Salmonids in the Classroom

Exciting things have been happening in room 17. On Wednesday, we received a delivery that has my students (and me) excited. Our 30 Chinook eggs arrived on ice and ready to be placed in our 5-gallon tank. I love this project. Prior to the arrival of our fish, we spent the first few days of January learning about the life salmon life cycle, environmental factors that have resulted in Chinook being placed on the endangered species list, and have started researching all things salmon.

I first participated in the Salmonids in the Classroom project last year as a student teacher, and after the experience last year, I knew that I wanted to continue to participate. The Classroom Aquarium Education Program is a statewide program that brings hands-on opportunities into the classroom. Through local partnerships, teachers raise fish in the classroom allowing students and teachers the opportunity to learn about the life cycle of salmon and habitat needs. Some of the project goals are to promote watershed stewardship and conservation of breeding ground habitat, and giving students the knowledge so they can make informed decisions in the future. It is a wonderful program, and I’ve never seen the level of student engagement that the Salmonids in the Classroom project brings into the room. Needless to say, our room will be focused on the salmon in every subject.

Our tank set-up this year:

My lovely husband is helping me in my room again. I think he enjoys this project almost as much as I do! Isn’t he the best?!

Our tank is ready for our salmon to arrive.

The Arrival of Our Chinook (Wednesday, 1/17):

30 Chinook eggs arrived safely.

30 Chinook eggs await their dispersal onto our man-made redd.

And now we wait…

Next week we will be using temperature data to estimate when our eggs will hatch. One of the best parts of the Salmonids in the Classroom project is the ability to blend science and mathematics lessons together. We spend so much time writing, observing and learning about the fish that it becomes all about fish, all the time. Stay tuned!