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During their visit, the students from the Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES school learned about aquatic life and caught everything from fish to shrimp, eels and crabs.
Before going outside, the children listened to a presentation about the Hudson River and the animals that are found in it.
The excited students looked around at the fish and other aquatic life in the tanks inside the Beczak and eagerly awaited going out and catching some of their own.
The youngsters put on chest-high waders and walked into three feet of water, where they engaged in a fishing technique called seining. Beach seining involves dragging a large 30-foot net with two poles on each end through the water to catch various Hudson River species, including blue crabs, striped bass, eels, shrimp and more.
The students had the opportunity to get an up-close look at the life in the river and recorded their catch in the center’s daily log book.
When asked what she hoped the students would get out of the trip, Walden teacher Carly Dreher said that she hoped the students “Get hands-on learning and have the opportunity to experience something they wouldn’t normally be able to in the classroom, and learn more about the environment in which they live.”
The trip was made possible by Teaching the Hudson Valley, an educational project of the National Park Service, Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Hudson River Estuary Program.
The Walden School serves students in grades kindergarten through six with a variety of social, emotional and learning needs.
The Center for the Urban River is run by Sarah Lawrence College.
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