Salmonids in the Classroom - Primary

A Teacher's Resource for Studying the Biology, Habitat and Stewardship of Pacific Salmon

This learning resource, which focuses on salmon, biology, and stewardship, encourages an ecological approach, integrating science with social studies. Knowledge of salmon biology and habitat are viewed as building blocks toward a stewardship ethic. Stewardship means "making informed decisions and taking appropriate actions to protect and conserve all plants and animals who share our planet." And stewardship is one of the building blocks of a sustainable community where the economy, the environment and society are all taken into consideration when decisions are made. In short, this resource is about teaching kids how to "take care in our own lives so that salmon thrive!" 

Whether small or large, class projects based on salmon have the potential to engage students in stewardship and sustainability. Studying a local creek, raising salmon in an incubator, or touring a watershed, are just a few of the projects that your class or school can undertake to make a difference for salmon and for us all!

Prescribed Learning Outcomes and Curriculum Organizers (PDF)

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Overview

The class reviews what students know about salmon and prepares for activities to learn more.

The Big Idea

Students learn basic vocabulary necessary for studying salmon, and identify what they know, wonder and want to learn about salmon.

Key words

For definitions refer to "Appendix 8: Glossary".
Basic: salmon, fish, egg, alevin, fry, smolt, adult, spawner, life cycle

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Overview

The class reviews the life cycle of familiar plants and animals to identify their life cycles and to see how organisms relate to their environment at different stages in their life cycles.

The Big Idea

All living things have a life cycle that is related to their needs and their habitat..

Key words

For definitions refer to "Appendix 8: Glossary".
Basic: alevin, air, water, food, life, bean seed, egg, salmon, root, stem, leaf, life cycle, stage

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Overview

The class identifies the body parts of a fish and compares them to human body parts. They see how fish shape, skin, scales and gills help salmon live in water.

The Big Idea

Fish, which are physically different from human beings, are suited to their watery environment.

Key words

For definitions refer to "Appendix 8: Glossary".
Basic: head, mouth, eyes, nostrils, gills, body, fins, tail, skin, scales
Advanced: pectoral, pelvic, dorsal, anal, adipose, lateral line

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Overview 

The class examines the parts of a bean seed and a chicken egg, and compares them to a salmon egg. They use the poster and an information sheet, and make a model of a redd to identify what salmon eggs need to survive.

The Big Idea

The egg contains a developing salmon. It needs certain elements in a protected environment to survive.

Key words

For definitions refer to "Appendix 8: Glossary.
Basic: redd, yolk, egg white, hatch, gravel, shell, stream, oxygen

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Overview

The class compares a bean seed and a bag lunch with the yolk sac of an alevin. They use the poster and an information sheet to identify what salmon alevin need to survive and how people affect alevin habitat.

The Big Idea

An alevin hatches from the egg and continues to grow by using food from the egg yolk.

Key words

For definitions refer to "Appendix 8: Glossary".
Basic: alevin, yolk sac, hatch, egg wall, wiggle
Advanced: embryo

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Overview

The class uses the poster and an information sheet to identify where salmon fry come from and how they get food. The students test how air helps fry float in water and how protective colouration helps them hide.

The Big Idea

Fry swim and search for food in their stream or lake habitat.

Key words

For definitions refer to "Appendix 8: Glossary".
Basic: fry (note that the plural is also fry), Parr marks, camouflage
Advanced: predator, swim bladder

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Overview 

The class uses the poster and an information sheet to identify where salmon smolts come from and how they live in an estuary. The students act as predators and prey to simulate survival and test how salt water affects cells.

The Big Idea

Smolts migrate to the estuary before leaving to swim in the ocean.

Key words

For definitions refer to "Appendix 8: Glossary".
Basic: salt water, fresh water, smolt, ocean, logs, dams, dyke
Advanced: hazard, polluted, estuary, factory

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Overview

The class uses the poster and an information sheet to identify where adult salmon come from and where they travel in the ocean. The students simulate fishing and the impact of predation on salmon, discuss salmon migration and test scent as a means of identifying a home area.

The Big Idea

Adult salmon travel long distances in the ocean. People fish for salmon in different ways; some people catch many salmon, while others catch fewer. Surviving salmon return to their home rivers.

Key words

For definitions refer to "Appendix 8: Glossary".
Basic: adult, ocean, school, fishers, fishing boats, home stream, scent

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Overview

The class uses the poster and an information sheet to identify how spawners leave the ocean and return to their home stream or lake. They examine changes of appearance in people and salmon, test how a redd protects eggs, and recycle paper salmon.

The Big Idea

Spawners travel upriver to their home stream or lakeshore. Females lay eggs and males fertilize eggs. Salmon die after spawning and their carcasses return essential nutrients to the water and forest ecosystems.

Key words

For definitions refer to "Appendix 8: Glossary".
Basic: spawner, redd, female, male
Advanced: fertilize

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Overview

The class uses a game to review the salmon life cycle and discusses activities they can undertake to help more salmon survive.

The Big Idea

If people make careful decisions and satisfy their needs without taking away from future generations, they will help take care of salmon.

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Overview

The class researches features that make a stream or lake attractive to salmon and describes what they would expect to see on a field trip to a salmon habitat. They take observations on a field trip and discuss whether or not salmon would like the site.

The Big Idea

A stream or lake may be a salmon’s home for part of its life cycle. Streams and lakes with certain features are attractive to salmon.

Key words

For definitions refer to "Appendix 8: Glossary".
Basic: stream, streambed, stream bank, lake, gravel, riffle, pool, habitat
Advanced: polluted, garbage

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