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| The Trout in the Classroom program is ‘great teaching tool’ |
Courtesy Photo:
Seventh-graders at Benjamin Franklin Middle School participated in the Trout in the Classroom program through the Dan River Basin Association. Above, the students walk through a stream to observe their released fish. |
Monday, August 20, 2012
The award-winning Trout in the Classroom (TIC) program was launched in Southern Virginia in 2005 when Dr. David Jones, a local orthodontist, sponsored 15 tanks in the Martinsville area.
Seven years later, the Dan River Basin Association (DRBA) has reached over 15,000 students in five counties, including Franklin County.
Melissa Talley, a seventh-grade science teacher at Ben Franklin Middle School, participated in Trout in the Classroom for the first time this past season.
"The tank was not only a great teaching tool for the classroom, but the program is a powerful tool to teach the students to respect and care for their environment," Talley said. "Ownership is a powerful motivator. We often talk about the negative effects humans have on the environment (especially in terms of pollution). The students were more in-tune with the overall impact of pollution on aquatic ecosystems as they worried about the fate of their fish once released into the river."
With trout tanks in the classroom, the fish provide a living incentive to learn math, biology, language and other subjects, according to Krista Hodges, DRBA's outreach coordinator. The program requires students keep daily journals throughout the school year, noting observations connected to their curriculum and recording the different stages of the trout's life cycle.
DRBA's Trout in the Classroom program is recruiting volunteers. For more information on how you can become involved in this environmental program, contact Hodges at khodges@danriver.org.
DRBA is a 501(c)3 non-profit working to promote and protect the region's natural and cultural resources to inspire economic growth through education, recreation and stewardship of these resources. Become a member or find more information at www.danriver.org. |
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