How will you give back to the ocean this year? Make your ocean promise!
Educator Voices
Target age group: Middle School (Grades 6-8), but could be easily adapted for students in grades 4-10.
Time: This sequence covers a time span of September to April. Ideas can be modified to suit different schedules and timetables
Experience and interpret the local environment
Apply First Peoples perspectives and knowledge and local knowledge as sources of information
Use scientific understandings to identify relationships and draw conclusions
Communicate mathematical thinking in many ways
Select and use appropriate features, forms, and genres according to audience, purpose, and message
Pacific salmon, Lifecycles, Traditional Indigenous Knowledge, Ecosystem management
Indigenous knowledge, Interactions and interdependencies, Sustainability
Salmon release April 2024. Photo by Taylor Padington.
Salmon release April 2024. Photo by Taylor Padington.
In mid-April, a group of forty-five thirteen and fourteen year olds gathered at the edge of a small creek. Normally bouncy, loud, and borderline inappropriate, this gangly group of middle schoolers stood quietly as the drum beat began.
Will Henderson, a local cultural leader, drummed the Kwak̓wala salmon song, and the middle schoolers waited patiently for their turn to release the small coho fry they were holding in plastic cups. Gently, in small groups of two or three, they approached the creek bank, crouched down and slowly let the fresh creek water enter their cup. Some of the fry immediately darted out of the cup and into the creek. Other fry seemed hesitant to leave the comfort of the cup and hung back until the cup was tipped, sending them out into the stream.
Overheard were the middle schoolers sending their little fish out into the big wild world. “Stay safe, little buddy,” “Maybe one day I’ll see you back under the bridge over there,” “Don’t get eaten!” and “Maybe I’ll eat you for dinner in a few years.” Reflecting back in the classroom, students remarked that through this experience they felt a deeper connection to the salmon, and were more aware of the role salmon play in the ecosystem, and their importance to coastal communities.
Here on the west coast of Canada, salmon are the lifeblood of both ecosystems and human communities that span the coast. In British Columbia many elementary school students participate in the Stream to Sea Program, funded by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, where students raise salmon in their classrooms. For the second year in a row, my Grade 8 class had the opportunity to participate in this program. In the post that follows, I will share how my teaching partner and I wove the story of salmon into our math, science, and language arts curriculums over the course of the school year with the help of Ocean School.
Our focus for the first few months of the school year was to build knowledge of salmon and their life cycle. We were fortunate to tour a local fish hatchery and walk along a local river to view salmon spawning. We used Salmon Survival from Ocean School to review the stages of the salmon life cycle with students. Students then created a comic strip of one aspect of the salmon’s life cycle. These were hung in our hallway for all classes to view. We also read part of The Paradox of Salmon Hatcheries from Hakai Magazine to discuss the pros and cons of raising wild fish in hatcheries. My teacher partner and I used Diffit to adjust the article to meet the reading levels of students in our classes. Some students also explored Something fishy about the forest from Ocean School to extend their learning.
As we headed into the dark and rainy months of winter, it was great to have the resources from Ocean School to use when the weather was less favourable for outdoor learning.
Student artwork. Photo by Kim Zumach.
Student artwork. Photo by Kim Zumach.
In the middle of January, one hundred coho salmon eggs arrived and were placed in an insulated aquarium. Once per day, students could remove the insulation to check the temperature and see if there was any change to the eggs. Our first eggs hatched into alevins after about 10 days in the tank. Alevins are much like all babies, they rest a lot and periodically get the “zoomies” much to the delight of the middle schoolers if they timed their observation right. In all, we had 99 out of 100 of eggs hatch into alevin!
During this time, we compared wild raised salmon and hatchery raised salmon survival rates at each lifecycle stage and made a double bar graph to tie in with the percent and data unit we were learning about in math class. This lesson was based on an activity from the Salmonids in the Classroom resource that is available in both English and French.
In preparation for the release of the salmon, we walked twenty minutes to a nearby creek and the students conducted a habitat assessment survey. Students worked in groups to assess streambank vegetation, streambed composition, water flow, temperature, insect abundance, and human impacts. Overall, most groups decided that the chosen spot was well suited for our salmon release. The vegetation along the streambank would keep the salmon cool, and insects could fall off the overhanging branches for food for the fry. The water was running cool and clear without rapids or waterfalls, and there was minimal human impact. Students removed the small amount of garbage that they came across while completing their site assessment.
Student artwork showing lifecycle stages of salmon - by TJ. Photo by Kim Zumach.
Student artwork showing lifecycle stages of salmon - by TJ. Photo by Kim Zumach.
Finally our little salmon had grown into their fry stage. They were eating twice per day and were very active. The students were excited as the insulated cover was pulled back from the front of the tank, so we could constantly view the fish behaviour. Over our two-week long Spring Break, we unfortunately lost five fry when the nylon covering slipped off the filter intake, creating a deathtrap. However, on the day of release, 94 healthy fry were loaded into a bucket and we headed back to the site of the stream assessment. As described in the opening of this post, the students were captivated with their fry and were careful to release them in a respectful manner. Having a cultural leader from our community play the salmon song as the fish swam off felt like we were sending our fish out into the world in the best way possible.
The trap and the gift from the Ocean School fits perfectly with the release of the fry.
Raising salmon is one of the most rewarding things one can do in the classroom. Students make deep connections to the fish, and they are able to use this connection to build an understanding of the importance of salmon in our ecosystems and communities. Even if you live far from the ocean, you may be able to raise salmon in your classroom through connecting with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Using the Ocean School salmon content was a perfect companion to our hands-on learning in the classroom. The media and activities are engaging, easy to use, and informative. Teachers thinking about embarking on this journey of raising salmon in the classroom are encouraged to make connections with local Indigenous community members to further build connections and understanding of Indigenous ecological knowledge.
🔗 Fisheries and Oceans Canada teachers’ resource - Salmonids in the Classroom: Intermediate
🔗 Hakai Magazine article - Paradox of Salmon Hatcheries
🔗 Ocean School - Salmon survival
Kim Zumach is a mother, teacher, ocean advocate and nature-nerd. She lives, learns and teaches on the beautiful territory of the Ligwilda'xw Peoples in Campbell River, British Columbia. When not in the classroom teaching eighth graders, she can be found exploring on and around Vancouver Island by kayak, paddleboard, hiking boots or mountain bike. Kim is constantly inspired by the natural world and loves adventuring to new places with her two children, husband and dog.
