Sharing Tails®: A State-Wide Public Outreach Program Teaching Children About Native Arizona Fish

Abstract

Limited public outreach programs about Arizona native fish exist and those that do are passive, fee-based, or Web-oriented, while others limit their geographic range. The program this article addresses sought to improve this situation with development of a state-wide outreach program with a goal to educate Arizona's children about native fish with an objective to generate excitement about these fish in elementary school children. Through on-site school visits using multimedia, interactive play, and hands-on activities, the Sharing Tails ® program educated 33,285 students about native fish from January 2009 through May 2011.