New Hampshire Fish and Game biologist Jared Lamy demonstrates to JFES students, who are engaged in a “Trout in the Classroom” program.
James Faulkner Elementary School has a tank full of trout alevin (newly hatched fish) in the
multipurpose room, which all students have been monitoring in order to document their growth. The Trout in the Classroom program, spearheaded by JFES teachers Tina Minard and Maggie
Forrestall, is designed to foster a sense of stewardship for our land and understand our
place within it. Students at each grade level are learning about the Eastern Brook Trout's life cycle, anatomy and food chain, as well as what healthy watersheds look like and how they affect the ecosystem as a whole. Upper Elementary students had the opportunity to demonstrate and expand their knowledge when Jared Lamy, a New Hampshire Fish and Game habitat biologist, visited at the end of January. In the spring, JFES students will release trout “fry” in a cold, clean, complex, and connected habitat. At that point, the trout will be old enough to swim up and look for food, which they will be able to find in the wild.
JFES received the eggs on Nov, 22 and have been monitoring the temperature daily in order to
track their overall development and growth from egg to alevin to fry. All students made
observation journals in art class to track their data and make sketches. Grade 5 has been able
to incorporate this hands-on learning into their math learning targets about using all four
operations with decimals up to the thousandths place.