Page Content – Salmon Video Series

Additional Curriculum!

The Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust Education Program has developed an online curriculum for 5th through 8th graders that focuses on stream/forest ecology and the life cycle of salmon. Students complete a mock stream survey in the classroom in preparation to do a real stream survey on the field study trip. Students work in small groups to analyze the riparian zone, look for macro-invertebrates, test water quality and evaluate the stream channel.

Download their curriculum here:

  1. Forests and Fins Introductory Lesson
  2. Forests and Fins Science Journal
  3. Forests and Fins Assessment

The Mountains to Sound Greenway Education Program doesn’t stop there. Explore more of their online curriculum here!

Lesson 8: Ways to be a Steward for Salmon

We think it’s very important to take care of our Pacific Northwest salmon. We do that by being “stewards” of their environment. Stewards are caretakers. Now that you know what makes a healthy salmon stream, we invite you to draw the healthiest salmon stream you can imagine. 

Here are some ways you can help take care of nature in your neighborhood:

  • Pick up trash in your neighborhood
  • Teach others what you know
  • Attend a Mountains to Sound Greenway restoration event (!!!)
  • Plant native plants in your yard
  • Remove invasive plant species (like ivy or blackberry)
  • Learn more about salmon by visiting the Issaquah hatchery, Salmon Days, or other salmon-related events
  • Support legislation that protects endangered species, wetlands, streams, and native habitat, or supports restoration
  • Write to your representative asking them to support salmon habitat protection and restoration.
  • Take the bus, walk, or carpool
  • Compost food scraps
  • Use reusable products instead of single-use, and try to reuse single-use items, too

Can you think of other things you can do?

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Thank you to the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust for this educational video series — which was generously funded by:

  • Lake Washington/Cedar/Sammamish Watershed
  • King County Flood Control District
  • King County Wastewater Treatment Division
  • King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn
  • King County Councilmember Dave Upthegrove

Lesson 7: Spawners & the Forest Ecosystem

Using their amazing sense of smell, salmon swim back to the stream where they were born, pouring all their energy into producing and fertilizing eggs. They bring nutrients from the ocean back to the freshwater ecosystem. (Researchers have found that trees near salmon streams get 25 to 70 percent of their nutrients from salmon!) Salmon are connected with many, many different organisms from bears to trees to birds to fungi. We invite you to draw an ecosystem web showing all the connections you can think of in a Pacific Northwest forest.

First, download our Ecosystem Connections Drawing activity.

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Lesson 6: Adults & Threats to Salmon

Salmon spend a few years in the ocean and face many threats. In this video, we discuss habitat loss, irresponsible development, dams, culverts, and overfishing. And we show you how to play a game that models overfishing using popcorn or a similar snack food.

First, download our Sustainable Fishing activity.

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Lesson 5: Smolts & Water Quality

Salmon can travel hundreds of miles to get to the ocean. Throughout this journey, they rely on cold, clean, clear water — which we can measure! Learn how the Greenway Education Program measures the temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, phosphate, and turbidity of water. Then use Google Maps to find a stream near your home and follow it to the Puget Sound, looking for potential sources of source and non-point source pollution along the way.

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Lesson 4: Salmon Fry & Macroinvertebrates

At this stage, salmon start venturing out of their nest (we call it a “redd”) to explore their habitat and hunt for bugs. These bugs, called aquatic macroinvertebrates, are an “indicator species.” Indicator species are animals that “indicate” the quality of their environment. In this case, the kind and amount of macroinvertebrates found in a stream tell us something about the quality of the water. In this video, we invite you to create your own macroinvertebrate, using household items.

First, download our Build a Macroinvertebrate activity.

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Lesson 3: Alevin & Riparian Zones

An important part of a healthy salmon stream is the plants growing alongside the stream (in the “riparian zone”).

Activity for this Lesson:
Use our plant identification sheets to identify native and non-native invasive plants growing in your neighborhood, and then make a fact sheet!

First, download these these Activity Sheets:

  1. Plant Fact Sheets activity with examples
  2. Native Plant ID Sheet
  3. Non-Native Invasive Plant ID Sheet
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Lesson 2: Eggs & Modeling a Healthy Salmon Stream

The stronger and healthier the salmon, the better their chances are of surviving the remarkable journey from saltwater to freshwater to their home spawning grounds. In this video, we discuss key elements of a healthy salmon stream and invite you to create your own model of a salmon stream using paper.

First, download the salmon stream model activity sheet.

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Lesson 1: Memorize our Five Salmon

The Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust’s Greenway Education Program has created this series of educational videos for youth and their families to learn about Pacific Northwest salmon. Each video spotlights a life stage of Pacific Northwest salmon and invites you to perform an activity at home. Throughout the series, you’ll learn more about the salmon life cycle stages, their habitat needs, threat to their survival, and what you can do to protect them. Welcome to the series!

First, download the Activity Sheet.

Let’s memorize the names of our five Pacific Northwest salmon using a simple trick with just your fingers:

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“Keep the Salmon Coming Home”

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