“The zebrafish work that I have incorporated into my classroom has previously unmotivated students very excited to learn because they get to design their own investigation using this live organism. They are now able to ask research-based questions, collect meaningful data, and analyze that data in a relevant way.”

“As a teacher in Dallas ISD, one of my greatest challenges is teaching science content to bilingual students at a level in which they can understand it meaningfully. The inclusion of Zebrafish has allowed me to teach concepts in a way that improves science learning and proficiency. Students are able to use the Zebrafish, embryos, and the fish tank as a learning tool to understand concepts that they might not have with just the use of illustrations or pictures. Students who do not have me as a science teacher even came up with the idea of having an after school club so they too could have the opportunity o come in to see the fish, learn how to handle and care for them, and also to learn about how humans can impact animal life with the choices we make.”

“The commitment of the students throughout the zebrafish projects (which have been going on for over three months) has been impressive. Once they figure out one problem, they discover another and automatically get to work on it. Whenever there is a minute or two of downtime in class, they are in the back checking their cultures and monitoring their tanks. The fact that the program can be implemented into any classroom is extremely valuable to teachers who have little or no background in working with live animals or scientific equipment.”