Salmon Resources

In Upper Elementary, students go deeper into the concepts they learned in grades K-3.  In the context of salmon, these ideas can be demonstrated through lessons that include salmon dissections, the salmon life cycle, food webs (both marine and freshwater), and the habitat requirements of salmon at various stages of their lives.  The following teacher resources are designed for use in grades 3 to 5 and are organized by DCI / topic:

Structure and Function

• For resources on teaching about salmon anatomy, check out Teacher Resource 4: Salmon Anatomy, the Salmon Dissection Guide lesson plan, and the video Salmon Dissection 2020.

 Growth and Development

• The Alaska Salmon in the Classroom curriculum guide is full of information about this group of fish and covers each stage of the salmon life cycle.

Food Webs

• This Fourth Grade Salmon Life Cycle Packet’s classroom lessons one and two, and the Puget Sound Food Web Activity provide examples of how to teach about salmon food webs.
• The Macroinvertebrate Indicators of Streamflow Duration Field Guide and the Freshwater Macroinvertebrate and Water Quality Resources page provide background information and identification guides for freshwater macroinvertebrates. What’s Swimming in Your Stream is a lesson plan from WSU Extension.  The Macroinvertebrates and Habitat Assessment has instructions for doing habitat assessments based on the presence/absence of various macroinvertebrates.

Habitat

• PEI’s Saving Our Salmon ELA Performance Tasks (“Clean Water” and “Water Flow”) help students understand the connection between healthy streams and salmon. (Sign-in is required but the performance tasks are free to download.)
• WDFW’s Ecosystems in Washington lessons 2 and 4 provide a variety of resources to help teach about two salmon habitats: rivers and estuaries.
• The Habitat Investigation Instructions and Habitat Investigation Facilitation Guide from the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association are great tools for doing a field investigation on the health of a stream or other waterway.
• If you want to learn more about the different nesting habits and habitats of the five species of salmon, check out Fisheries Bulletin 61: Characteristics of Spawning Nests of Columbia River Salmon.

Multiple Topics

• NOAA’s An Incredible Journey is a free book, game and curriculum which ground students in the salmon lifecycle and salmon-related topics. (Spanish version)  The book also contains case studies of students making a difference in salmon issues.  The first four lessons in the curriculum match up well with the NGSS standards described above.

Student-facing resources:

Multi-Topic Resources

• The Pacific Salmon and Steelhead Coloring Book
• Q&A About Salmon (webpage)
• USGS Salmon FAQs (webpage)

Structure and Function

• How to Identify the Five Salmon Species of Alaska (poster)
• Salmon Anatomy Worksheets
• Salmon Dissection 2020 (video)

Growth and Development

• Salmon Life Cycle (poster)
• Life Cycle of Salmon (video)
• Salmon Life Cycle Song (video)
• Pacific Salmon Survival Pyramid (poster)
• Life Cycle of the Pacific Salmon (video)
• Salmon of the Pacific (life cycle brochure)
• I Am Salmon (video)
• NSEA Life Cycle Coloring Book
• The Salmon Life Cycle (video and game)
• “What’s a Redd?” (book excerpt)

Food Webs

• Salmon Food Web Game
• Macroinvertebrate Discovery Games
• Stream Macroinvertebrates, A Love Story (video)
• Puget Sound Food Web (poster)

Habitat

• NOAA Salmon Project: Habitat (video)
• Through Salmon Eyes (video)
• Salmon Survival Board Game

• Outdoor Play: Learn About Conservation!

In upper elementary, students go deeper into the concepts they learned in grades K-3. In the context of shellfish, these ideas can be demonstrated through the following lessons that are organized by Next Generation Science Standards – Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCI)/topic.

Structure & Function

• Comparing Clams and Mussels: Dissection Students observe differences between the physical characteristics of clams and mussels.
• What's Inside: A Simple Oyster Dissection This is an oyster dissection lab for fourth grade students.
• Oyster Dissection Lesson, South Slough NERR Oyster dissection (no images)
• What are the Body Parts of an Oyster? Students watch a video of an oyster dissection then create model oysters with the major body parts out of paper.

Growth & Development

• Why Does the Green Crab Love Climate Change? This is an exploration of the impacts of climate change on green crab populations. The video example compares impacts on lobster, but Dungeness crab could be used as a comparison instead.
• Day 12 oyster larvae This is a short video showing larval stage oysters.

• 13 Moons: First Foods and Resources Curriculum This is a full-year curriculum created by the Swinomish Tribal Community that focuses on food sovereignty and health. There are three lessons that address food webs: Moon When the Frog Talks, Moon of Salmonberry, and Moon of the Elk Mating Cry.

Structure of Matter

• Scientists on the Go (A Fizzy Situation) Students identify what is matter and what is not, then do an experiment showing the effects of ocean acidification on shellfish.
• Exploring pH Using Natural Cabbage Juice Indicator Pacific Shellfish Institute - This lab demonstrates how CO2 can change the chemistry of water.
• Ocean Acidification Experiment: Impacts of carbonated seawater on mussel and oyster shells. Students will run experiments exposing shells with seawater at different levels of acidity representing current and potential future ocean conditions.

Ecosystem Dynamics

• Oysters and Oyster Reefs in Your Classroom This page has a nice little intro to oysters as well as talking about oysters as ecosystem engineers and that their populations worldwide are failing. The author asks students to consider solutions to the declining oyster population problem. Some links may be out of date.
•  The Great Oyster Debate
• Species at Risk in Our Backyard
• Oyster Reef Craft Lesson Compilation, South Slough NERR

Social Interactions and Group Behavior

• It's a Group Thing Students learn about the properties and functions of oyster reefs by building and testing models of reefs. They also learn about the importance of reefs to oysters.

Human Impacts on Earth Systems

• Fisheries for the Future This lesson starts with a general overview of sustainable fisheries then has students do a research project on a specific commercial or recreationally harvested species. There are recipe cards for clams and oysters.

Student-facing resources organized by DCI include:

 Structure & Function

• Oyster Facts for Kids
• Fun Facts About Oysters for Kids
• Gathering Safe Shellfish in Washington
• Crab (Wikipedia)
• Arthropods: Blue Crab Molting

Structure of Matter

•  Shell Dissolving activity

Ecosystem Dynamics

• Tabs on Harmful Algal Blooms video series
•  Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB)-Associated Illness: Causes and Ecosystem Impacts
• Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB)-Associated Illness: Illness and Symptoms: Marine (Saltwater) Algal Blooms

Human Impacts on Earth Systems

• Small Scale Oyster Farming for Pleasure and Profit in Washington
• Small Scale Clam Farming for Pleasure and Profit in Washington
• The Nutritional Value of Shellfish
• Clams, Mussels & Oysters
• Build a Shell (Game)