Hayward, Wis. – What connects students of charter schools, fish biologists in Wisconsin DNR, financial donors, musk and north pike?
A recent study taking place at the Spider Lake in Sawyer, which will look closer to the interaction between these two species of fish, with a significant part of the work by students from two Northwoods charter schools under the direction and support of the Hayward DNR Fisheries team members.
Teachers at Northern Waters Environmental School in Hayward and Eagles Academy in Solon Springs cooperated to achieve their main goal to enable students to learn through practical projects. According to Kate Witkowski, an advisor at Northern Waters Environment School, students from both schools not only prosperized from these projects, but also allowed them to make a positive contribution to their community and I hope that they will inherit the world.
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One of the projects includes the members of the Hayward DNR crew, who are too elated to be only financial and practical support in studying the relationship between Pike Porthern and Muskies in Wisconsin Waters.
In this case, the class is 1194-acre Spider Lake in Sawyer. The lake is home to muscle, immense -headed and bass with petite lips, walley and various panfish. A recent arrival in the lake is a north pike, fish considered an invasive species in Lake Spider.
“Managing the abundance of pike is the key to offering high quality fishing sensations,” said Max Wolter, a biologist of fish DNR Sawyer, who gladly accepted the offer of schools, which enables biologists to better understand the relationship between the species, working with a non -destruction of an amplifier. “Partner groups are important when undertaking large, significant projects needed to develop effective fishing management,” said Wolter.
Witkowski said that charter schools are known for offering an alternative to time-honored educational environments in “ordinary” schools.
“I have been here for seven years and I love it more every year. We offer an amazing opportunity for students looking for ways to learn outside the class environment. Some come because things in a conventional class do not work, but they can develop here. They realize that what they put is directly related to what comes out of this experience – said Witkowski
“We are an educational community based on projects in which students study their natural, economic and cultural environment. When we take our class outside, it brings a level of joy to learning and combined with the right and difficult work in the course, provides a satisfactory and comprehensive education. Communication, creativity and critical thinking are what we promote. Thanks to the support of partners, students develop trust and ability to achieve in life. “
DNR field crews in the whole state are dealing with significant deficiencies of income. The Spider Lake Northern Pike/Muskie project is financed privately by various groups, including Hayward Lakes Chapter of Muskies, Inc., Wisconsin Muskie Alliance, Rich Ford Musky Fund, The Terry Peterson Fishing Foundation and Hugh Becker Foundation. Other donors are the Spider Lake community and students through a fundraiser.
The study was designed by Dr. Colin Dassow, a DNR researcher to better understand the frail relationship between musk and a more prolific northern pike, which is welded in cooler water than Muskies. This means that pike enters the shallows before musk. If both species divide the habitat of spawning, it is believed that the presence of pike may interfere with the success of the deviation of musk in this area of a particular lake.
“We hope to learn more about the interaction of two species, including their preferred spawning places and their basic sources of food. This is a type of study in which the results can be used throughout the condition – said Wolter.
About 25 musk and 25 pikes will be implanted with acoustic markers, which will be followed by receivers placed on the lake bed around the Spider Lake.
“These tags will send” ping “that recipients detect, allowing us to follow the exact locations of each fish for three to four years,” said Wolter.
Fish carrying internal acoustic “tags” will also wear a apparent Floya marker in the back reminiscent of spaghetti so that anglers and scientists know that this is one of the fish in the study. Anglers are encouraged to release these fish, but if they stop them, they ask for biologists notifying them so that they can recover the acoustic marker.
Until now, charter school students helped in the net process in Fyke to determine what these fish eat, including counting Panfish captured in this process and helping in determining the recruitment of a adolescent year. There has been speculation about the interaction of pike and musk, but this study will support prove or skip these theories.
The importance of this project for charter school students is to emphasize teamwork, communication and the importance of time-honored mathematics and reading skills in a non -traditional environment.
“This project allows us to gather first -hand experience that cannot be obtained from a book or film. Being there personally, seeing this process and the sounds of nature were amazing, “said Brad Glassmaker, an adviser to Eagles Academy.
Christina Hill graduated from wild nature biology at the UW-Stevens Point, and now she works as an advisor to the Northern Waters environment. He also runs the Spider Lake project for the school.
“All our projects in the North Watts have an element of writing, being able to come up with things in the field and seeing how everything works in the real world is our goal. We are grateful that the community creates such opportunities; It helps students establish a relationship with the community, opening their eyes, which is available to them. It also helps them feel that they are part of the community in which they live, “said Hill, who also praised Jeff Nania, the popular author The mystery of northern lakes A series of mysterious books and his wife Victoria Rydberg-Nania.
“Jeff is an organizer and a connector that connects people and makes the necessary connections,” said Hill.
Nania from Portage and Hayward has great praise for school and what lecturers and students achieve.
“We can do good things for these children. These types of projects are those that we want to happen. I can honestly say that this is one of the best things I have ever been involved in – said Nania.
Victoria Rydberg-Nania acts as a state consultant for ecological education in the Department of Wisconsin Public Instructions and cooperated with educational non-profit in order to coordinate involvement with schools.
