4th-graders at Bella Romero Elementary conduct behavioral experiments with guppies
Students record foraging rates before and after exposure to a visual predator cue
Students from Bella Romero Elementary in Greeley, CO present their poster at the Front Range Student Ecology Symposium in 2012 (Katie Guilbert, Julian Avalos, Valeria Casillas, Gabriel Velador, Anahi Alaniz, Daisy Diaz-Torres, Brianna Romero-Caro, Nadelyn Batres-Hernandez, Dalyjah Arteaga, Alan Canales-Castillo, Lexi Cardona, Angel Hernandez-Martes, Anissia Lozano, Jackie Murillo, Osvaldo Ornelas-Ruiz, Denisse Pineda-Guevarra, Eduardo Soto-Meraz, and Brianna Vigil)
In 2010, I began working with 4th-grade teacher Katie Guilbert from Bella Romero Elementary (Greeley, CO) which has a largely Hispanic student body. We used guppies to teach the scientific method–the students conducted a foraging experiment where they measured shoaling in different guppy populations. *Pictures 2010*
The following year, 4th-graders examined native and store-bought guppies and looked at their response to a visual predator cue, a picture of a pike cichlid, a common guppy predator. Each student conducted a behavioral experiment and used Excel to enter and analyze their data. They made graphs that they interpreted to make conclusions about their hypotheses. *Pictures 2011*
These students also presented their findings at a local conference.
*Bella Romero Elementary 4th-grade, Guilbert K, Broder ED, Angeloni LM. 2012. Guppy reactions to predators. Front Range Student Ecology Symposium. Fort Collins, CO. Poster presentation.
PRESS: Staff reports. “Bella Romero students present research at CSU.” Greeley Tribune [Greeley, CO] 4 March 2012. Community.
