OUTDOOR BRIEF

YEARLY PROJECT

School children gear up
to raise trout in class

Every January since 2001, pupils from about 50 Southern Nevada schools have set up 10-gallon aquariums that become incubators of sorts for about 200 rainbow trout eggs. These eggs will hatch and grow right in their classrooms where the pupils can see the beginning of a trout’s life-cycle.

This is all part of the Nevada Department of Wildlife Trout in the Classroom program, which gives pupils in grades four through six the opportunity to view the life-cycle up close. Once the baby trout become fingerlings, the pupils will release them — under the direction of NDOW personnel — into local trout waters such as those at Floyd Lamb Park or Sunset Park.

In order for pupils to participate in the Trout in the Classroom program, their teachers must first attend a training course where they will learn the skills and obtain the equipment necessary to hatch and raise tiny trout. Training for new project teachers is scheduled for Jan. 22. The eggs, which are shipped to NDOW from a national fish hatchery, will arrive in Las Vegas in early February.

“That’s when the fun starts,” says Ivy Santee, angler education coordinator for NDOW. “This is a great opportunity for school children to learn about one aspect of nature and how it works. And it’s a great chance for students to move beyond the textbook.”

The fertilized eggs begin hatching approximately five to seven days after arriving at their school locations. Depending on the water temperature in the respective aquariums, it could be as long as a month before they start looking like a little fish and begin swimming around and searching for food. Then, somewhere between mid-March and mid-April, pupils have the opportunity to release their charges into preselected trout waters.

“The TIC program is very popular with teachers and principals, probably due to the hands-on science, math and other disciplines involved in the program. The students’ interest is reflected in higher test scores,” Santee said.

As the agency has for the past couple of years, NDOW will host an aquarium in the lobby of its Las Vegas office. It will be just like those found in the classrooms at participating schools. Beginning in early February, the tank and its eggs will be available for easy viewing. Anyone can stop by and checkout the development of the eggs and the subsequent stages that the fish go through until they change into swim-up fry.

Teachers who are interested in participating in the program can register on the Trout in the Classroom website. It can be accessed through a link at the wildlife department’s website at www.ndow.org. For additional information, contact Ivy Santee at 486-5127, Ext. 3503.