Trees For Trout!

The purpose of this grant is to be able to document the process of raising Rainbow Trout twice a year from egg stage to release stage as fingerlings. At the same time our class will incorporate a unit on forestry to determine the impact of native forests, local clearcuts and local reforestation projects on the survivability of Rainbow Trout in our area. If awarded the Olympus cameras, students will be able to record and document the stages of the trout throughout the life cycle.

Digitally, students will be able to use the camera both underwater and during inclement weather with the housing units requested. Students will be able to document livability of and survival rates of Rainbow Trout primarily based on the sustainability of forest species that line the streams the trout are released in. Digital access will give students the opportunity to sequentially track changes over time since this is a twice yearly project.

The Olympus grant will provide students awareness to the worldwide importance of two of Oregon's renewable resources, water and trees, through the use of Olympus cameras. Students will be able to learn by taking a "hands on" approach to learning. They, in effect, will become the "owners" of a final project which will include sequential documentation of a fish lifecycle and environmental factors that affect this cycle. The project will familiarize students with digital capabilities and provide them a chance to work with high school students who have access to digital synthesizing in order to provide CD/video/DVD projects for local forest companies and the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission who supply our fish eggs. Students will also use the cameras to plan slide-show presentations for parent conferences and the community.

Each year our class visits a Port Blakely tree farm site near our school to discover characteristics of good forest management. We look at animal habitats as well as continued forest practices that maintain our natural water resources in Oregon. With digital access which is limited, yet much needed at our level, students will be able to analyze environmental change over time right in their own backyard! What an opportunity for fish and wildlife management teams as well as forest companies, to have students take a part in the documentation of our environment.

With digital access students will be able to identify Oregon's common trees and have an understanding of the continued importance of forest resources in our state as related to our waterways. Being able to use digital cameras in the field and then come back to the classroom for an in depth investigation through digital imaging would be phenomenal for the learning process in our classroom! Through digital presentations, a number of Oregon's statewide benchmarks will successfully be met in the area of scientific inquiry and discovery.