Two-Headed Alevin!

Students at Caroline Elementary discovered a rare two-headed trout alevin today.  We occasionally see these Siamese twins... we'll see how long this little one survives.

"If the two-headed trout becomes a fingerling,
I call carrying it out to the creek."
- Everett, from Mrs. Beigel's 4th grade. 

Flow Charting at Caroline Elementary

One of the great things about Trout in the Classroom is the broad range of day-to-day applications it can support.   Anna Chapman, at Caroline Elementary, recently took advantage of her students' aquarium monitoring responsibilities to practice creating a flow chart with her class.  Very cool!

Aquaponics at Cayuga Heights

They're growing some giant trout at Cayuga Heights Elementary this year, but all that eating means the trout are creating quite a bit of waste.  Over the past few weeks, the water have been getting cloudy, and waste has been starting to build up.  Regular water tests by the students indicates high ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, and increasingly acidic water! 

Of course, in a natural system, there is no unused waste, and nitrogen compounds are normally used by plants.  As luck would have it, the 4th grades at CHES are just completing their "Structures of Life" unit, which involves growing and studying seeds.  So, on Friday, April 17, we started an aquaponics project on the Cayuga Heights Elementary trout aquarium with help form Planted Earth Hydroponics of Ithaca!  The waste produced by our trout will feed a small garden on top of the tank!



Students plant beans and peas sprouted during "Structures of Life"
into ceramic growing medium.

 

April 20 - After three days, the filtering action of the hydroponics media
(in the black tray) seems to be clarifying the water.  Sprouts are taking off,
also! 

April 23 (day 6) - Water continues to clear.  Ammonia and Nitrite have decreased
from 10ppm to nearly zero.  Be amazed; we are!

 Stay tuned for updates!



Cannibalism Strikes Across the Region!

Zombies sited??  Not so much- just natural selection (whew!)   2015 is starting to look like a particularly gruesome year in the annals of Trout in the Classroom, though, as several schools have reported incidents sibling-consumption already. 

This is Union Springs' top predator, JAWS, running nearly 3.5 inches at four months of age.  Stay tuned for images of "Big Burger Boy", terrorizing more timid trout at South Hill Elementary.

Measuring Trout Growth

New Roots intern Irene Case works with BJM students to chart the growth rate of their trout.

 

 

1.  Trout fry are collected by students from the aquarium.

 

 

 

 

2.  Multiple trout are measured using metric graph paper

3.  Students calculate and plot the maximum, minimum, mode and average sizes for each measurement date.

Brook Trout Eggs are Hatching

We popped newly hatched alevins onto out classroom digital projector, at Northeast Elementary. 

Brook trout eggs are about 4mm in diameter, while newly hatched alevins are about 9mm in length.  How does that alevin fit into that egg?? 

Do The Math:  The internal (inside the eggshell) diameter of the eggs is probably about 3mm.  Calculate the circumference of that internal space by multiplying the 3mm diameter by Pi (3.14).  You get just over 9mm!

Brook Trout Egg Delivery Day - Mission Accomplished!

With the help of Justin and Gian from US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Ryan at DEC's Morrisville Hatchery, yours truly delivered brook trout eggs to Dryden, Caroline, Northeast and Lansing Elementary Schools today, as well as Lansing High School. 

Students viewed the eyed eggs up close before we placed them in their new aquarium homes.  We are always amazed by the size and potential of these tiny eggs.  The kids will make regular observations of the developing embryos and newly hatched brook trout, which tend to run 3-4 weeks behind out brown trout eggs.  Thanks to Patti Jennings and her great 3rd grade enrichment students at Lansing Elementary for these pix!
 

Hi Everyone!  Finger Lakes area Trout in the Classroom is up and rolling for the 2014-2015 school year.  Many thanks to Ken Osika and the crew at DEC's Bath Hatchery for providing BROWN TROUT eggs for 10 schools, delivered on October 16.  BROOK TROUT eggs are going to be delivered to the rest of our schools on Nov. 5. 

Lots of questions about where trout eggs come from, so here is a great video from our sister TIC program, down in NYC.  Enjoy!

Union Springs Trout are Thriving

Students in Tom Owens' classes in Union Springs are raising some absolutely beautiful trout! 

They recently worked with Cory Vannederynen, using dichotomous keys to identify stream macro-invertebrates and assess stream health. Turns out those little bugs are also great trout food. Who knew??

Stream Ecology Visits!

Students are getting their first look at live stream samples this month, in preparation for stream ecology projects and trout releases, coming up soon!  See our Facebook entry, Stream Ecology visits at area schools for more pix!