Biology teacher Mr. Scott Maretka took his students on a field trip to the Foor Seasons Farm, owned by Mr. Mike Foor, on Monday October 6.
CCP Environmental Science/Field Biology students fished in Foor’s pond to learn about using fish as a sustainable food source. The fish they caught went “from pond to table,” Maretka said.
Government teacher and chaperone Mr. Josh Piscura prepared the fish for the students to eat. Piscura and Maretka enjoyed seeing the students’ bravery in trying it.
After lunch the students went to the Black River for a stream assessment, where they analyzed the water quality by observing the macroinvertebrates (small spineless creatures) that lived in it. Some creatures that require specific living conditions were abundant in that stream but limited in others. “I learned a lot about specifically the stream that we assessed,” said senior Tatiana Randjelovic. “It’s a very eye-opening experience when looking into a different ecosystem,” she added.
Maretka’s Environmental Science class, as well as Vertebrate Zoology, went on this trip for the first time last year. “It was such a success we decided to do it again,” Maretka said. “This time we added the ‘pond to table’ piece to it.”
Maretka hopes to do the trip again in the spring with the next CCP Environmental Science/Field Biology class.
Foor can’t wait to chaperone the trip again in the future. He values working with students and fellow teachers in a different setting.
Students learned a lot from the trip, namely “how the conditions of the habitat and what’s around the habitat can greatly impact the organisms living in it,” said senior Sonny Sears.
“Take CCP Environmental Science and Field Biology with Mr. Maretka!” Sears added.
