The Poetry of Brook Trout

The seventh grade students in Mrs. Fernandes' Life Sciences classes participate in Pennsylvania's Trout in the Classroom (TIC) program that allows students to raise trout from eggs to small trout that students release into the Little Juniata River in April and May.

TIC is a program that introduces cold water conservation education by raising brook trout, a native cold water species, from eggs to fingerlings. Throughout the school year, students care for the trout, monitor and record aquarium water quality and trout behavior, while Mrs. Fernandes incorporates cold water education lessons into the classroom.

During Professor Davis’ visit, students asked him many questions both about becoming a writer and about fishing. They learned that while Davis loved reading from a young age, his love for poetry was ignited only in his college years and that, even with fifteen published works, he learns something new about writing every day. Davis solicits feedback from both other poets and biologists to make sure his observations of nature are accurate. While Davis has not fished in Colorado or tied his own flies, he thinks both activities would be great. He enjoys writing poetry out-of-doors whenever he can.

Mrs. Fernandes' students wrote their own science poetry on subjects that included: endangered trout, hummingbirds, the negative impact of humans on nature, and fascination with the human brain.

Additionally, the class is participating in the TIC Quilting Project this year. For this project, students design quilt squares and share them with other schools, while other schools share their squares with Grier. Working under the theme of "Amazing Adaptations," students at Grier created fabric quilt squares to share across the US and expect to receive squares from TIC schools in Nebraska, Maine, California, Vermont, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. 

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_{By R. Woolfrey | Photo credit: C. Fernades}