Schools around the Clearwater
Valley are up to something fishy! They are participating in the Hatchery in the
Classroom program where classes from grades 4-12 raise steelhead trout from eyed egg
to fingerling. Besides learning how to care for and rear cold water fish they
are also learning the life cycle of steelhead, fish habitat and watersheds, cultural
traditions surrounding steelhead and salmon, and fish anatomy.
Earlier this week I traveled to
Palouse Prairie School in Moscow, ID to help the 3rd and 4th
grade classes dissect adult steelhead. I joined three biologists from Idaho
Department of Fish and Game as we covered the external and internal anatomy of
the fish. Students were presented with a large adult steelhead and asked if they
could name all of the different fins. Hands flew into the air and not only did
these kids know names and locations of all the fins, they were able to describe their
functions too!
The students were incredibly enthusiastic especially when it came to removing the eye from their fish. Their curiosity was inspiring and their thirst for knowledge was impressive! Aside from a chorus of ewww, yuck, and ugh, gross, we all had fun and learned a lot.
By Angela Feldmann
I had 36 Palouse Prarie 4th grade students for a tour of the hatchery on 3/20. Their interest and intelligent questions are testaments that the Hatchery In The Classroom is a very worthwhile program in our young kids education. This group was was so much better prepared to visit the hatchery and observe the process they had studied in the classroom.
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