Unit 1: Watersheds
- 1. Water: The Constant Traveler
- Students construct a water cycle mobile and diagram, complete a short reading and questions, and conduct an experiment.
- 2. Finding Your Ecological Address
- Students develop a definition for “watershed” and work with maps to determine watershed boundaries and their own “ecological address”.
- 3. Threats to Your Ecological Address
- Using a class demonstration and a reading, students learn the difference between a healthy and unhealthy watershed, and then propose actions to repair damaged watersheds.
- 4. What Wiggles in Watershed Water?
- Students study aquatic insects in a nearby stream to determine its general water quality.
- 5. Watershed Woes
- Students create a model of water allocation for a growing town. Then, working at home with their family, students develop a water conservation plan.
- Unit 2: Salmon
- 1. The Long Wet Journey: The Cycle Begins
- A story reading introduces a three lesson look at the life cycle of Pacific salmon. As a complement to the story, students measure water temperature.
- 2. The Long Wet Journey: Moving Downstream
- The three lesson look at the salmon life cycle continues with a story reading recounting downstream migration. Students also manipulate a map to determine distance traveled.
- 3. The Long Wet Journey: Race to the Redd
- The three lesson overview of the salmon life cycle concludes with a story reading focusing on upstream migration. As a summary, students play a migration simulation board game.
- 4. Hooks and Ladders
- Students simulate the life cycle of Pacific Salmon and the hazards faced by salmon in a highly active game.
- 5. Investigating a Declining Resource: Salmon of the Columbia
- Students work in groups to discover and evaluate possible causes for decline of Columbia River Salmon populations, then report their findings to the class.
- 6. Columbia River Salmon: Legends and Stories of 23rd Century
- Students develop legends, stories, and a “readers’ theatre” performance about how the Columbia River and its salmon are saved.
- Unit 3: Aquaculture
- 1. World In A Jar
- Students set up and maintain a saltwater microcosm in a jar, as they try to maintain a stable and balanced habitat.
- 2. Farming the Sea
- Through a brief reading and discussion activity, students are introduced to the life cycles and rearing parameters involved with raising shellfish and finfish in a controlled environment.
- 3. Raising Salmon
- Students read information and answer questions about three methods for raising salmon through aquaculture: hatchery released, sea ranching and sea farming.
- 4. Harvest Race
- Students role-play salmon trying to return to their rearing areas to spawn and avoid fishers along the way in this game of tag.
- 5. Food Web
- Students make a physical model of food webs, food chains and pyramids to show the interrelationships of organisms, nutrients and energy in a marine ecosystem.
- 6. Seafood Festival
- Students evaluate the nutritional benefits of eating sea food as they create and publish their own recipe cookbook complete with fish tales!
- 7. Fish Farmer
- “Fish Farmer” is a board game in which players try to win by reaching the finfish first. A fun activity to reinforce aquaculture concepts.
- 8. Open for Business
- Students study the economic data about two seafood businesses and choose to own the more profitable based on their analysis and comparison of the two.
- Unit 4: Finfish
- 1. Fish Gumbo
- Through reading and discussion, students begin a study of how fish are adapted to survive in a water environment.
- 2. Name That Fish
- Students read about “bottomfish”, cut out a paper one, and discover its name by using a dichotomous key.
- 3. Gyotaku
- Students make inferences about a live fish based on observations of its features. Then they read about the fish and make fish prints with it.
- 4. Fins
- Students compare, observe, and read about the physical features of the fins of two different fish species.
- 5. Ocean Address
- By way of introduction to some common and important fish and their habitats, students make a “mobile” of these fish.
- 6. The Fishing Business
- Students examine several different fishing methods and discuss how fishing can impact fish populations.
- 7. The Fish Are Running
- Students simulate international fishing problems as they play a kinesthetic game.
- Unit 5: Finfish, Marine Mammals, and Humans
- 1. The Tuna/Dolphin Controversy
- Students read about the Tuna/Dolphin controversy and are challenged to write to businesses/lawmakers and to develop a method of fishing tuna.
- 2. Canned Tuna
- Students look for the label “dolphin safe” on cans of tuna and write letters either supporting a total ban on catching dolphins or letters which state that now the problem needs further study to assure the health of the ocean ecosystem.
- 3. Hear Sighted
- Students analyze data as they role-play dolphin features and echolocation.
- 4. Skedaddle to Seattle
- Students role-play special interest groups concerned with a proposal to allow killing some marine mammals, then present their cases and solutions at a hearing!
Production Credits
Below, you’ll find helpful resources for use with the above activities.
- Unit 1: Estuaries
- Activity 1 Water: The Constant Traveler
- How to find marine information
- Activity 2 Finding Your Ecological Address
- Root words
- Activity 4 What Wiggles in Watershed Water?
- Macroinvertebrate monitoring packet
- Unit 2: Salmon
- Activity 1 The Long Wet Journey: The Cycle Begins
- Chinook salmon photos
- Chum salmon photos
- Coho salmon photos
- Pink salmon photos
- Sockeye salmon photos
- Activity 2 The Long Wet Journey: Moving Downstream
- Estuary – a link to the sea
- Activity 6 Columbia River Salmon: Legends and Stories of 23rd Century
- Native American salmon fishing images
- Unit 4: Finfish
- Activity 1 Fish Gumbo
- Shark background information
- Name that fish worksheet
- Calculating sharks activity
- Activity 3 Gyotaku
- Preparing and painting fish
- Activity 5 Ocean Address
- Fish drawings
- Activity 6 The Fishing Business
- Native American fishing images
- Salmon caught in a gillnet
- Wholesale fish market image
- Unit 5: Finfish, Marine Mammals, and Humans
- Activity 1 The Tuna/Dolphin Controversy
- Yellowfin tuna fishing
- Sample student response
- Activity 4 Skedaddle to Seattle
- California sea lion image
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