Learning

Lessons are designed to help you connect student learning with the exciting changes happening in your salmon tank. The lessons are organized by suggested grade level, along with the relevant NGSS connections, or organized by the NGSS connections. You may notice that in some cases the suggested grade levels are more inclusive than the NGSS standards listed, and that is because these lessons can be adapted to fit the needs of multiple ages.

The lessons are organized by grade level and NGSS Performance Expectations are accessed by the following links:

Since Time Immemorial

We highly encourage teachers to connect Salmon in the Schools to existing (and required) Tribal sovereignty curriculum resources in Since Time Immemorial. In particular, the following (elementary grade) resources, lessons or units fit well:

Salmon education resources

Wild Salmon Center – interactive games, beautiful illustrations and coloring pages, fun facts, unique salmon life cycle diagrams and life stages images.

NEW! (April 2025) Thistle Theater offers a puppet theater performance at schools called “Big Tree Little Salmon” (grades 2-5) about the ecology of salmon runs in Washington and the historical and cultural relationship with the Suquamish people. Visit their website for more info and to register.

Young Children

Salmon Life Cycle Song; a simple, entertaining song about the life cycle (3.40 mins.)
Sammy the Salmon; created by a young student using drawings and photos (6.39 mins.)
The Salmon Song; a good laugh for young students (0.55 mins.)
Pacific Salmon Song; a simple, entertaining song about Pacific species (3.11 mins.)
Eggs hatching.

Older Students

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.)
Whale Trail “Kid’s Cove” – While not directly about salmon, this set of videos talk about the importance of salmon to southern resident Orca survival (4.00 mins. each).
The Cycle – Salmon Raised at West Seattle Elementary; Follows the cycle from the hatchery to the returning spawners.
This is an interactive tour of a Washington State hatchery (Minter Creek). it allows you to explore hatchery operation. There is an excellent video clip of eggs hatching from US Fish and Wildlife Service.