This series is provided courtesy of our wonderful friends at the Mountains to Sound Greenway Education Program, whose programs we encourage you to learn more about and explore.
This series of salmon education videos is called Forest & Fins. It is designed for students in grades 5 through 8. With each video, we cover one of the life cycles of Pacific Northwest salmon as well as a topic related to salmon and their environment. These topics include:
- Elements of a healthy salmon stream
- Identifying native and non-native plants in your area
- Macroinvertebrates
- How to measure water quality (temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, phosphate and turbidity)
- Current threats to salmon in nature
- How salmon provide essential nutrients to the forest ecoysystem, and
- How you can be a steward for salmon in your day-to-day life
Several of these videos include downloadable worksheets with accompanying activities for students.
Your lesson plan begins below…
Lesson 1: Memorize our Five Salmon
Memorize the names of our five Pacific Northwest salmon using a simple trick with just your fingers.
Lesson 2: Eggs & Modeling a Healthy Salmon Stream
Learn about salmon eggs as well as the key elements of a healthy salmon stream and create your own model of a salmon stream
Lesson 3: Alevin & Riparian Zones
Learn about Alevin as well as the importance of plants growing alongside a stream. Use our plant identification sheets to identify native and non-native plants in your neighborhood.
Lesson 4: Salmon Fry & Macroinvertebrates
Learn about salmon fry as well as how macroinvertebrates indicate the health of a stream.
Lesson 5: Smolts & Water Quality
Learn how to measure 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.
Lesson 7: Spawners & the Forest Ecosystem
Learn how returning salmon provide essential nutrients to the forest ecosystem.
Lesson 8: Ways to be a Steward for Salmon
In conclusion, we present ideas for how you can be a steward for salmon and their environment.
Additional Curriculum!
The Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust has more online curriculums for you to explore.
