Incorporating Fishing into the PK-12 Curriculum: Aligning Programs to the Georgia Performance Standards (GPS) and Georgia Early Learning Development Standards (GELDS)

The Go Fish Education Center is an attraction equipped with freshwater aquariums, a gallery with fishing simulators and exhibits, and a stocked pond to fish from.  It has also become a popular destination for school groups visiting on field trips. Students experience the center through guided tours, educational programs, and a fishing program.  Each program aligns to the Georgia Performance Standards (GPS) for science for each particular grade level visiting.  Our fishing programs teach students how to fish as well as about fish habitat, life cycles, adaptations, food webs, etc.  This ensures the focus of the field trip remains educational but also allows the opportunity to teach students how to fish.  The staff spend time teaching how to properly bait hooks, cast, handle fish, and more.  We’ve also implemented a new series of programs for toddlers, which align to the Georgia Early Learning Development Standards (GELDS).  Our efforts have increased the number of youth fishing at the center significantly over the past year. Some barriers have presented themselves since incorporating fishing into field trips but most have been overcome. While we’ve received an overwhelming amount of positive feedback, short and long-term impacts on angling R3 remain difficult to measure.