Mr. Bennett's 5th Grade Class had another great day spent in the field. They visited the Enterprise Fish Hatchery with Austin processing steelhead. They trapped adult steelhead and ran them through the process of taking eggs from the hen and the milt from the bucks and combining them for fertilization. They also were able to tour the incubation room with all the eggs that are in the process of hatching. The kids got the feed the rainbow trout in the holding ponds that will be used for stocking local ponds and lakes. They have a special breed of high lake trout that will be helicopter-dropped into the high lakes around the area too. They were able the see the tanks with the baby smolts that are kept indoors and they also had to tanks with trout they call the fat boys that are used for tournaments and other special events. These are huge trout! They went for a hike on the nature trail and the kids got to see three really big Red Eared Slider Turtles. They ate lunch at the Lake and where they saw a red fox and they walked the beach and tossed a few rocks. It was a full day of learning and exploring.
5th Grade Adventures to the Hatchery
May 3, 2023