Watching the Life Cycle of a Fish Firsthand

As part of Gilmour’s Nature-Based Learning initiative, the third graders have been raising rainbow trout in their classroom since receiving about 100 trout eggs on January 12. In the nearly eight weeks since, the students have been responsible for testing the water chemistry daily and performing regular water changes, which included conditioning and cooling  the water, as well as adding Nite-Out II nitrifying bacteria, Special Blend and Ammo Lock as needed. 

This week, the students’ hard work paid off. After Fr. John Blazek, C.S.C. ‘58 blessed the fish, the third graders, along with the three seniors in the Environment & Society course, traveled to release the trout in the Chagrin River. The third graders got to experience firsthand the life cycle of a fish and the Upper School students were able to apply their understanding of the nitrogen cycle to the events that took place in the trout tank over the past weeks. See photos from the release here.