Lake Sturgeon. Credit: Jesse Lepak/NYSG

Contact:

Monica L. Miles, Ph.D., NYSG Coastal Literacy Specialist, E: SGBuffal@cornell.edu


New York Sea Grant’s Lake Sturgeon curriculum is raising awareness of conservation efforts and stewardship opportunities for a unique fish

Buffalo, NY, March 8, 2021 - Lake sturgeon are considered “living fossils.” They can live more than 150 years and their prehistoric appearance has remained unchanged. An effort has been underway in New York State to help restore this unique fish species that was listed as threatened in 1983. New York Sea Grant (NYSG) is part of that effort, contributing new educational resources.

To foster interest in lake sturgeon stewardship by middle school students, NYSG designed a “Lake Sturgeon Intermediate Curriculum” with activities to help students understand the cultural value and significance to the health of the Great Lakes of the fish. Through the development of 10 interdisciplinary lessons, students and educators now have many opportunities to utilize lake sturgeon education in their classrooms. The 48-page curriculum connects to current learning standards in science, social studies, English language arts, and mathematics. The lessons and worksheets include instruction on the lake sturgeon’s role in the aquatic food web, a growth rate graphing activity, information on fish tagging, and how to conduct a stream survey.

In 2020, NYSG hosted three workshop sessions, reaching 47 educators located around New York State. These sessions included educators from 27 different public-school districts, 14 private education institutions, and six non-profit organizations. These educators have the potential to reach more than 34,784 students. In addition, six of the participating educators were selected to participate in the Lake Sturgeon Community Science Program to be launched by the Michigan State University Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Michigan Sea Grant, and Michigan State University Extension.

Educators also have access to lake sturgeon education resources developed earlier by NYSG. Those resources include “The Lake Sturgeon” video and photos posted at www.nyseagrant.org/lakesturgeon.

Project Partners:

• Funded in part by a Disney Conservation Fund grant
• Technical review provided by the Cornell Biological Field Station, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Sturgeon for Tomorrow, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service


More Info: New York Sea Grant

New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York (SUNY), is one of 34 university-based programs under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Sea Grant College Program.

Since 1971, NYSG has represented a statewide network of integrated research, education and extension services promoting coastal community economic vitality, environmental sustainability and citizen awareness and understanding about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources.

Through NYSG’s efforts, the combined talents of university scientists and extension specialists help develop and transfer science-based information to many coastal user groups—businesses and industries, federal, state and local government decision-makers and agency managers, educators, the media and the interested public.

The program maintains Great Lakes offices at Cornell University, SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Oswego and the Wayne County Cooperative Extension office in Newark. In the State's marine waters, NYSG has offices at Stony Brook University in Long Island, Brooklyn College and Cornell Cooperative Extension in NYC and Elmsford and Kingston in the Hudson Valley.

For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org has RSS, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube links. NYSG offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/nycoastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which is published quarterly.