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The project is a partnership between Wild Trout Trust, Severn Trent Water and Trent Rivers Trust. Hanna Sandstrom, Severn Trent Water's Education Co-ordinator, kicked-off each day with an assembly on the importance of saving water and what each of us can do to help. This was followed by activities with the 7 to 9-year olds including learning about the water cycle, the lifecycle of mayflies and their importance in food webs, and how mayflies are indicator species for a healthy river environment. The Wild Trout Trust's Tim Jacklin and Paul Gaskell then led a trip to the local River Manifold or Dove where various aquatic bugs and grubs were caught and displayed in trays of water for the children to explore. A selection of mayflies were taken back to the classroom and housed in the Mayfly in the Classroom "aquaria" (modified pop bottles!) constructed by the pupils. The schools were left with check lists to complete over the following fortnight to ensure conditions were suitable for the mayfly nymphs to develop and hatch into adult flies. WTT staff returned to the schools and hosted a release day, where the adult flies were set free and a review of what the children had learned.  This activity is part of a wider initiative on the rivers in this locality to improve habitats and water quality and reduce the impacts of agriculture. Other activities include improvement to the physical habitat of rivers (largely carried out by Trent Rivers Trust in association with Derbyshire County Angling Club), establishment of a fishing passport scheme to link good river quality with an income stream for the landowners (http://www.peakpassport.co.uk/) and working with statutory bodies such as the Environment Agency, Natural England and Peak District National Park Authority to promote the various incentive schemes to farmers. See Paul Gaskell's blog for more on this and other Mayfly in the Classroom initiatives. For more details on how to run Mayfly in the Classroom click here. |
