2019 TIC workshop Last Saturday, forty TIC fans gathered in the Red Schoolhouse on the Vermont Tech Randolph campus for the 6th annual (!) workshop for TIC teachers and volunteers. We were fortunate to have dry weather after a 24-hour period that brought much wind and rain and even a fair bit of flooding. Tiffany Tucker, who teaches 1st grade at Springfield, Vermont's, Elm Hill School, was one of the experienced teachers on the teacher panel that took place at 1:30 pm during our workshop. Along with sharing information about several of the "TIC enhancements" that Tiffany has added to her program, she brought a 6-minute video that provided a visual summary of some of the Elm Hill School TIC highlights. Here's that video. As we have done most years, we ended the workshop by pulling raffle tickets for "door prizes." The final drawing was restricted to the experienced TIC teachers as a way of recognizing the particularly important contribution they make to the workshop each year. This year's winner was Noah Hoffman, 7th grade science teacher at Mt. Abraham Union Middle School. Three days later, Noah sent me this photo of him "breaking in" the attractive brook trout glass he won in that raffle. Ethical issues and TIC During last week's TIC workshop, Cindy Mosedale, math and science teacher at Newark Street School, and others raised questions about some ethical issues that they perceive or can imagine some of their students and parents perceiving related to the Trout in the Classroom program. Some of these may have to do with the fact that now all the eggs we receive and fish we raise (and release) are sterile "triploids." We began to explore those issues but didn't have time to get into them in much depth. I have asked Cindy to send me a brief statement in which she articulates her concerns. In the next blog or two, I'll hope to begin to dive into these issues, which could be raised by your students or their parents. Finding redds A couple of weeks ago, I forwarded an e-mail about a redd counting project that was about to take place in southwestern Vermont. Janni Jacobs, of Braintree Elementary School, which sits just east of the White River and even closer to Flint Brook, one of the White's tributaries, let Rudi Ruddell know that she was interested in getting her students involved in finding redds in their "home waters." What's a redd? A redd is a nest created in the gravel of a stream by a female trout that's ready to spawn. Finding and counting redds is a great project to undertake at this time of year if you and your kids have the opportunity to walk in or alongside a stream that holds brook or brown trout (rainbows spawn in early spring). Since learning of Janni's interest, I've added four YouTube videos about redds to the Other Trout Videos page accessible from the VTTIC home page. The first two videos on that page also contain terrific underwater footage of female trout making a redd and then laying her eggs in it (and lots of other great footage). This (below), the first of the four redd videos, provides a good introduction to the topic as well as instructions on how to perform a redd count. Let me know if you get out there with your kids to look for redds--and send me photos. Getting set up As most teachers know, the TIC timeline calls for ordering your equipment and supplies and setting up your tank before Thanksgiving. That's not too far in the future, so I hope you're working on that intensively right now! Here's a link to a Google Docs folder (on the VTTIC Web site) that contains lists of equipment and supplies you'll need, whether you're a new or experienced TIC teacher. Here's a link to a Word document (available in the same folder) that contains links to six YouTube videos that demonstrate tank and equipment set-up. If you need help figuring out how most efficiently to cut a single 4' X 8' sheet of 1" insulating foam to cover your tank on all six sides, take a look at the instructions developed by the Great Bob Wible here. Similarly, if you haven't already modified your breeder basket by replacing the too-fine bottom screening by something coarser (and by putting the netting inside the basket frame instead of outside it), check out these instructions from Bob. Unless you've decided not to pre-cycle, don't forget to order your ammonium chloride.
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Joe Mark is Lead Facilitator of Vermont's Trout in the Classroom program.In June 2012, I retired after 40 years in higher education, having spent the last 32 years of my career as dean at Castleton. One of the first things I volunteered to do in retirement was to work with a parent-friend to help the Dorset School, where his kids and my Vermont grandkids attend, start a TIC program. Gradually that commitment grew into my current role, which is both demanding and highly rewarding. Archives
December 2019
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