Here’s an update from Janet’s Kindergarten classroom:

“Yesterday we opened the tank and we noticed that 2 of the alevin had turned into frys. And by today we had 3! Alevin is the stage when the fish starts to absorb the nutrition of the egg and becomes a tiny fish with a big tummy. At that stage they hide in the gravel for protection and darkness. Then, when they start to absorb the egg’s nutrients, they grow into the next stage, which is a fry. When they have absorbed enough of the egg nutrients, they can free-swim around the tank.

The kids used their science journals to draw the frys as best they could, but they dart around the tank so fast that we had to draw quickly!

Along the way there have been eggs that have deteriorated in the tanks. When this happens, Matt reaches in with a turkey baster and sucks them up. If you don’t do this, the dead eggs hook onto the gravel and become bacteria. Because we our tanks don’t have free-flowing water, the bacteria would contaminate the tank and it would become a hostile environment — trout need to be in fresh, clean water.”

And here are some quotes from Janet’s kids:

What was exciting is that we had some fry. ~Harrison
There were some eggs attached to the fry. ~Lila
I learned that alevin had big bellies. ~Alexander
When I looked at it, it feeled like their bellies were filled with all this food. ~Caroline
I saw the egg part was still red and I was surprised. ~Ella
The fish fry were swimming on the top of the tank. ~Lily
Some were fry and some were alevin. ~Haakon
Some eggs are still trying to hatch. ~Emma J.
I saw that that the tail of an alevin was sticking out of the rock. ~Addy
I didn’t know that alevins stay in the rocks until they swim. ~Emma
The older they get, the smaller the egg gets. ~Cameron
I saw one fish was trying to get inside the rock. ~Amelia
There is an alevin hid under a rock. ~Lila
I saw an alevin swimming on the top of the water. Ben
I wonder why the little fry were swimming on the top. Raphaela
The fry swim fast. Michael
The fry are so cute and swim really fast. Sarena

Click on the thumbnails below to see some journal entries from our Kindergarten scientists: