The Native Fish in the Classroom Program is an environmental education program
to provide a way to connect kids with nature. Specifically aquatic species
and aquatic ecosystems. We allow the students to raise
fish in the class while they have the opportunity to learn about their life history
and the habitat that they survive in. I learned that some of them
might be overprotective and the ones that actually, well some of them might guard their
little areas of where they live and stay the most and some of them just might relax and just roam around.
And ultimately we're looking
to increase their awareness and develop a sensitivity to aquatic ecosystems and the natural world as a whole.
To make the Native Fish in the Classroom program relevant and worthy of our teachers we really worked hard to make sure
the project itself as well as the activities were tied to the New Mexico State Standards
and just recently the common core. That has raised the level of
importance to making sure that the program not only is relevant to the students but is also beneficial to the teachers.
They found it very informative
and really interesting, they really really enjoyed learning about the fish and how to
take care of them. We were actually able to tie
into math, to social studies, to geography, towards all the different kinds of study that
we do. so it's really kind of a cross-curriculum sort of thing.
The puzzles were very challenging and interesting
We did a lot drawing so it kind of really tied in with art, the kids got to
draw the fish and we did several projects involving identifying them and learning about
the fin shapes and what they eat. It tied into the poetry unit
I was already teaching so it was a very nice tie in and the kids had fun with it.
And they really liked seeing that you posted their poems and they were
over there for a good 15 minutes; oh there's mine, there's mine, there's mine.
This is our third year into the program. We went in with the simple concept
of taking fish into the class and having students develop their connection with the fish, and
hopefully ultimately the Rio Grande. As we've moved through the program
and seen things progress, we realize not only do the kids develop a connection to the fish
and to the systems that they take care of, but also it gives them a chance to develop
a connection to the biologist. And they are excited about the
program and it's really good to see them have that connection with not only with the fish but
with you as a biologist going into that classroom. The opportunity you start to see
open up, of the career opportunities, those career paths start to open up because they
realize that this is something that they could do in the future as a professional.
I think its a really good idea to expose children to this. Especially so
they know what is going on in their state. The classification, the learning of how our
environment operates, what you guys do to help, you know, keep that going and preserve it.
I think it's really cool that they are exposed to these things rather than being in a city all the time.
They get to see that this is more than that, just out there for them to see and experience.
Another thing that we've seen come out of this program is a sense of responsibility.
By kind of emphasizing the level of importance about taking care of these species that these
are something very important to our systems and something that we want to put back into
the Rio Grande that level of importance and that sense of responsibility was increased.
Because this was something that we put a lot of importance on it increased
their sense of responsibility and they really took ownership of the program and they really
strived to make sure they did what was necessary to keep these fish alive and get them into the Rio Grande.
They are like 5 grams and like a hundred and something milligrams.
I am guessing it doubled. Okay, so what do you guys think the biggest fish is going to weigh?
Like, 5. 5? Okay. 8?
During this last season which was our third year we actually experienced
a total loss of fish in one classroom and a near total loss in a second classroom.
Bye. Oh my gosh, that big big one died? Mmmhmm.
You guys want to, you guys can put the dirt over.
But we didn't want it to go as a loss and we wanted to make it into a
teachable moment. We did share it among the schools and let all the students know that
we has experienced a total loss in one school and we lost about two thirds of the fish in
another school. We let the other students know
that this is a possibility, it can happen it does happen, and we went forward from there.
Out of that we had empathy from other students so we had condolence cards
being sent to the schools. Students recognized that because these schools had total losses
they would have no fish to release. So they offered to share their
fish and that was really really good to see. In addition it was a good time to share that
this is something, this loss, is something that fish biologists, fish culturists, and
any wildlife field experience and have to deal with on a daily basis.
It was a tough lesson for the students to learn, but I am pretty confident
they learned from it and it will definitely be a memorable experience for them.
Were they super excited for this morning? Oh, they couldn't wait, and
they really really had fun freeing the fish. And they talked about how big they were and
what kinds they were. So they were able to identify them, they were very very excited.
Were you excited for today? Yes.
Was it as fun as you expected today to get to release the fish? No, it was even funner.
All around I think it's reallya great thing and I hope we get to do it again next year.
Bye Bye! Bye Bye!