Brandon Twp.-A few of the new classmates in Peggy Miller-Zelinko’s science class at Brandon Academy of Arts & Sciences are all wet.
But no towel is needed.
Thanks to a $500 grant from Ortonville Rotary Club along with $200 from DTE students received Chinook salmon eggs last November from Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery in Mattawan, Van Buren County. The project is part of the Salmon in the Classroom program supervised by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
‘It’s been a great learning experience for the students,? said Miller-Zelinko. ‘The students are really into the project and keep watch over the eggs and now small salmon each day.?
The learning experience provides students the opportunity to raise, care for and maintain the salmon in their classroom from fall until spring. The program concludes after the young fish are released in a local watershed that feeds one of the Great Lakes. The Salmon in the Classroom program incorporated more than 100 Michigan schools last year.
Miller-Zelinko said about 194 eggs hatched and have matured into parr about 2 inches long.
‘It’s really a lesson in the reproduction of salmon along with a study of the environment,? she added. ‘Consider the water quality, temperature and food are all monitored to promote the growth of the salmon. We discuss the impact on the ecosystem.?
Miller-Zelinko follows strict guidelines outlined by the DNR, which include keeping the eggs in a 50-gallon tank with 47-degree treated water. The water is continually agitated to simulate a moving waterway. Each school that participates in the Salmon in the Classroom program receives a permit to release the fish from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Green said the parr will grow to about 4 inches long before being released in the waterway.
The king salmon average a weight of 30 to 40 pounds and 38 inches in length when fully grown.