Super Salmon!!!
The Grade Three Science Program includes the study of the life cycles of different animals, insects, etc. The life cycle of The Pacific Salmon is excellent for grade three students to study, as the stages are well-defined and interesting as well.
This is also an easily evaluated part of the students' learning, as they can be given the assignment to "Tell about the life cycle of the salmon," or "Tell the story of the salmon."
Students can also compare and contrast the life cycle of the salmon to that of a reptile, a mammal, or an insect.
Teacher Notes:
The life cycle of the salmon could also be used to teach about the role of male and female in the process of reproduction.
God has given the awesome power to have children to all things that live and grow. Fish, too, can be fathers and mothers, and have babies.
Fish are cold-blooded, and although they don't have the same loving feelings for each other that most mammals do, they still have babies.
When female fishes grow up, a special pocket inside their bodies begins to fill up with thousands of little eggs. The pocket inside the female fish is called the 'ovary', and a little tube leads from it to an opening underneath her body so that she can let the eggs out when they are ready.
When it is time for her to lay her eggs, the mother salmon swims to some sheltered place where the water is calm and lays them in a still pool of water. There she knows that the baby fish will be safe when they hatch out. Then she swims away and leaves them.
But what about the father fish? Inside every male fish there is a kind of sponge which makes tiny little seeds, and that, too, has a special tube leading to an opening under his body.
When the 'mother-fish' has laid her eggs, the 'father-fish' swims into the pool and spreads a special fluid called "milt" over the eggs. This is called 'fertilizing' the eggs. This makes it possible for the eggs to live and turn into baby fish. Then the father fish swims away and leaves them.
God, who made all living things, gave even to the fish the power to keep their own kind of life going. He gave the salmon a powerful instinct. This instinct gives them the need to get back to their place of origin to spawn. If they didn't have that power, there would be no new baby fish to take the place of the older ones.
Note: A good children's book to use with the study of the life cycle of the salmon is "A Salmon for Simon" by Betty Waterton (Scholastic-TAB Publications)
Also, the "Magic School Bus" series has a book on the story of the Salmon.
Salmon Websites: (Links)
http://www.wa.gov/wdfw/outreach/fishing/salmon.htm
http://www.riverdale.k12.or.us/salmon/report.html
http://www.washingtontourist.com/salmon/
http://ericir.syr.edu/Virtual/Lessons/Science/Animals/ANM0204.html
Grade 3 Salmon Vocabulary--can be used as Spelling List Words:
1. salmon 13. male
2. fish 14. female
3. fry 15. fingerling
4. gills 16. travel
5. scales 17. gravel
6. fins 18. smell
7. tail 19. journey
8. stream 20. jumping
9. waterfall 21. fertilize
10. spawn 22. instinct
11. migrate 23. Pacific
12. milt 24. life cycle
Life Cycle Facts About the Pacific Salmon:
Salmon are amazing fish.
They spend part of their lives in the ocean and part of their lives in fresh water.
1. Salmon begin their lives as eggs. The female salmon scoops a nest out of the gravel bottom of a stream by waving her tail. Into this dip she deposits thousands of pea-sized eggs.
2. The male fish fertilizes the eggs by covering them with a milky fluid from his body called milt.
3. The female brushes bits of gravel over the eggs.
Then both male and female, exhausted from their long rough journey from the sea, lie on their sides until they die.
4. In the Spring, the salmon eggs hatch into tiny fish called 'fry'.
As they grow, they are called 'fingerlings'. The fingerlings continue to eat and grow and start to make their way downstream, to the river, and eventually to the ocean.
5. The long trip to the ocean is dangerous. There are fishermen, bears, waterfalls, dams, pollution and other hazards along the way.
Once in the ocean, the salmon spend a few years there, growing to around 60 cm long, eating smaller fish and traveling great distances.
6.
Mature salmon leave the ocean, and battle their way back to the stream in which
they were born. The trip back home is even more dangerous and
difficult. Many die before they can spawn. It takes them a number of
months to reach their
destination.
Samples of Student Work:
The Life Cycle of the Salmon by Sasheline
First the baby salmon hatches out of its egg. When it hatches, it is called fry. After it hatches it swims to the ocean (salt water). There the salmon grows up. The salmon stays there for about one to three years. Then the salmon feels like it has to go back to where it was born, to hatch its eggs. The salmon jumps over waterfalls and gets scraped by rocks. When it returns to its stream, it hatches its eggs. The female makes holes to put the eggs in. Then the male fertilizes the eggs. Then they die.
Life Cycle of the Salmon by Tara
First, the little eggs hatch. The little frys start eating little things. When they get a little bigger, they start their journey to the ocean. After the dangerous trip they start eating other little fish. They stay there about two or three years. Then the female gets eggs in her tummy and the male gets milt in his tummy. Then they go back home where they were born. Some die on the trip and some make it back home. When they make it back home, the female makes a little dip in the ground. Then the female lays thousands of eggs and the male puts milt on the eggs. If he doesn't, the eggs won't hatch. Then the male and female die. In the spring, the eggs hatch. The fry don't get to see their mom and dad. Then it happens all over again. That is the life cycle of the salmon.
Life Cycle of Salmon by Mark
First, they start as eggs. Then they hatch into small fry. They stay in a stream or river for a year sometimes. Then they go to the ocean. They stay there for two or three years. Then they get this feeling that they have to go back to the stream where they were born, to lay their eggs. They travel on a dangerous journey. The get beaten up while traveling back. When they get to the stream, the females make a hole and lay their eggs in it. The men salmon fertilize the eggs with a liquid called milt. Then the male and female die. And the eggs hatch and the whole life cycle starts back over.
Life Cycle of the Salmon by Mandy
First, there are eggs laid in the stream. Then, after a few months, they hatch. When they hatch, they are called fry. They stay in the stream for a few months. They eat and grow. Next, they get the feeling that they need to go to the ocean. The trip is long. It can take up to six months to get to the ocean. It is also very dangerous. They need to pass fishermen, bears, and seals. Lots of them get eaten or killed.
When they get to the ocean, they eat smaller fish and grow into full-sized salmon. In the ocean they need to watch for sharks, bigger fish and fishermen. After two or three years in the ocean, they know they need to go back to the stream they were born in. The trip is now very dangerous. Now they must go back up waterfalls, past bears and seals and fishing rods. They get beaten up, bruised, scratched--and lots even die.
When they get back, the females makes a dip in the sand and lay their eggs in the dip. The males cover the eggs with a thing called milt. By now, the salmon parents are dying or already dead. And the story starts again.
The Life Cycle of the Salmon by Patrick
The salmon hatches from its egg. The baby salmon is called a 'fry'. This fry stays in the stream or river for a few years and then goes to the ocean. The salmon grows to be a grown-up salmon. It goes back to the stream where it was born. But before it goes back, it tries and tries to jump waterfalls. God gave the salmon the instinct to go back to where it was born. The female uses her tail to dig a little hole. Then she lays her eggs. The male comes and fertilizes them with a special liquid called 'milt'. The female covers the eggs with little pebbles. The parents guard the eggs for a while. Then they die. In the Spring the eggs hatch and the same things happens again.
Under the Sea Pictures (Art)(Gr.3A)
Another Neat Art Idea:
*Using buttons (these can be obtained at dollar stores or variety stores--a bag of assorted buttons is best), give each student a certain number of buttons (2,3, 4 or 5 depending on the number of buttons you have) and have them create an under the sea picture, using the buttons as eyes, or creatures, or parts of plants, or whatever. The buttons can be glued on after the picture has been completed (students leave space for the button and a small x to show where it should be glued). You may have to use sturdy paper or heavier cardboard and white craft glue to support the weight of the buttons.