Question: you say that you would give fish eggs to schools if you won this competition, but why would you do this? and how would this help us children?

Zara Gladman answered on 13 Jun 2011:

Hi chellyrosey – a very important question, which I’m happy to answer!

First of all, how would I do this? Well, I’d use the money to buy everything that we’d need to set up a hatchery in the classroom: tanks, water pumps, thermometers, gravel… and of course, the fish eggs! I’d then visit the school and help the schoolchildren to get everything up and running. It would then be up to the children to make sure that the eggs were kept at the right temperature and well looked after (but I’d be around to help and answer questions!). I’d make regular visits to the school over seven weeks while the eggs developed, to make that sure everything is going OK and to teach the kids more about fish (and other river animals, like crayfish)! After hatching, I would hire a bus and take everyone to the nearest river where we’d have a special release day for the baby fish. While at the river, we’d also have a look at other river animals. At the end of the day, we’d have a big fish-themed party to celebrate, and bid our fishy friends farewell!

As for the second question – how would this help us children? Well firstly, I think it would help you find out more about what lives in your local river. You don’t need to travel to tropical places to find some really cool animals – fish included! You’d be amazed at how much life our rivers (even in cities) contain! You would also help people learn about the biology of fish and their interesting life cycles (many fish like salmon and trout don’t spend all their time in rivers – they migrate out to sea to feed, then come back to the rivers to breed). And most importantly, as well as learning – you will also be enabling people to do real conservation, by helping maintain a healthy population of fish! So you’ll feel good about that too! 🙂

If you have any more questions, please let me know! Hope that helps!