When the school year opens, our science department receives queries from all grade levels, including our Religious Education friends, about when “the eggs” will arrive. Trout eggs are furnished by the California Department of Fish and Game, and our project is raising them to fingerling size, then releasing them into the wild (Lytle Creek).
The project is part of the science curriculum of all grade levels, and all students regularly visit the science classroom to monitor the progress from egg to alevyn to fingerling. Our evening students are left with instructions on how to turn on and off the tank lights so they, too, can monitor the progress. Saint Adelaide’s younger students learn God’s life cycle of our fish, and they learn that special care is required to keep these creatures of God healthy. Older students learn the nitrogen cycle and the importance of keeping close watch on the water’s chemical composition.
Last year, all students learned the risks of pesticides, as an accidental spraying of the science lab caused a complete loss of the fish. The majority of the care belongs to the sixth grade students, who adapt feeding schedules, chemical analysis and water-changing techniques to ensure optimal living conditions for our charges.
All of Saint Adelaide Academy students truly value our work with God as we nourish our trout. The students have learned that God has made us responsible for Earth’s resources. At the release there are tears, but there is glory in God’s creation as well, when our little fish return to the wild.