Sharing Tails®: Teaching Children about Native Arizona Fish

New residents to Arizona are surprised to learn that we have fish unique to our state.  Locals may know at least some or all of a common name or two, but few Arizonans know that a majority of our state’s fish (78%) is federally listed or candidate for listing as endangered or threatened or they are Wildlife of Special Concern in Arizona.  The objective of Sharing Tails^® was to educate Arizona’s kindergarteners about our native fish.  With an initial three-year grant from Bureau of Reclamation, we provided on-site visits to any Arizona public elementary school that requested our program, and presented our information through age-appropriate educational activities and materials, meeting several the States’ Science Standards for Kindergarten.  We are near our three-year target of 30,000 students, which includes follow-up visits with students matriculated to first and second grades.  Our results are that children become excited about native fish, and we anticipate they will become the future protectors and advocates for these unique animals.  Our results coincide with Reclamation’s desire to convey to the public the value of native aquatic species and the problems that non-native organisms create for conservation and recovery of native species and their habitats.