Fish guts as a teaching tool
Educators use biology to give lessons about the environment on Rivers to Oceans Day
Robin Grant
Northern News Services
Monday, June 13, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Fish guts, whale blubber and water filters became non-conventional teaching tools last Wednesday for Rivers to Oceans Day.
Youth had the opportunity to learn about environmental issues related to water at 15 different stations at Somba K'e Civic Plaza, such as Peter Cott's popular freshwater fish presentation through Joint Task Force North.
"We are telling (the students) about the importance of camouflage for fish, what different fish eat and how their body shapes help them escape predators, help them feed," said Cott, adding he showed students what fish reproductive and digestive systems look like as well.
"All kids, regardless of the age or anything ... They all wanted to see fish guts."
Grade 5 student Lydell MacNad, who was watching the fish demonstration with his classmates, agreed.
"We learned that fish have gills not lungs, and that they breathe by moving, and we don't do that. We breathe with lungs," he said.
"We got to see all their organs."
Held every year on World Ocean Day, Rivers to Oceans Day is a collaboration with Ecology North, Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Mildred Hall School teacher David Speakman lauded the event, saying children love the hands-on activities.
"I think they like the fish. They like touching the parts of the fish and understanding what those parts do," he said.
Over at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans station, Deanne Leonard, a fisheries management biologist, demonstrated how blubber keeps whales warm, among other things.
"They are putting their hands in a blubber glove inside ice water and comparing how their hand feels when it's inside the blubber," she explained.
"And they are learning about how different animals, depending on their size, make different types of sounds. So a larger animal is going to have a deeper sound like a tuba verses the smaller animals that produce a higher pitch sound."
Andrea Harding, a Grade 4 and 5 teacher at Mildred Hall School, said it's really good to give students the opportunity to engage with experts in the community.
"They brought in people from various walks of life here that have the expert knowledge that us teachers, we don't have, and they can set up these wonderful on-hands on experiences," she said.
