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Fish in the Classroom
Native Fish in the Classroom
Program Info | Teacher's
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What is Native Fish in the Classroom?
 Goal:
To assist students in developing an attitude of stewardship
toward Louisiana’s natural resources and to provide
for them a constructive active learning situation in which
students can explore strategies for sustaining our aquatic
ecosystems.
Objectives:
- Provide students in grades six through twelve with background
information on fisheries management, fish biology, protected
species, and aquatic natural resources.
- Maintain a classroom-based nursery aquarium in which
students grow native, Louisiana fish, paddlefish, from
eggs to fingerlings.
- Produce paddlefish that can be used by the Louisiana
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries’ Booker Fowler
Fish Hatchery to help manage a protected fish population
in Louisiana.
- Assist students in developing an attitude of stewardship
toward the state’s natural resources. Students will
gain awareness of freshwater ecological systems by helping
prevent the loss of a protected fish, benefiting the whole
freshwater system.
Why Paddlefish?
- Paddlefish spawning cycles coincide with the spring
semester of school year
- Paddlefish eggs are large enough to view with the naked
eye
- They have distinctive life-stages and develop into fingerlings
in about a month and one half
- They are a protected species in Louisiana
- They are a living fossil
How do paddlefish get to the classroom?
- Qualified candidates, 5th through 12th grade science
teachers living in Louisiana.
- Candidates will write a letter of intent, attend all
workshops, pick up eggs, and return fingerlings to the
hatchery.
- The candidate’s school will show support of the
teacher and the project
Participation in NFC Includes:
- Workshop For Intensive Training: biology, fisheries
management, aquaculture maintenance, importance of native
species, and stewardship
- NFC Teachers Guide Book: background,
lessons, aquaria setup and maintenance
- Video: “The Paddlefish: An American Treasure”,
1995 Betsy Willis
- Equipment: aquaria setup and supplies
- Support: list of who to contact for help and trouble-shooting
Schedule:
- Early March to Late May
- Teacher will get eggs (possibility of Fieldtrips to
see propagation)
- Rearing of the fish to Fingerling size
- April fieldtrip to BFFH to see hands on Fisheries Management
- Teacher (and students – fieldtrip) to return fingerlings
For More Information, contact:
An
Aquaculture Stewardship Project in partnership with:
 
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