Thursday, February 3, 2000
Trout go to school to teach a lesson
Raising fish gives 7th-graders insight into real-life science
By Kathleen Mortensen
The Idaho Statesman
Students in Kris Stone?s life science class are getting a first-hand look at the life cycle of the rainbow trout by raising their own school of
fish right in the classroom.
The Riverglen Junior High seventh-graders are participating in the "Trout in the Classroom" program sponsored by the Idaho Department of Fish and
Game, Trout Unlimited and a host of other agencies interested in teaching kids more about their world.
The fish will be raised in a tank regulated to keep water flowing at a set temperature of about 52 degrees Fahrenheit. The tank was provided by Trout Unlimited
"The goal is to increase awareness in young people of their environment, and the importance of the aquatic environment to fish resources," said
Tom Frew, resident hatcheries supervisor for Fish and Game.
The program allows kids to track the life cycle of trout from spawning, which is done right before their eyes, to eventual release in the wild.
Along the way, they?ll learn about fish in general and how temperature and chemical levels affect the aquatic environment.
To kick off the project, Frew brought two adult trout into the classroom.
After answering questions about the fish, he extracted the eggs from the female and fertilized them with milt squeezed from the male.
The newly fertilized eggs will be kept in small plastic mesh containers that provide protection for the eggs and young hatchlings.
When they?re ready, they can swim out of the boxes and into the large tank.
Once they?re big enough, about 2 inches long, they?ll be released into a nearby ditch that flows into the Boise River.
Frew expects that to happen by late May.
Stone said the project is a great way to bring science to life for her students.
"In life science, we study life cycles," she said.
But finding experiments to replicate that cycle can be difficult.
With chicken eggs, she said, the eggs must be destroyed in order for students to see what?s happening inside the shell. With fish eggs, kids can
see what?s happening right through the membrane.
"It?s cool," said student Ashton Yeargin, 13, after watching Frew extract the trout?s eggs. He said he likes hands-on activities because it helps him
learn better than when he simply reads out of a textbook.
"And it?s a lot more fun," he said, after taking a turn to feel the fish?s eyes and check out the extracted eggs.
Although Lyndsay Hennie, 13, reluctantly took a turn touching the fish, she was more excited about the project itself.
"It?s awesome," she said. "It?s more interesting than I thought it would be. I?m excited to raise and release the fish."
Riverglen is one of three Boise schools participating in the project, which has been run successfully across the state for about four years.
Other schools participating are Riverside and Highland elementary schools.
Stone hopes to connect with the children at those elementary schools, perhaps by having her students help test the streams near their sites.
Contact Kathleen at 377-6413 or kmortensen@boise.gannett.com
Hooked on learning: Twelve-year-old James Kingsford peeks at a rainbow trout as Tom Frew educates the Riverglen Junior High School class on the life cycle of the fish Tuesday. Frew, resident hatcheries supervisor for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, was at the school as part of the “Trout in the Classroom” program.
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