Leaf Eaters

'Mama, you know what eats leaves?'

'Ikseks.'

Joyfully 

With Heart

Trout Count, Post 10

Subject: Our Babies

February 23, 2013, 12:10 PM

Hi Margaret,

I’m counting 10 fry today.  Could there be more???

That was the email from the classroom yesterday.

Excitement greets me at the door, 'Come see! They're swimming!'

Eggs bounce on the gravel.

Alevins with their attached egg sac also bounce and hide.

Fry absorb the egg sac, button up, and swim up.

'How many inches is this on my finger?' 

I'm pleased the students are attending to details like size in their journaling.

'I see some fish going up and down. Some are in the gravel, others in the clear water.'

Seeking More Fry,

With Heart

Trout-Write to Learn, Post 9

Nature 101

A lifelong friend of mine, Amy Ouchley, naturalist, environmentalist, and writer, has always encouraged me to write to learn as I enjoy nature. One of her techniques is Nature 101, 'a way to log your observations in nature, preserve them in a unique format, and reflect on them in the future.'

 She advises to:

Observe.

Record.

Reflect.

Follow my use of Amy's list of 'Stop, Look, and Listen' verbs in my alevin observation.

Admire the two day old trout.

Call them alevins, newly hatched.

Notice their transparency.

Wonder where their nourishment is?

Observe the golden egg sac.

Spot the black and white eyes.

Ponder what these little fish see.

You can contact Amy at biouchley@yahoo.com.

Thank you Amy,

With Heart

Trout, Observe by Sketching, Post 8

At a nature journaling workshop last summer I learned 2 important points from John Muir Laws, naturalist, illustrator, and author:

Be brave. Be bold. It doesn't have to be a pretty picture.

Art is the tool. Observation is the goal.

Here are 2 pages from my Nature Journal where I practice my sketching to increase my own observation skills and learning.

Laws also teaches students of all ages to label sketches and to write using 3 prompts:

I notice.

I wonder.

This reminds me.

I enjoy incorporating these practices as I learn and as I share with students, and even with my young grandsons. It's very good for the brains of preschoolers and their grandmothers, and for all ages in between. 

Try it.

Check out the website and blog of John Muir Laws at http://www.johnmuirlaws.com and you'll want to go outside and observe nature. You might even grab a pencil and some paper and try your hand at sketching to learn something new about your environment.

Observing

With Heart

More Trout Art, Post 7

In Trout Journaling, Post 4, February 5th, I showed you student art. They continue to sketch the trout as the life cycle progresses.

You also may have noticed the great posters we have on the window above the aquarium.

Ed Huff of Mission Peak Fly Anglers is the artist. He's the white-bearded gentleman to the right of our trout sponsor Gerry Ng in this picture from the day we delivered eggs to the classrooms.  

The posters show trout anatomy,

habitat,

and diet.

On the back of each poster is a diagram of the art, a detailed description, and Project Wild activities to use with students to help them understand trout and their needs. 

Mr. Huff credits the technical assistance and encouragement from Ethan Rotman, Bob, Flasher, and biologists from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for the success of these posters.

This art is a good example to students of the importance of art, research, and writing.

Admiring Art 

With Heart

Trout Hide and Seek, Post 6

Today I could count only four alevins. There are no dead fish floating, so I know there should be 24 more newly hatched trout.

Where are they? We go often to count and look and wonder.

Ah hah! 

Look for  the black and white eye to the right of the bright green 'rock.' Now find the dark back and tail  that extends to the white round rock. Between the eyes and the tip of the tail locate the transparent egg sac right above the yellow rock. This alevin is almost 2 inches below the top of the gravel. 

Is this what young trout do for survival in a cold mountain stream?

In Awe

With Heart

Trout Count, Post 5

At last count there were 2 eggs, and I could only see 6 alevins. There must be 22 more alevins well-hidden. Even with the magnifying lens, that's all I can find. They're only one half to five eighths of an inch long. 

Can you find the alevin? (It's a horizontal dark line between two yellow rocks.) The silvery background is the insulation that is around the tank to help the chiller cool the water to 52 degrees.

Looking closer, can you find four tiny trout? One is behind the orange rock. See the egg sacs of the three at the front. That's where they get their nourishment. The fish aren't swimming yet,  just bouncing around on the gravel. 

Here are two alevins. See their eyes.

The front one is now head first into the rocks. I have a feeling there are many hidden in a similar way.

Can you see why I have a hard time finding them to count?

Observing 

With Heart

Trout Journaling, Post 4

Trout Count

The students, their teacher, and I are so excited about our 13 alevins we counted today. Since we only counted 6 eggs, there must be 11 more well-camouflaged trout in the aquarium.

On the day the eggs are delivered the students make folders to hold their trout study.

Inside you'll find sketches and descriptions of what they see. 

'30 baby trout in a very cold tank surrounded by huge rocks.'

'They are tiny little creamish eggs, and I can see their black eyes and their red veins.'

'Much, much, much bigger than actual size.'

'Well they have 2 small black eyes and are way smaller than my nail. Not much movement.'

'Like 20 times bigger.'

'I see a small alevin with an egg sac attached to its stomach and moving of their tails.'

I encourage them to draw what they see, not what they think they should see. They notice size, color, and movement. As my favorite nature artist and writer Jack Laws teaches, 

 'Art is the tool. Observation is the goal.'

Sharing Wonder 

With Heart

We've Got Trout! Post 3

We're so excited! When I went into the classroom first thing this morning to check on the eggs, the teacher and students met me with the news that 3 eggs had hatched!

Everyone loves to take a look, even at recess.

A baby trout, an alevin, is about half an inch long, still has its egg sac attached to its belly, and is transparent. you can see the tail wiggle.

Still Counting,

With Heart

Trout in the Classroom, Post 2

Here's our TIC {Trout in the Classroom} department with the tank on the right countertop, art posters describing life cycle, anatomy, and habitat, and a paraphrase of a John Muir quote.

'When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.'

The tank is like a mountain stream with it's cold water kept near 52 degrees by a chiller and insulation, flowing current and oxygen provided by a filter and pump, gravel and rocks for camouflage, and shade also provided by the insulation.

For a few minutes a day we uncover the tank so the students can check on the eggs, recording the temperature and drawing what they see. I see 4 eggs, do you?

Here are 4 more eggs. How many pairs of eyes are 'looking at' you?

Now that you've had practice, how many eggs do you see?

When will they hatch? We calculate how many more thermal units the eggs need to hatch. A thermal unit is  the average temperature minus 32 degrees. Even at 52 degrees, they require thermal energy.  

There is no sign of hatching yet. We're waiting for the next stage in the life cycle, alevin. It will stay in the gravel and be nourished by its still attached egg sac. I'll let you know the date and will try to get a picture.

Patiently by necessity,

With Heart.