Striped bass have a lot to teach us, not only about themselves but about the ecosystem in which they live. Steven Zottoli, Whitman Center Scientist at MBL, hopes to bring these lessons to middle- and high-school classrooms through a new outreach program based at MBL.
His web site, StripedBassMagic.org, features information on the striped bass including genetics, migration, predator-prey interactions and a food web that changes seasonally. Resources and links are available for teachers to create lesson plans that address the interrelatedness of organisms. Zottoli has also welcomed high-school volunteers and middle-school experimenters to MBL during the summer to explore the world of striped bass firsthand.
In this video, Zottoli and students discuss their experiences with the outreach project. MBL Interim Co-Director Melina Hale, Professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy at the University of Chicago, adds her perspective.Anyone interested in incorporating this striped bass curriculum into their classroom can use this contact page to obtain more information.