First-graders raise trout in crowdfunded classroom experiment
From a pond habitat collage on a bulletin board to drawings of trout in the hallways, there’s something fishy happening at Pinecrest Academy, 1360 S. Boulder Highway.
Inside first-grade teacher Ashlee Mickelberry’s classroom, students compose scientific hypotheses before observing rainbow trout eggs in a fish tank hidden inside a cardboard box.
“The eggs are sensitive to light and sound, so the students created this box and a list of rules to protect them,” Mickelberry said. “They take such ownership of these fish.”
Mickelberry used the crowdfunding website donorschoose.org to help purchase supplies to raise the trout in her classroom last summer. She received the eggs from a Montana hatchery Feb. 10.
“This is something I feel so passionate about because you’re taking science, and you’re making it real for children,” Mickelberry said. “You can see the enthusiasm on their faces. Anytime you can do something like that, you’re really creating lifelong learners.”
Through the project, the school’s first-grade students are set to learn about life cycles, habitats, temperature, types of fish and more.
Student Will Gibson, 7, keeps his food chain project on his desk to explain to classroom guests when they visit the trout.
“First, the algae is in the water,” he said. “Then, the mayfly eats the algae, the trout eats the mayfly, and the otter eats the trout.”
Mickelberry first learned about the project when she took her students on a fishing trip to Floyd Lamb Park at Tule Springs to learn about the life and water cycles and various habitats last spring.
“The Nevada Department of Wildlife has a Trout in the Classroom program, where they donate supplies and train and provide teachers with curriculum to implement trout in their classrooms,” Mickelberry said. “However, there is a focus on older students. They told me supplies generally aren’t given to first-grade classrooms.”
The department agreed to train Mickelberry and donate trout eggs to her classroom if she could obtain the required equipment on her own.
Having run two successful crowdfunding campaigns online for children’s books and a listening center for her classroom, Mickelberry relied on donors’ support to purchase a cooling unit, an aquarium, water pumps, a filter and more.
At a cost of $825, the campaign was fulfilled within about three weeks, and Mickelberry attended the trout training course in January.
“What’s awesome about donorschoose.org is that it gives you access to such a wide donors base,” Mickelberry said. “We got donations from places such as a company called Trout Unlimited to a high school teacher in California who saw the value in encouraging a scientific way of thinking at such a young age.”
Once the project is complete, the group is set to release the fish March 20 at Floyd Lamb Park. The students are also scheduled to go fishing in a different area from where they released their trout.
“My favorite part will be when we let the trout go,” said student Kaitlyn Davis, 6. “I’m excited to go fishing at the park.”
Now equipped with all the supplies, Mickelberry plans to continue raising trout with her students each year. She enjoys creating hands-on experiences for her students to help form “real life connections.”
“I believe children are never too young to learn science,” she said. “By stretching their way of thinking and providing these types of opportunities, you’re helping them grow into critical thinkers and problem solvers. They shouldn’t be limited to that just because they’re 6 and 7.”
Consumed in the project, Mickelberry’s students have created trout murals and dioramas at home to bring in for show and tell.
“I get emails from parents saying, ‘It’s trout all week at our house,’ ” Mickelberry said. “To have students so excited that lessons bleed over into their home life like that, you know you’re really doing something right.”
For more information, visit pinecrestnv.org or tinyurl.com/troutclassroom.
Contact Henderson View reporter Caitlyn Belcher at cbelcher@viewnews.com or 702-383-0403.
