Video of two-headed alevin. Resources for TIC curricula. More about mold. Store that frozen water!!1/23/2019 Steve Flint's video In our last blog I shared a photo of a two-headed embryo. In response, Steve Flint, of Mary Hogan School, sent me a short video of a two-headed alevin that hatched in his TIC tank two years ago. Enjoy! Getting new ideas for TIC curricula Two weeks ago a 3rd grade teacher in Virginia submitted a question to our TIC/SIC national e-mail group. Amy Lenz wrote, "I would love to hear how other teachers are making this program even more academically rigorous." Two state coordinators were among those who responded, and each gave us all access to two resources I hadn't previously known about. Judy Tumosa, watershed education specialist and TIC coordinator for NH Fish and Game, sent Amy a copy of the NH TIC Activity Guide. Tracy Page, aquatic education coordinator for Michigan's Department of Natural Resources, sent Amy Michigan's Classroom Activity Guide for schools raising salmon. Both of these activity guides provide numerous terrific and interesting ways in which you can extend the TIC program in your classroom. Check them out! While we're on the subject, I should remind you of the two documents that connect TIC activities with the Common Core State Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards. Both of these are in the Google Docs collection on this Web site, but I've also linked them to those underlined phrases above. And finally, don't overlook the curriculum resources that Trout Unlimited's national TIC coordinator maintains. As you can see, the resources are organized by curricular area. Click here or on the image above to go directly to the TUTIC Web site. More on mold Jeff Walker, of Benson Village School, sent me this photo this morning and asked, "Is that mold?" I said I thought it probably was and suggested that Jeff use his baster to remove the mold. Jeff replied that he had tried that, "But the baster didn't really do much. I think I'll have to transfer the eggs to another container and remove it then." Then he reported: Thanks for your help with the mold! I transferred the eggs to a beaker while I cleaned the basket and took this pic. When I got the mold out, I found that a decayed egg and a fry were caught up in the seam of the basket. Here's a photo of his now mold-free eggs and alevin. More unusual alevin Laurie Graham, of Bakersfield Middle School, sent these images to Bob Wible, who forwarded them to me. As you can see, this is a case of two alevin trying to make it through life by sharing a single yolk sac. I haven't seen that before.
Keep ice on hand! Two teachers came back from the three-day weekend to find their chillers off and tank water temperature rapidly rising. In one case it was likely because the school had experienced a short power outage and the chiller, plugged into a GFCI receptacle, didn't go back on after power was restored. In the other case, the chiller's controller unit stopped functioning properly (and had to be replaced). In both cases, what the teachers needed to do was grab those bottles of frozen dechlorinated water they were storing in a freezer in the school's kitchen and, depending on how warm the water had become, drop one or more of them into the tank. Would you have several bottles of ice if you were to need them in a similar emergency? I recommend four one-liter bottles. P.S.: Because water expands when it freezes, fill your bottles only about 80% full. That way you won't blow the cap off the bottle as the water freezes!
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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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