14 Nebraska Game and Parks Commission • 2018 Annual Report
T R O U T I N T H E C L A S S R O O M
P A R T I C I P A T I O N G R O W S
Beginning in the 2014-2015 school year, the Nebraska Game and Parks
Commission began facilitating the Nebraska Trout in the Classroom Program,
which helps students learn about water quality, life cycles, habitats and food
webs. This program is critical for classrooms across the state as we see a shift in
science education moving towards hands-on, experiential-based lessons.
Starting each year in mid-January, each participating classroom receives
approximately 150 rainbow trout eggs. Students then spend the next 14 weeks
raising the trout while learning how water quality affects aquatic species,
the role fish play in the ecosystem, and about Nebraska habitats. The school
year ends with a field trip allowing students to release their fingerling trout
into an approved location, go fishing and further their learning through
macroinvertebrate testing.
Thanks to a Nebraska Environmental Trust grant, the initial curriculum is
being revised to incorporate new state educational standards and expand the
program for second through 12th grade classrooms. Additionally, the Nebraska
Trout Unlimited Chapter 710 provided funding for fish for students to dissect
and a scholarship for newly participating schools to offset the cost of the tank
set-up.
School Year Classrooms
2014-2015 18
2015-2016 39
2016-2017 61
2017-2018 74
2018-2019 92
DIRECTOR'S
CUP
ARCHERY
TOURNAMENT
AT
THE
NEBRASKA
OUTDOOR
EDUCATION
CENTER
TROUT
IN
THE
CLASSROOM
FISH
RELEASE
AT
SCHRAMM
PARK
SRA
IN
SARPY
COUNTY.
