When I was a kid, my grandparents used to take me to the state’s fish hatchery in New Gloucester, Maine to look at the fish. Even though they took me several times, I never tired of watching the brown trout swim in schools from pool to pool. Later when I was a teen-ager, I belonged to the Water Quality Monitoring Team in high school. My teammates and I sampled water from area lakes and ponds, including Damariscotta Lake, where I had fished for brown trout with my brother and grandfather years before. I loved to cast and once caught two fish on the same hook! This made my younger brother envious. I should take up fly-fishing again.
Trouts Unlimited started a program for school kids called Trout in the Classroom over 20 years ago. Students in grades K-12 get to raise trout from eggs to fry in a classroom tank; monitor the tank water quality; engage in a stream habitat study; learn to appreciate water resources; begin to foster a conservation ethic; and grow to understand ecosystems. Each program is unique depending on the school’s curriculum. At the end of the year, students release the trout into a nearby stream that has been approved by the state.http://www.troutintheclassroom.org/home This program is run in 20 states so far. For state-specific resources, visit:http://www.troutintheclassroom.org/teachers/
state-specific-resources There are many opportunities for local residents outside the school to volunteer with the Trout in the Classroom program:http://www.troutintheclassroom.org/volunteers
Strange Wetlands™ 