The Sardine Saga

My advanced biology class has been learning about scientific method, and I thought actually performing experiments would be more fun then just reading about them. I found a couple ideas for experiments using guppies (or sardines, as they call them here), and proposed them to my class. They assured me I would have no trouble catching these fish. The preferred method is to put a little but of bait in a champagne bottle, and let the fish swim in. Then they get confused, and can't get out. So, brimming with confidence and in the possession of several stale tortillas and a bucket, I headed of to the river with another teacher for an assistant. Well, let's just say we have made the discovery that sardines are the smartest animals on earth. These creatures swarm around your feet when you get in the river, and devour bait. But the second you attempt to catch them, gone. We tried a net, a bottle, and finally had minimal success by using a bucket to scoop water onto the shore. Grand total- 5 fish in 40 minutes. An then 2 went and died last night. So today I told my class we would have to postpone the experiments until we had enough fish. " Let's go down to the river right now and catch fish, miss!" I didn't think that was possible without permission slips, etc, but when I asked the principal he said it was fine as long as no one got wet (Belizians don't like getting wet). So with a bucket once again we made our way to the river. This time we had more success with the scoop method, which seems to be the only way to catch these things. So tomorrow these unfortunate fish will be exposed to nicotine, alcohol, and energy pills. fun!