Trout in the Classroom Pictures

 Thank you to Bob Lamley, Trout Unlimited volunteer, who sent us these beautiful photos that give a glimpse into the whole process of Trout in the Classroom.

Members of Trout Unlimited working on the tank

Jim Tingey of Trout Unlimited holding up a tagging gun. Don't shoot!

The fish are tagged in order to monitor them and see if they return to spawn in our stream

Park District board member Lori Flores Weisskopf and her children take a peek at the fish

Braeside teacher Shara Lieberman arrives carrying one last trout - No Fish Left Behind!

Park District Board President Scott Meyers welcomes the group

Marc Miller, President of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, commends the students for their hard work and encourages them to pursue their interest and stewardship of the environment

HP Mayor Nancy Rotering and her son, a Braeside 4th grader who participated in Trout in the Classroom

Mitch Kiesler of Trout Unlimited helps a fish down the slip n' slide

Students watch as the last fish are released into the stream

Bye, Bye Trout!

We had a wonderful morning watching the Braeside 4th grade students release the trout they have worked so hard to take care of this year. They participated in the program Trout in the Classroom and released their fingerlings into the stream. Thank you to everyone who came out to help and support them!

 

Jim Tingey of Trout Unlimited and Rebecca Grill lead "Bye, Bye, Trout!"

Releasing the fish through the "slip and slide"

Fung Chin of TU helping the students release

Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering releases a fish

Bye, bye trout!

Bye, bye, aquatic friends!

We hope to see you when you're swimmin' down the stream...

There go our fingerlings,

they're doin' fine

And now they're lookin' for a place to dine.

Look out you stoneflies!

And mayflies too!

Our little fishies are comin' after you!

Bye, bye trout! Bye, bye aquatic friends!

We hope to see you when you're swimmin' down the stream...

Trout on Tape

Dan Kullman from Bitter Jester was on hand yesterday to record the happenings and a few students from Mr Hill's morning Environmental Science class scored a chance to work with Dan on a video of our ravine project!   We are excited to see the results.  If anybody else is interested, get in touch with Dan at dkullman@bitterjester.com

Fish Tagging Update

After we met at the High School, Sean, Matt and Rebecca did a trial run of the FLOY tags on the Rainbow Trout that are to be released this week from a Winnetka school.  We determined that the Rainbow Trout in the Classroom are too small to handle being tagged right now.  Though the Braeside School fish will be a little bigger (about 15 days to go) on April 13th, we don't want to risk losing any due to the tagging process.   This is a good example of the importance of trying out methodology before hand!

Students:  you are helping with protocols for monitoring the movement of our Rainbow Trout.   From your research, what ideas come to mind to continue the effort, now that we have ruled out tagging the fish at this time?  Comment on this post if you have any suggestions!

Keep checking the hpravines blog to learn what we decide!

Mrs. Hill's Environmental Science Students Got to Practice Tagging Fish!

What a remarkable day we had yesterday with our HPHS AP students and the Trout Team including Sean Landsman from the Illinois Natural History Survey, Matt Jennings and Jim Tingey of TU. 

Sean gave us an overview (100,000 years in four slides!) of Great Lakes formation and then launched into the "tasty" part of the presentation:  native, non native and invasive fish species, how they use the lakes, and how scientists such as Sean record their movements in the water.  We learned that monitoring techniques should vary depending on the Research Question being asked.  Some things that fisheries biologists want to know:  how do fish move between harbors; how do fish move to and within spawning habitats, do fish move between different jurisdictions (do they, for example, do they pop over to Canadian waters every now and again?).  Questions like these are important because they inform management practices and also can drive funding for restoration projects! 

Speaking of restoration, Jim and Matt told the students about the Trout in the Classroom program which is going on over at Braeside School.  The fourth grade has been raising baby trout from eggs which are going to be released at Ravine Drive on April 13.  We are looking for a way to track the fish--our Research Question being:  will the fish return to our stream when they are adults (in about three years) to spawn?

Next we gathered around a lab table to practice one method of tagging, which uses a "FLOY" tag and a device very much like the one that stores use to put hanging tags on clothing.  We practiced on minnows called Golden Shiners.  Some of the students even gave it a try.  Afterwards, we cut the tags off the fish and they were released to freedom in the pond at Heller Nature Center.