Learning

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.

At Home Learning

The following stand-alone activities make a minimal “ask” of parents or guardians – just commonly available supplies, a basic printer, and a little time and encouragement.  Also review In the Classroom resources above for activities that support at-home learning.

  • Habitat Go Fish – Play Go Fish with cards showing elements of healthy salmon habitat. This learning game requires a minimum of three players.
  • Salmon Hats – Make a colorful paper salmon hat. Use the poster feature to print the template onto four sheets of 8 1/2” X 11”  paper and glue the pieces together to make two large profiles, one facing right and one facing left.  Set out whatever art supplies you have on hand.
  • Habitat Go/Find Simplified – Print the guide and head to a park or wooded habitat where you can safely explore.

In the Field

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.  Supports Next Generation Science Standards and/or Common Core.  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.  Supports Next Generation Science Standards and/or Common Core.  Salmon Logs are Bookmarked – see how to access bookmarks
  • Predicting Salmon Hatch – Students collect and chart data on temperature and predict development milestones based on their findings. Supports Next Generation Science Standards and/or Common Core
  • Sustainability & Stewardship – Students explore ecosystem sustainability and how human actions can affect it in negative and positive ways. Supports Next Generation Science Standards and/or Common Core
  • Salmon Researching & Reporting – Students research and develop a report about one aspect of how salmon operate in a healthy ecosystem. Supports Next Generation Science Standards and/or Common Core
  • Anatomical Systems – Students examine basic anatomical systems that support life in plants and in salmonids. Supports Next Generation Science Standards and/or Common Core
  • Comparing & Writing About Life Cycles – Students compare similarities and differences in life cycles and creatively write about what salmon may experience. Supports Next Generation Science Standards and/or Common Core
  • Habitat Similarities & Differences – Students compare similarities and differences in habitats. Supports Next Generation Science Standards and/or Common Core
  • Generation To Generation – Students observe how juvenile salmon are very much like but not exactly like adult salmon. Supports Next Generation Science Standards and/or Common Core
  • Needs Of Living Things – Students compare how the school tank meets the basic needs of salmon with how a healthy habitat meets those needs in the wild. Supports Next Generation Science Standards and/or Common Core
  • ‘Did You Know?’ Salmon Poster – Students research interesting facts about salmon and share them with others.  Supports Next Generation Science Standards and/or Common Core
  • Salmon Reading & Vocabulary – Students work on comprehension and vocabulary as they learn 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.
  • Performing a Salmon Story – Students learn about salmon mythology in Coast Salish Native American culture and gain performance experience.
  • Commercial Salmon Fishing – Students experience the world of commercial salmon fishing and the importance of this industry to families and the region.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Humans & the Environment – Students employ informative/explanatory writing to gain an understanding of how Northwest coast tribes affected their environment and how the environment affected their way of life.  Developed by Seattle Public Schools for third grade.  Supports Common Core
  • Community Waters – In this 4th-grade science unit, students ask questions and solve real community environmental problems through engineering to deepen their science knowledge, come to view science as relevant to their lives and future, and engage in science in socially relevant and transformative ways.
  • Salmon Videos
    • The Pacific Salmon Song.  The Lake and Park School choir conveys a greatly enhanced summary of the salmon lifecycle through this original song by teacher Andy Gregory.   Click “Show More” at the lower left to see the lyrics.
    • Salmon Story; produced by 4th graders to explain the life cycle (5.11 mins.)
    • Salmon Story; life cycle, hazards, and strong stewardship message narrated by a Native American story teller (6.49 mins.)
    • Wild Salmon of the Pacific; produced by the Wild Salmon Center to summarize species, habitat, commercial and culture importance (3.40 mins.)
    • Broken Fish:  Collapse of the Coho | 2018 Short Film.  From Seattle director Colby K. Neal, and Taiwanese producer Shihyun Kung, comes Broken Fish, a short “call-to-action” documentary film educating Seattleites about wild salmon habitat destruction, and how pollutants in Puget Sound impact tribal communities whose livelihoods depend on a healthy wild salmon.
    • Salmon: a Miraculous Journey; from the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery through local waters and back (6.11 mins.)
    • I am Salmon; from hatch to spawning; beautiful underwater footage (7.02 mins.)

At Home Learning

The following learning activities make a minimal “ask” of parents or guardians – just commonly available supplies, a basic printer, and a little time and encouragement.  Include them as part of a unit if you are home schooling or suggest them as engaging stand-alone projects on “I’m bored” days.  Also review In the Classroom resources above for activities that support at-home learning.

  • Habitat Similarities & Differences – Adapt Session Two of this lesson plan and, as necessary, help your youngster explore habitat similarities and differences in a yard or park.
  • Graphic Salmon Poetry – Download and print an image from Salmon Clipart. Read about haiku structure and together create a practice poem.  Invite your youngster to write a poem, add it to the image, and color as desired.  Repeat as desired with other images.
  • Salmon Reading – Print Salmon Book 8 1/2″ x 11″ and staple or tape the pages together to make a book. Invite your youngster to read it (independently or with you) and color the drawings.  Put it aside to read again another day.
  • Survive the Sound – Long Live the Kings offers students the opportunity to pick a favorite fish to follow, join a team, and watch to see if their fish survives an epic five day migration in early May. Visit https://survivethesound.org/classroom for details.
  • Habitat Go/Find – Print the worksheet and head to a park or wooded habitat where your youngster can safely explore with you. Examine what you find and answer the questions.
  • Native Plants & People – Print the guide and head to a park or wooded habitat where your youngster can safely look for and examine native plants that early Coast Salish people might have harvested for a variety of uses.
  • Humans & the Environment – Students employ informative/explanatory writing to gain an understanding of how Northwest coast tribes affected their environment and how the environment affected their way of life.  Developed by Seattle Public Schools for third grade.  Supports Common Core
  • Nature Vision Student Packet – Lessons foster an understanding of the importance of water and its integral role in supporting life and shaping our planet. They can be completed by students either independently or with the help of an adult. Supports Next Generation Science Standards and K-12 Integrated Environmental and Sustainability Standards.

In the Field

  • Habitat Go/Find– Working in teams, students search for features in a wooded ecosystem and answer critical questions about what they find. Supports Next Generation Science Standards and/or Common Core
  • Native Plants & People – Students find and examine native plants that early Coast Salish people could have sustainably harvested for a variety of uses. Supports Next Generation Science Standards and/or Common Core
  • 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.

Lesson Plans – Secondary

In the Classroom

In the Field

  • Habitat Go/Find Advanced – Working in teams, students search for features in a wooded ecosystem and answer critical questions about what they find. Supports Next Generation Science Standards and/or Common Core
  • 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.

Tips and Tricks for Taking Kids Outside

Practical advice about going on nature field trips

Salmon Clipart

This gallery includes a small sampling of salmon art. If you don’t find what you need, search Google or Bing images. Be sure the image you select is for the salmon species your students are raising.

Additional Educational Opportunities 

See your Teacher Handbook.

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