Use the following learning resources “off the shelf” or as prompts to create your own lesson plans. We welcome additions! Simply attach your lesson plan to an email (Contact Us) that briefly describes how you have used it and any tips that might be helpful to another teacher.
Activities for Young Children
In the Classroom
- Guided Imagery – Young children imagine the life of a salmon in the wild.
- Habitat Go Fish – Young children play Go Fish with cards showing elements of healthy salmon habitat.
- Salmon Hats – Young children begin to learn about salmon by making paper hats.
- Salmon Videos
- Salmon Life Cycle Song (www.youtube.com/watch?v=qV30UZ9aF04); a simple, entertaining song about the life cycle (3.40 mins.)
- Sammy the Salmon (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvsSXhDjMmI); created by a young student using drawings and photos (6.39 mins.)
- The Salmon Song (www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPMPMDqOdUo); a good laugh for young students (0.55 mins.)
- Pacific Salmon Song (www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPh9xRcTdlk); a simple, entertaining song about Pacific species (3.11 mins.)
- Salmon: a Miraculous Journey (www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1J5bdj37EQ); from the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery through local waters and back (6.11 mins.)
- Eggs hatching.
In the Field
- Habitat Go/Find Pre-1st – Young children search for features in a wooded habitat.
Lesson Plans – Grades 2-5
In the Classroom
- Salmon Connections – Students view a PowerPoint summary of the salmon life cycle, their role in the ecosystem, and their importance to Pacific Northwest culture and commerce. POWERPOINT
- Salmon Logs – Students cultivate observation skills to understand systems and life-science concepts by grade level. Mini lessons link the salmon tank to district science kits, Animals 2×2, Organisms, Plant Growth and Development, and Ecosystems. Salmon Logs are Bookmarked – see how to access bookmarks
- Salmon Reading & Vocabulary – Students work on comprehension and vocabulary as they learn about salmon.
- Salmon Haiku Poetry – Students compose a haiku poem about salmon.
- Light, Water, Air & Camouflage – Students observe and experience reflection inside water and its relationship to fish camouflage and also refraction – how an object appears to be in a place different from where it really is.
- ‘Did You Know?’ Salmon Poster – Students research interesting facts about salmon and share them with others.
- Performing a Salmon Story – Students learn about salmon mythology in Coast Salish Native American culture and gain performance experience.
- Salmon Guest: Fish Biologist – Students develop questions about salmon anatomy, behavior, and habitat and put them to a fish biologist.
- Commercial Salmon Fishing – Students experience the world of commercial salmon fishing and the importance of this industry to families and the region.
- Salmon Presentations – Students work in teams to develop a presentation around a salmon question, then present to the class.
- Salmon Story Bracelets – Students describe the salmon life cycle, identify characteristics of salmon habitat, and communicate ways that humans help and harm the ecosystem.
- Stairs, Ladders and Fish Ladders – Students understand how stairs, ladders, and fish ladders are the same and different.
- Only the Strong Survive ‐ Students use math to figure out how many adults of their salmon species will survive to spawn.
- Salmon Survival Game – Students learn the life stages of salmon, the obstacles and threats they face throughout their lives, the survival rate of each life stage, the pattern and distance of anadromous fish migration, and salmon reproduction.
- Predicting Salmon Hatch – Students calculate accumulated thermal units using temperature data and math to predict when eggs will hatch in their tanks.
- Salmon Tank Temperature – Students learn how to measure, record, graph, add evaluate salmon-tank temperature.
- Lost and (Puget) Sound – Students use video and lesson plans to learn what happens to stormwater, why it is important to salmon, and what they can do to keep it clean.
- Posters for Puget Sound – Students plan a poster campaign to teach people about stormwater pollution and motivate behavior change. An extension of the Lost and Puget Sound video.
- Drain Rangers Curriculum – Students gain an understanding of stormwater runoff and share actions that promote clean water; aligned to next generation science standards.
- Salmon Videos
- Salmon Story (www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWtn4WEFmGo); produced by 4th graders to explain the life cycle (5.11 mins.)
- Salmon Story (www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-6CuvZdy14); life cycle, hazards, and strong stewardship message narrated by a Native American story teller (6.49 mins.)
- Wild Salmon of the Pacific (www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3w-0kdJc3c); produced by the Wild Salmon Center to summarize species, habitat, commercial and culture importance (3.40 mins.)
In the Field
- Habitat Go/Find – Working in teams, students search for habitat features and answer questions about what they find.
- Native Plants & People – Students find and examine native plants that the First People could have harvested for various uses.
- Storm Drain Stenciling – Students stencil an educational message on curbs above drains to raise public awareness and help prevent pollution.
- Find details about additional field-trip opportunities in your Teacher Handbook pages 18-19.
Lesson Plans – Secondary
In the Classroom
- Lost and (Puget) Sound – Students use video and lesson plans to learn what happens to stormwater, why it is important to salmon, and what they can do to keep it clean.
- Engineering Solutions – Students use problem solving similar to engineers to address polluted stormwater runoff.
- Posters for Puget Sound – Students plan a poster campaign to teach people about stormwater pollution and motivate behavior change. An extension of the Lost and Puget Sound video.
- Light, Water, Air & Camouflage – Students observe and experience reflection inside water and its relationship to fish camouflage and also refraction – how an object appears to be in a place different from where it really is.
- Salmon Tank Temperature – Students learn how to measure, record, graph, add evaluate salmon-tank temperature.
In the Field
- Storm Drain Stenciling – Students stencil an educational message on curbs above drains to raise public awareness and help prevent pollution.
- Find details about additional field-trip opportunities in your Teacher Handbook pages 18-19.
Tips and Tricks for Taking Kids Outside
Practical advice about going on nature field trips
Additional Educational Opportunities
See your Teacher Handbook.
