paddlefish project

February 13, 2018 by admin

Paddlefish Project Groups to Use New Facility at Refuge

Goose Prairie at Caddo Lake

Student-teacher groups involved in Collins Academy’s flagship environmental education program, the Paddlefish Project, will begin using a new pavilion at Caddo Lake Natural Wildlife Refuge for their monthly field trips. The 20 ft. by 40 ft. structure is located on a point at Goose Prairie, the birdiest place for waterfowl on Caddo Lake.

Students will be taking to canoes from this location to gather water quality data with handheld electronic probes. They will also be doing some serious birding right where exotic transients of the feathered type love to hang out. Expert birders will be available to assist with identifications and other questions.

January 29, 2018 by admin

Academy Partners with Shreveport Aquarium to Enhance Paddlefish Outreach

Students touch organisms in the Pacific Coast ecosystem.

In an effort to remain on the cutting edge of science education, Collins Academy has partnered with Planet Aqua Group for special student-teacher field trips to the Shreveport Aquarium. “Back in August, Director of Operations Adrea Gibbs and Education Manager Kimberly Lobit paid a visit to Jefferson. They had heard about our involvement with the Paddlefish Project and wanted to offer the remodeled Barnwell Center as a venue for Collins Academy’s cadre of public and private school students. Our Conservation Leadership Teams from Jefferson and Queen City have both attended and have academically benefited and greatly enjoyed all the marine displays, the hands-on interactive areas; and the Caddo Lake habitat with its live paddlefish,” stated Gary Endsley, Collins Academy’s director.

Students touch rays as they swim by for petting.

An exciting sidebar project has developed between Collins’ Conservation Leadership students and the Aquarium to improve and maintain the Caddo Lake habitat located under the dome. Besides monitoring water quality of the freshwater stream located there, students want to introduce and maintain native plants common to the Caddo Lake ecosystem. “Right now, many of the plant materials are tropical or exotic and do not belong in the Caddo Lake habitat area at all,” added Endsley.

A student in an observation dome inside a display.

The Shreveport Aquarium provides a detailed look at different marine ecosystems emphasizing the relationships between structure and function of a particular habitat with the adaptations of specific organisms. Displays include a large area for freshwater species depicting the ecology of Caddo Lake. Displays here contain American Paddlefish, common freshwater fish, and another of freshwater turtles.

For group pricing and to arrange a visit, call Kimberly Lobit at (318) 383-0601 or send a message to Kimberly@shreveportaquarium.com .

May 12, 2015 by admin

Collins Academy to Host Paddlefish Festival 2015

MAY 22 – A DAY FOR AREA, COMMUNITY, AND VOLUNTEERS

The Collins Academy will host a “Community & Volunteer” day at the 2015 Paddlefish Festival on May 22, 2015 at the Jefferson Transportation & Visitor Center, 305 E. Austin Street.

Presentations will begin at 9:00 a.m. with FUN WITH SCIENCE, a presentation designed for adults to demonstrate the engaging activities that bring science to life for many students. Cheryl Potemkin, owner and designer of Pollen Path Design, is on the board of directors of the Informal Science Education Association of Texas. She designs and presents teacher workshops to promote active learning in science classrooms throughout Texas. Join Ms. Potemkin as you become an active participant in hands on science activities and watch out, you might just find you’re having FUN!

At 10:00, Daryl Sprout will present SNAKE ENCOUNTERS. Mr. Sprout established his program in 1993 with the purpose of providing education on the subject of snakes in a humorous and entertaining way – in order to dispel myths, help audience members overcome the phobia, and to help guide the rapidly growing hobby of informed and responsible herpetoculture. Daryl is fortunate to have a great collection of beautiful, patient animals who meet his strict criteria of docility, gentleness and distinctiveness – ensuring a program filled with wonder at nature’s beauty and adaptability. Unlike many other animal-oriented nature presentations, Daryl encourages a hands-on approach to the topics covered. Many of the animals seen can be touched and interacted with at the end of the show. With the timing of a stand-up comic, the stage presence of a seasoned actor, and accomplished magician, Daryl does exciting, funny, fast-paced shows that are known for their high production values. The show IS educational, but the crowd is usually having too much fun to notice.

At 11:00 there will be no better way to understand birds of prey in Texas than to meet them in person. Erich Newport will provide you with this amazing opportunity. Blackland Prairie Raptor Center’s birds of prey have been introducing children of all ages to the world of raptors. The hawks, owls and falcons are well trained and will show you what makes them an important part of our environment.

At noon the Caddo Lake Institute will wrap things up with a report on the Paddlefish Reintroduction Initiative and the condition of Caddo Lake.

Earlier in the week the Collins Academy will host two days for schools that have participated in the Paddlefish Reintroduction Education Initiative. Ten school districts have been working with the Collins Academy through a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency by participating in a project focused on the environment. Using the Paddlefish Reintroduction Experiment as a “hook” for learning, students have been engaged in a problem or project based learning that is authentic to their school and/or community. Each participating school will provide a display board as a report on their particular project.

Participating schools are: Oil City Magnet, Oil City, Louisiana; Harleton Elementary; Hallsville Intermediate; Hughes Springs Elementary; Queen City Elementary/Middle School; Jefferson Junior High; Sam Houston Middle School, Marshall; Texas Middle School, Texarkana; Daingerfield-Lone Star High School; Karnack High School.

Other schools that have participated in a satellite position are: Jefferson High School, Jefferson Elementary School, and Jefferson Primary School.

All schools will be provided with the FUN WITH SCIENCE, SNAKE ENCOUNTERS and a presentation by Lucas Miller the “Singing Zoologist” who is composing a Paddlefish Song for the students. With a head full of science, a heart full of music and a car full of truly goofy props, Lucas has earned the adoration of wiggly preschoolers, surly sixth graders and stoic principals alike. He has reached millions with his hilarious–yet scientifically accurate–songs and stories in his 20+ years as an independent presenter and artist.

All students, teachers, and sponsors will be treated to a ride on the Historic Jefferson Railway through the designated wetlands and a stop at the new alligator enclosure. Exhibitors will provide exciting activities for the students and on the middle school and high school day, area colleges and universities will provide information to the students in attendance.

The Collins Academy will recruit an additional ten school districts to participate in the Paddlefish Reintroduction Education Initiative for the school year 2015-16. Interested districts should contact the Collins Academy at info@collinsacademy.com.

February 13, 2015 by admin

Texas Middle School Visits Jefferson – 7th and 8th Grade Classes Engage Paddlefish Project

Jefferson, TX, October 10, 2014

Over a twenty-five day period between September 15 and October 9, 2014, over 1000 Texarkana, Texas middle school students learned about environmental threats to Caddo Lake and Big Cypress Bayou imposed by giant salvinia and surface water contaminants.

Three busloads of urban students per day visited the area over the nine days of field instruction,” stated Gary Endsley of Collins Academy. “This is what all those Texarkana busses were doing in town. They wanted to start their Paddlefish projects early and we obliged them by immersing the 8th Graders in the salvinia issue at Caddo Lake and biologic water quality monitoring of the paddlefish gravel beds just upstream of Jefferson,” he added.
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July 17, 2014 by admin

Teachers learn process of saving lake from ‘world’s worst weed’

Original posted by: Bridget Ortigo bortigo@marshallnewsmessenger.com

CADDO LAKE — Area teachers took a boat trip Thursday beneath Caddo Lake’s towering, Spanish moss-draped cypress trees to see the floating fern known as the “world’s worst weed” as part of a two-week training session.

The group of 36 math and 36 science teachers were in the middle of the training in which they will research weevils, paddlefish and giant salvinia, which has become enemy No. 1 to the lake’s ecosystem.

The event was sponsored by Region 8 and The Collins Academy in Jefferson.

“We were trying to think of something to focus on that is affecting our community and find ways to assist when we talked with the Collins Academy, and they agreed to partner with us as part of a grant,” said Region 8 Secondary Science Consultant Cheryl Allison.

Region 8 teachers view giant salvinia at Pine Island Pond on Caddo Lake

The grant funding the event was awarded by Texas Regional Collaborative out of the University of Texas at Austin. The group provides resources for science and math teachers.

Boat captains Aaron Applebaum of Mystique Tours and Byron Aldredge of The Graceful Ghost Steamboat Tours guided the group around the bending bayou to show teachers the giant salvinia that’s slowly trying to overtake the lake at Pine Island Pond.

“The salvinia robs oxygen from the native vegetation and fish,” said Applebaum, who previously worked for Texas Parks and Wildlife. “It looks like Astro Turf, and you can’t get a boat through it. It shut down the lake for a few months late last summer.”

The giant salvinia is a floating fern native to South America that first appeared in the lake in 2006. By late 2013, it had spread to cover about 6,000 to 8,000 acres, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Salvinia mats forming at Pine Island Pond

The fern can double in size in four to 10 days under favorable conditions. If left untreated, the fern grows into dense mats, which prohibit water activities, hinder native vegetation and reduce oxygen in the water, harming fish and other aquatic life.

The plant has invaded 17 Texas lakes.

Two years ago, scientists released salvinia-consuming weevils into the lake to try and control the fern as an alternative to chemicals. While the weevils do eat the fern, they don’t do well in cold weather, and progress gained through the warmer months diminishes during the winter.

“Texas A&M University is working to invent a hybrid weevil that can continue to consume the fern through the winter,” said Collins Academy Director Gary Endsley.

The new weevil rearing facility at Uncertain, TX showing weevil damage (dark areas)

Teachers toured the salvinia-covered lake, the weevil research facility and learned about the native paddlefish that disappeared from the lake a few years ago.

“This is a great way to involve kids in science while trying to re-establish the balance in the lake,” said entomologist Lee Eisenberg.

“I can discuss the depth, volume and other units of measurements by using these real world examples in nature,” Red Lick ISD math teacher Carrie Moro said.

Moro is a math teacher mentor, which means she takes what she learns during her summer sessions back to other teachers in the district.

In addition to learning about the salvinia and weevils, the group heard about the Collins Academy Paddlefish Project. The fish that dates back 400 million years disappeared from the lake a few years ago. Scientists reintroduced 47 paddlefish into the lake in March and have kept close track of their progress.

“The fish are still in the system,” Endsley said. “The project has been successful. We will now start growing little ones to put into the lake.”

He said research is still needed, and the academy is seeking area school districts to involve teachers and students to assist in the project.

“This will provide a link between schools and real world science on issues of importance,” Endsley said.