Culver City kids get a hands-on lesson in trout
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Students at Culver City’s Linwood E. Howe Elementary might not, under normal circumstances, have the chance to see wildlife up close. That’s where Jim Solomon of the Santa Monica Wilderness Fly Fishers comes in.
For the last 15 years, Solomon has brought elementary school students and rainbow trout together as part of a nationwide program called Trout in the Classroom. The program’s young participants raise trout fry (baby fish) from eggs until they’re old enough to be released. Along the way, they learn insightful tidbits about the fishes’ lives: For example, Solomon tells them that the fry are afraid of their parents. Why? Our colleague Catherine Ho explains:
No sooner had those words left Jim Solomon’s mouth than the horrified cries of 35 third-graders crescendoed in unison: ‘Whaaaat?’ ‘It’s because they might eat them,’ he explained. Parents gobbling up their young was all but unthinkable to 8- and 9-year-olds that February morning. But [Solomon] spoke their language. Trout in the Classroom...resonates with students by translating trout terms into kid-speak: A fly is the trout’s steak sandwich. Pectoral fins are their car brakes. Ants are their chocolate cake.
In December, third-grade teacher Lisa Schnauss’ class received 50 fertilized trout eggs. On Friday, the class released the three that survived to maturity (most trout fry don’t, whether hatched in the wild or in captivity) in Piru Creek.
‘It’s like a freeway,’ said 8-year-old Julia Martin as the fish swam away.
For more information on the program, read Catherine Ho’s story and check out Trout in the Classroom on the web.
-- Lindsay Barnett
Video: Los Angeles Times