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Fourth-graders at Henry G. Ferguson Elementary School in Accokeek were not going to let a little blood and guts stop them from learning about science.

"Who cares if it's bloody?" said Alexis Hawkins, 9, of Accokeek as she plunged her hands into her subject Monday morning. "It's just a fish."

The dissection was part of a special science class led by a local conservation nonprofit group in which 30 fourth-grade students had the chance to learn about the anatomy of a fish by dissecting it in the school courtyard.

"My hope is that they'll become more involved with science," said Nicholas Ohlson, the students' fourth-grade science teacher. "This goes a little deeper than what the textbook brings."

Students spent their morning piercing through local trout and spot fish while learning first-hand knowledge that they usually would not receive until middle school.

For the lesson, the school partnered with the Alice Ferguson Foundation, an organization based in Accokeek that encourages connections with the natural environment and the cultural heritage of the Potomac River Watershed through education.

For the last five years, the foundation has been providing training and lesson plans to teachers throughout Prince George's County School to educate students about nature and science. The program is currently in its third year at Henry G. Ferguson Elementary.

The "teachers have learned how to be more hands on with science," said Monique Davis, the school's principal. "Teaching and learning have increased."

Students were split into groups of five, and each group was given a fish. Several of the students were dressed in white lab coats and old sweatshirts as they used dissection scissors and other tools to slice open fish.

Students shouted "I can see the heart!" and "This is so cool!" as they began to carve deeper into the fish.

Educators said that engaging students with science while they are in elementary school will have a lasting effect on their educational interests in the future.

"I love it," said Ryan Peune, a development outreach coordinator for the foundation, who aided the students in the dissection. "They went from going ‘gross' to ‘Can I touch the fish?"

The dissection was one of several outdoor activities the students will participate in during the school year, as a joint effort with the foundation to expand environmental science education in elementary schools throughout the county.

The students spent two weeks learning about the external and internal anatomy of a fish before the big day. Teachers and parents said that the students were so excited that they, too, became interested in seeing the dissection.

"I didn't get exposed to this until I was in the eighth grade," said Ray Lacy, president of the school's PTA, whose daughter, Briana, 9, was in the class. "I'm amazed at the speed of the curriculum."

School administrators said that introducing science to the students so early will make them more competitive in the future.

"I've never had my child get experience hands-on in science," said Andrea Taylor, a parent who works in the school as a counselor. "It definitely allows them to have an appreciation for science."

The experience the students were afforded could not have happened without the help of a $120,000 environmental grant awarded to the Alice Ferguson Foundation to help teach students about science and the environment.

But Ohlson sees the lesson as more than just a dissection. He hopes the critical thinking process the students used while dissecting the fish will grow as they continue their education.

"I think it was a big success," he said. "They're going to take this and remember it for years."

E-mail Joshua Garner at jgarner@gazette.net.