer to find the second reading at 68 degrees. We quickly placed the bag in the tank to acclimate then proceeded to separate live and dead eggs and count.

We had received a total of 390 brook trout eggs; 82 were dead upon arrival. We placed 308 in the tank. We removed 8 that had died on Friday. Over the next three days all the eggs had hatched, but they died almost immediately. We had lost a total of 210 more sac fry or alevin leaving only 90 viable sac fry in the tank.

Mr. Hart and I were greatly concerned because we had never lost so many in such a short time span. I contacted our coordinator who sent us another shipment of sac fry which we received yesterday. We placed an additional 236 sac fry in the tank bring our total to 323. Today the students removed seven sac fry leaving our total count at 316 to date. We tested our water quality and all the numbers were within our normal ranges. We believe the temperature of the container upon arrival may have caused the large number of deaths. We can not be sure, but the second shipment is doing fine so it makes us wonder.

The planning process for our trout release day on May 19, 2010 has already begun. I am thankful for the second shipment of sac fry to help ensure that we have something to release on release day. The students are already looking forward to spending the day at Guss Park in Licking Creek. The new tank crew has begun tending the tank, removing dead fry, checking water quality and temperature. They are excited about the program.

Thoughts from the Tank Tenders:
11-3-10
Leda: The trout are cool! Can't wait to release them.
Nadine: I love trout. They are a neat type of fish species.
Alyssa: This is a really neat thing to me. I have never raised trout at my old school and I never
had fish at my school.
MiKayla: I love the trout and I can't wait until we release them!!!!

Welcome to TIC 2010

Can you believe that a new year has begun? Our trout tank is ready for our new batch of eggs scheduled to arrive on November 3rd or 4th by UPS. The poor UPS man does not know what is awaiting him on the day of that delivery! He was mobbed last year as the kids saw the UPS truck pull to the front of the school. Ahh.... memories! Looking forward to another great year with Trout in the Classroom! Check back in November to find out how many viable eggs we place into the tank.

Trout Release Day 2010

We had an awesome release day! We would especially like to thank our new friends from Juniata High School. We look forward to working together next year on our Trout In The Classroom Projects!

Don't Be Sad
Written by Mrs. Winey

As I looked upon our empty tank, my joy filled
heart just sank.

But then my mind began to ponder
all the fun we'll have down yonder.

Thinking of next November filled my heart again with joy.

Remembering all the fun we had along the way...
especially on Trout Release Day!

Trout Crew Shares TIC at District Council Meeting

Mr. Hart selected five fifth grade students to attend the District Council meeting held on Thursday, April 15 at Juniata High School. Mrs. Ricedorf and Mrs. Winey also attended the meeting to help the students present our Trout in the Classroom Program to the council members. Megan, Jordan, Karrie, Gaige, and Nathan did a wonderful job representing our school while explaining our TIC Program. We are proud of them! The students presented how the aquarium meets the needs of the trout as well as the daily routine for caring for the trout. They also shared some of the projects completed by our students.

April has been a busy month at Lack with the TIC Program. Mr. Hart's fifth grade students held a Trout Art and Poetry Contest. The students drew pictures of Brook Trout and also wrote poems. The first grade class chose a students' choice award winner. Mr. Hart and Mrs. Winey selected a teacher's choice award winner. The students did an excellent job on the poems making it too difficult to choose one winner. The students were rewarded with an ice cream party on Friday. Check out some of the awesome pictures and poems!!

Students' Choice Award Winner:

Shane

Teachers' Choice Award Winner:

Gaige

Fifth Grade Art and Poetry Contest

Trout Poetry:

Trout

by Gaige

Trout are stealthy, trout are wise.

How many birds do they despise?

1,2,3,4, all of them and many more.

Birds eat trout.

They like to eat them when they're stout.

They like to watch the fishes jump.

They like to eat them when they're plump.

This is the end of my poem

Trout don't like birds and they show'em!

Help! Trout Lost!

by Shane

The trout are bigger.

They will grow bigger I figger.

We got some trout from Mountain View

Since our trout numbers began to get few.

Most of us have done some work.

And when we were done they gave us a smirk.

This is my poem about a trout.

They shall be missed without a doubt.

They were kidnapped by the river.

But the river is cold and it makes them shiver.

If found, please return

To Mrs. Winey so her class can learn

All about these wonderful trout.

Tasty Trout Terry

by Megan

There once was a trout named Terry.

Who I was going to put o medium rarey,

Your now probably crying Mrs. Winey,

I'm sorry Mrs. Winey that I like my little trout Terry,

I can not wait till he's a ready,

My yummy, yummy little Terry.

What A Big Trout!

by Jordan

When I feel a big bite

I reel in with all my might.

There's a big trout

I knew I would catch one

without a doubt

It was really big

It made me do the jig

When I catch a big trout

I can't help that I scream and shout.

The Fish In the Dish

by Nathan

There was a fish named Swish

who lived in a dish by the dishwasher.

He was on an island in a house in Beggar Row.

He has three fish friends he swhished around with everyday.

Fishies, Oh Fishies

by Karrie

Fish, Fish

You'll end up in my favorite dish,

I really like your meat,

It is really good to eat,

I like to eat you all the time,

You are like a shiny dime.

And Mrs. Winey-Just kidding!

Little Speckled Trout

by Lauren

Little speckled trout

can't I coax you to come out?

Is it really fun to play

in that tank all day?

For as long as I live

I will have to give

you my life so you can have at least

one friend at a time.

You are as shiny as a silver dime.

Little speckled trout.

Won't you come out?

Please I need your help to swim

in the pond below the limb.

I do not want to sink,

if I do my face will turn pink.

Little speckled trout.

I LOVE YOU a lot so PLEASE COME OUT!

Show and Tell Visitor

April 14, 2010 is a day I will not soon forget! Mr. Hart called me over to see the unusual visitor one student brought in for show and tell. As I approached, the student began to share that he had brought in a native Brook Trout this morning on the bus. I could hardly believe it! At first glance, I was not sure that it was a Brook Trout so I had the student turn the fish so I could see it from the side and low and behold it was definitely a native Brook Trout! We estimated it to be about 9 inches. It had the beautiful vibrant red halo markings Brook Trout are known for.

Part of me was so proud of the student for being excited about our school project and the other part was wondering how in the world we were going to ensure this fish would remain alive for the entire school day. I knew that we could not put the fish in our tank or we would not have any trout for our upcoming release on May 14. Thankfully, I had an insulated bucket with a battery operated aerator. We used this bucket to transport the fingerlings to the stream last year and also to take a few fingerlings to the District Council meeting, but I was unsure if it would keep an adult Brook Trout alive for about 8 hours. I can happily report that it did!

The student reluctantly agreed to allow us to release the trout into the stream that we will release our fingerlings into. I explained to him that we could not allow him to take the fish back on the school bus because I was afraid the extended period of time without aerated water would kill the fish. The student attempted to persuade me by explaining that he had been giving the fish oxygen by swishing the water with his hand. I was very proud that he knew to provide oxygen for the trout, but encouraged him to allow us to release the fish into our local stream.

I enlisted the help of Ms. Gilbert to video the release of our show and tell visitor. It was really neat for the students to see this beautiful Brook Trout! We will never forget his visit.

Smiling Faces :)

Today Mrs. Shelley's second grade class found a worm while digging a hole to place a birdfeeder outside our school. Naturally, the students begged Mrs. Shelley to feed it to our trout so of course we did! I love to watch the students feed the trout! Check out the smiling faces :)

Doesn't it make you

smile?

Evidence of student learning...check it out!

... Thank you Penns Creek TU and PFBC!!

Catch and Release!

The spring rains create a lot of excitement here at Lack because our students quickly learn that rain means worms appear like a gift for us to feed our trout. Our fifth grade students gathered some worms from the blacktop and the first grade class loved to watch as the older students tempted our tiny trout with the huge worms. The worm soon became bait and fishing rod as the students discovered the trout would not let go of the the worm very easily. We knew you would enjoy sharing in this adventure!

Check out some pictures of today's adventure!

Are the worms too big?

Look closely- Can you see the trout?

Trout Journal

3-17-10

Jordan: I think the trout are so cool. I don't want to release them! I am going to misss them a lot.

Hey, Mom I love to vacuum!

The students love to vacuum the tank! It really helps prevent water quality issues! The students vacuum the tank every morning while adding 5 gallons of fresh water to the tank. I promise I won't tell your parents how much you love to vacuum!

TIC and Hands-on Lessons!

One reason that I love the TIC program is that it provides opportunities for hands-on learning! Currently in science we have been discussing what light can do. Our book shows a picture of a child placing his hand in an aquarium filled with water to demonstrate how light can bend or refract so during science we took a walk to the lobby to observe this in our trout aquarium. We also took the opportunity to feed the fish and allow the students to put a finger in the tank while other students watched for refraction. Check out refraction!














This was a lot of fun! The students giggled when the trout jumped up and touched their fingers. The students always enjoy learning more when they can get their hands-involved in the learning process!

Trout Journal 3-3-10

Tasha: The trout are doing awesome. We take care of them everyday. We feed them and
clean their tank. They are doing great!

May(Megan): Jordan just cleaned the tank. It looks a lot cleaner. They are getting bigger!

Pictures and Pranks...

I thought you might enjoy seeing the trout crew in the process of cleaning the tank, adding

fresh water, and feeding the fish! So I snapped a quick picture and handed the camera to Mr. Hart and asked him to take a few pictures of crew in action. There was my first mistake...

Anyway, I proceed to my classroom to start the day. Later when Mr. Hart returned the camera, he asked me to look at the picture of Megan to see if it suited me. Looking at Megan's smiling face, I said "Yes, that looks great!" (to Mr. Hart's dismay) Apparently that was not the reaction he was hoping for, he questioned- "Did you look at it?" Looking more closely with my aging eyes, I noticed she was not adding fresh clean water to the tank in the picture, but she was pretending to add a gallon of floor cleaner. She looks so innocent!

I hope you enjoy seeing some of the crew and the fish they care for . Also, we wanted to send a special thank you to Mr. Berry our faithful tank tender. Mr. Berry is our custodian. He feeds the fish and watches over the tank on the weekends as well as on snow days. Below is a picture of him in the act of feeding the fish.

Bird of Prey Visits Lack

Mr. Hart found himself caregiver of a Horned Grebe, which he informed me likes to eat trout. Of course he took the opportunity to bring the bird that had a wounded wing to Lack to visit. He placed the bird in an aquarium filled with water and then proceeded to add gold fish, crayfish, and guppies to the tank as we discovered the eating preferences of the bird. Later that afternoon, there was a knock at the first grade door. I opened the door to see Mr. Hart dangling the bird of prey above the trout tank. I quickly enlisted the help of the students to "guard" the tank to keep our fish safe until the release. We made it through the visit without losing any trout to our visitor.

The students have been experimenting with colored yarn to see what colors the fish prefer.

Thoughts from the Trout Crew:
2-6-10
Tasha: Thanks to Mt. View we got more trout. We take good care of them. We love them.
They are cool!
2-17-10
Chase: Ya know it's a wonder if the trout we released are still alive, but these
trout really love colors.
2-23-10
Megan: The trout are getting bigger and bigger! I love feeding the fish. We are holding
different colors of string over the tank to see what color they like best!

Jay(Jordan): I love the trout! They are catching up to Mt. View's trout. They are almost as
big as theirs! They are awesome!!
2-24-10
Jay(Jordan): I cleaned the trout tank today and it was cool!

May(Megan): The trout are getting bigger by the minute. The trout are soooooo cool!

Tasha: The trout are doing awesome. We take care of them everyday. We feed them
and clean their tank. They are doing great!

Thoughts from the "Trout Crew"

So far the new fish have made a smooth transition to our tank. The students are excited to now have around 80-90 fish in the tank.

Thoughts from the "Trout Crew":

1-25-10
Shane: So many fish are left. They have survived a long time.

2-3-10
Chase: I like these fish.

2-5-10
Jordan: I love the trout! They are so awesome!
Megan: The trout are awesome. They are getting bigger and bigger! They're so cool. I love the
trout!
Josie: Helping with the trout is fun. The trout are awesome !!
Darin: Thanks to Mt. View for the wonderful donation of trout.

Trout Adoption

We had a bit of excitement today at Lack. I received an email from Mr. Smith at Mt. View Elementary offering some trout for our tank. Mr. Smith has joined the TIC Program through our local sponsors-Penns Creek TIU. He was experiencing some difficulty maintaining the water quality due to having too many fish of significant size. Our sponsor shared that we had recently lost many fish and recommended maybe some of the fish could be transferred to our tank since a 55 gallon tank will only support around 100 fish without experiencing water quality issues. Our schools share the same principal so she volunteered to transport the trout from one school to the other today. The students were very excited to adopt the new fish! It was interesting to see the differences in size and color of the fish. The coloration of their fish was lighter and their fish were definitely larger. We did our best to involve all the students in the process allowing some students to observe the new fish before we placed them into the tank , some to participate in the actual transition from the bucket to the tank, and other students to feed the new fish . It will be interesting to see how the new fish adjust to our tank.

Update

I know it has been a long time since our last update, forgive me. We have lost a significant number of trout since the Christmas holiday. There was a small spike in ph as we experienced last year. Some of the fish did not actually die but were deformed. Some we think were "pinheads" that never learned to eat. These fish have a small head compared to their body and never learn to eat. At my best estimate I believe we have approximately 40-50 fry left in the tank. The trout crew has been doing a great job maintaining the tank. We must remember that even in nature a female trout will lay 2,000 eggs and only have approximately 10 survive to spawn. It is just a hard reality to witness especially with the students so excited about this year's release because they remember how much fun it was last year to place a fingerling in our local stream. We will continue to do our best to ensure that there are fingerlings to release on May 14, 2010. I am in the planning process now for our release and we will have a great day even if we do not have any fish to release. I am just hopeful that we will have a few to release.