Lilly Center’s Classroom Lake Experience Program Aids Local Teachers
Lilly Center’s Classroom Lake Experience Program Aids Local Teachers
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Staff Report-
Lilly Center’s Classroom Lake Experience Program Aids Local TeachersWINONA LAKE – At the beginning of the 2018-19 school year, over 30 40-gallon aquariums were taken to classrooms in elementary schools throughout Kosciusko County. More than 2,300 students saw and learned about native fish throughout the school year.
Classroom Lake Experience helps enhance an elementary classroom’s existing schedule, according to a news release from The Lilly Center for Lakes & Streams. Lesson plans are designed around specific standards and age-appropriate objectives, but they are capable of more than meeting an educational standard. The classroom aquariums usually hold five to eight native fish, a combination of red ear sunfish, smallmouth bass, gold shiners, perch and channel catfish. Throughout the school year, elementary students observe the habitats of the fish and learn about related topics. Since the fish are ones found in lakes throughout Kosciusko County, the students are also gaining first-hand knowledge about what local fish like to eat and how they prefer to live.
In the Dr. Dane A. Miller Science Complex on Grace College’s campus, the Lilly Center has space for more than 80 aquariums. Many will be used as stock tanks; the rest will be taken to school classrooms. Apply for or help fund an aquarium by emailing Caitlin Yoder, education coordinator at the Lilly Center at yodercs@grace.edu or visit lakes.grace.edu to get involved.
Supporters of the Classroom Lake Experience program include Cargill Inc., City of Warsaw Stormwater Utility, Clearwater Car Wash, CTB Inc., The Dekko Foundation, Hand Family Foundation Inc., Paragon Medical Inc., Syracuse Lake Association, Wawasee Area Conservation Foundation, Warsaw Optimist Club, Wawasee Middle School, Wawasee Property Owners Association, Winona Lake Preservation Association and Zimmer Biomet.
The Lilly Center for Lakes & Streams at Grace College conducts research, provides resources, engages and educates residents, and collaborates with local organizations to make the lakes and streams of Kosciusko County clean, healthy, safe and beautiful. To date, the Lilly Center has conducted scientific research on over 30 streams and 40 lakes. For more information, visit lakes.grace.edu.
