Elementary Pathway 2

Salmon play an important role in the ways of life, culture, history, and resilience of the tribes of this region. The tribes of Washington State and the Pacific Northwest have always depended on salmon as a primary source of food. Overfishing, roads, dams, pollution, and other human practices have been a growing threat to the survival of salmon, which has impacted fishing, salmon-eaters, and the environment. These lessons introduce to children the role of salmon in the history and culture of the first peoples of our region. The Honoring the Salmon lessons are designed to be taught as a series but can also be taught individually, adapted for each grade level, K-3. They can easily be integrated into science units on salmon, water or watersheds. Content knowledge from these lessons can provide background knowledge for 3rd grade and 4th grade Social Studies CBAs. NOTE: These lessons are designed around fiction and non-fiction books that are not a part of the STI curriculum. Most of them are easily available through public libraries. Some may need to be purchased. These lesson resources align to additional Washington State Social Studies, English Language Arts, Environmental and Sustainability, and Social Emotional Learning standards. A full standard curriculum document is included at the bottom of the Pathway 2 introduction page.

Material Type: Lesson

Author: OSPI Office of Native Education

Since Time Immemorial: Giving Thanks - A Native American Cultural Tradition

Lessons about Thanksgiving in elementary classrooms have historically misrepresented the events and people involved in the “first Thanksgiving.” Teachers are looking for guidance in teaching culturally and historically accurate lessons to young children. Updated research and texts supported by primary documents and tribal oral histories allow us to present more accurate representation of the story behind this tradition. The lessons presented here invite students to share their own fall and harvest traditions, and teach students some of the cultural values and traditions of our country’s indigenous peoples. Lessons are designed to be integrated into existing curriculum on fall/autumn, food, harvest, celebrations, and/or salmon prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, but could be taught independently of other curriculum as well. Lessons 1-4 are written for k-3 and should be adapted for developmental appropriateness.

Material Type: Lesson, Lesson Plan, Unit of Study

Authors: Michi Thacker, Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction

Content Integration Graphic Organizer

Graphic organizer to help identify Next Generation Science Standards performance expectations, three dimensions, and additional content connections in instructional materials.

Material Type: Teaching/Learning Strategy

Authors: Barbara Soots, Elizabeth Schmitz, Washington OSPI OER Project

Atlas of the Pacific Northwest

This 2018 edition is the first to be released in a digital, fully-interactive format, designed to highlight facets of the Pacific Northwest landscape with novel approaches to data presentation. Where previous editions of the atlas were designed to ask and answer questions, this atlas serves as a platform for the geographically curious to explore the region, providing as many critical questions as it does critical answers. Beyond this page are maps of the familiar and the unfamiliar. Migration maps highlight human movement between the Pacific Northwest and the rest of the United States; a wildfire timeline chronicles the year-to-year spread of modern and historical fires; and the watershed guide abandons traditional political boundaries in favor of natural, hydrological borders. All data in the atlas were gathered from publically accessible sources, compiled using open-source software and coding libraries. This is an atlas designed to be open, responsive, and to satisfy the geographic curiosity of any and all interested.

Material Type: Data Set

Authors: Institute for Natural Resources, Oregon State University Libraries and Press

ACESSE Resource G - Learning to See the Resources Students Bring to Sense-Making

Overview: In this workshop, we will build our capacity to identify the range of intellectual resources students use as they make sense of phenomena. We will first explore how equity and justice relate to culture-based approaches to pedagogy—and then focus on how to identify and leverage the resources students use in moments of sensemaking. This resource can also be used by individuals wanting to learn how equity involves promoting the rightful presence of all students across scales of justice, desettling inequities, and supporting expansive learning pathways. This workshop provides participants with an opportunity to explore important theoretical ideas by exploring examples of how learners engage in diverse sense-making. Participants will learn about some of the challenges that less expansive learning environments can cause for learners from non-dominant communities. This resource is estimated to take between 161-268 minutes (2 ⅔ - 4 ¾ hours), depending on the choices of the facilitator in scenario selection.

Material Type: Module

Authors: Hank Clark, Philip Bell, Deb Morrison, Gina Tesoriero, Abby Rhinehart

Native American Stories Science Connections

The original Native American story component lesson was developed as part of an Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and Washington State Leadership and Assistance for Science Education Reform (LASER) project funded through an EPA Region 10 grant. The stories were told by Roger Fernandes of the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe. Mr. Fernandes has been given permission by the tribes to tell these stories.As these lessons and stories were shared prior to the adoption of the Washington State Science Learning Standards in 2013, there was a need to align these stories with the current science standards. This resource provides a current alignment and possible lesson suggestions on how these stories can be incorporated into the classroom. This alignment work has been funded by the NGSS & Climate Science Proviso of the Washington State Legislature as a part of North Central Educational Service District's award.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson, Lesson Plan, Teaching/Learning Strategy

Authors: MECHELLE LALANNE, Barbara Soots, Ellen Ebert, Carissa Haug, Johanna Brown, Lori Henrickson, Kimberley Astle

Tribes within Washington State

These are the links to websites of federally recognized tribes within Washington State.

Material Type: Reading, Teaching/Learning Strategy

Authors: OSPI Office of Native Education, Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction

Since Time Immemorial: Tribal Sovereignty in Washington State

The Since Time Immemorial: Tribal Sovereignty in Washington State instructional materials, have been developed by the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction in partnership with the Federally Recognized Tribes in Washington State, The curriculum uses an inquiry, place-based and integrated approach.

Material Type: Lesson, Lesson Plan, Teaching/Learning Strategy, Unit of Study

Authors: Barbara Soots, Washington OSPI OER Project, OSPI Social Studies

Oh, Salmon!

Through this lesson, students in 3rd-5th grade will understand how the human history of a local creek (Whatcom Creek in this example) affects the health of salmon populations. This lesson is an active way to engage students in graphing through the use of models and uses critical thinking to understand implications of human actions in the past and in the future.

Material Type: Game, Interactive, Lesson, Lesson Plan, Reading

Authors: Barbara Soots, Hannah Newell

STEAM and Design Thinking Resource

NEXT.cc is an eco web that develops ethical imagination and environmental stewardship. NEXT.cc introduces what design is, what design does, and why design is important. It offers activities across nine scales – nano, pattern, object, space, architecture, neighborhood, urban, region, and world. NEXT.cc's journeys introduce activities online, in the classroom, in the community and globally. NEXT.cc journeys and activities are supported with links to museums, institutions and contemporary practices. The eco web network of journeys provides a solid foundation for newly established NAAEE North American Association of Environmental Education standards with place based design activities that address the five goals of environmental education: Awareness, Knowledge, Attitudes and Environmental Ethic, Citizen Action Skills, and Citizen Action Experiences. NEXT.cc is based on Wisconsin Art and Design Standards and Common Core State Standards. NEXT.cc plans to reach young people, their teachers and their families with meaningful learning experiences that create positive influence on lives and outcomes.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Assessment, Game, Interactive, Lesson Plan, Unit of Study

Author: Lindsey Shepard

Dams

Through eight lessons, students are introduced to many facets of dams, including their basic components, the common types (all designed to resist strong forces), their primary benefits (electricity generation, water supply, flood control, irrigation, recreation), and their importance (historically, currently and globally). Through an introduction to kinetic and potential energy, students come to understand how dams generate electricity. They learn about the structure, function and purpose of locks, which involves an introduction to Pascal's law, water pressure and gravity. Other lessons introduce students to common environmental impacts of dams and the engineering approaches to address them. They learn about the life cycle of salmon and the many engineered dam structures that aid in their river passage, as they think of their own methods and devices that could help fish migrate past dams. Students learn how dams and reservoirs become part of the Earth's hydrologic cycle, focusing on the role of evaporation. To conclude, students learn that dams do not last forever; they require ongoing maintenance, occasionally fail or succumb to "old age," or are no longer needed, and are sometimes removed. Through associated hands-on activities, students track their personal water usage; use clay and plastic containers to model and test four types of dam structures; use paper cups and water to learn about water pressure and Pascal's Law; explore kinetic energy by creating their own experimental waterwheel from two-liter plastic bottles; collect and count a stream's insects to gauge its health; play an animated PowerPoint game to quiz their understanding of the salmon life cycle and fish ladders; run a weeklong experiment to measure water evaporation and graph their data; and research eight dams to find out and compare their original purposes, current status, reservoir capacity and lifespan. Woven throughout the unit is a continuing hypothetical scenario in which students act as consulting engineers with a Splash Engineering firm, assisting Thirsty County in designing a dam for Birdseye River.

Material Type: Full Course, Unit of Study

Swim to and from the Sea!

Students are introduced to the basic biology behind Pacific salmon migration and the many engineered Columbia River dam structures that aid in their passage through the river's hydroelectric dams. Students apply what they learn about the salmon life cycle as they think of devices and modifications that might be implemented at dams to aid in the natural cycle of fish migration, and as they make (hypothetical) Splash Engineering presentations about their proposed fish mitigation solutions for Birdseye River's dam in Thirsty County.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Authors: Denise W. Carlson, Jeff Lyng, Kristin Field, Lauren Cooper

Fish-Friendly Engineering

Students further their understanding of the salmon life cycle and the human structures and actions that aid in the migration of fish around hydroelectric dams by playing an animated PowerPoint game involving a fish that must climb a fish ladder to get over a dam. They first brainstorm their own ideas, and then learn about existing ways engineers have made dams "friendlier" to migrating fish, before being quizzed as part of the game.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Authors: Denise W. Carlson, Jeff Lyng, Kristin Field, Megan Podlogar

PEI Math Performance Task (Algebra): Bring Salmon Back

The purpose of this 3 ACT task is to provide students with an opportunity to problem-solve based on a real-world situation (Claims 2 and 4). Due to the nature of the task, there are a variety of mathematical approaches students can take to successfully complete the task, however, the mathematical approach presented in Act 3 of the task addresses CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSF-LE.B.5 (Interpret the parameters in a linear or exponential function in terms of context). This performance task is intended for students with prior knowledge of geometric sequences or graphs of exponential growth, table and graph creation, and pattern recognition. Includes Power Point slides.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: Pacific Education Institute

Explore the Salish Sea - Unit 7: Migration

Migration explores the routes, distances, and purposes for wildlife migration with a special focus on Pacific salmon. This iconic species of the Pacific Northwest has shaped life in Salish Sea watersheds since they first entered rivers and creeks to spawn, bringing their ocean-derived nutrients in reach of land animals, plants, and people. Nearly 1/4 of the nitrogen in the leaves of our giant temperate rainforest trees once swam in the sea as salmon. They are the reason for the great natural wealth of the Salish Sea and beyond. Learning to identify habitat needs based on their specific migrations will empower students to identify ways they can improve salmon habitat near their own schools and possibly design and carry out a salmon habitat improvement project. Reach out to salmon experts in your community for support with this unit and project, from protecting storm drains to raising salmon in the classroom. Share your salmon project story along the way. Your school may just be featured as our next Salish Sea Heroes!

Material Type: Lesson, Lesson Plan, Unit of Study

Authors: Junior SeaDoctors, Pacific Education Institute, SeaDoc Society, UC Davis Veterinary Medicine

State of Salmon 3rd grade Unit

This learning sequence is anchored in the phenomena: Salmon populations in the Pacific Northwest are declining. Part of the job of Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is to figure out why salmon populations are declining and create plans for how to help increase fish populations. Throughout this unit, students will engage with the phenomenon of Pacific salmon population decline as they explore salmonid species and discover how WDFW raises healthy fish in hatcheries. Students will explore salmonid life cycles and discover patterns among life cycles of plants and animals who interact with salmon. Students will then learn what makes healthy habitats for salmon. They will evaluate solutions to the problems of salmon migration above and below dams and examine salmons’ role in a healthy river system. Students will embark on a virtual field trip (in person field trips also available) to a WDFW fish hatchery to learn about current practices in hatchery management and identify ways the hatchery meets the habitat needs of fish. Finally, students will be called to work as an engineering team and help develop a tool to support salmon recovery by working as conservation engineers.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Data Set, Lesson Plan, Primary Source, Reading, Unit of Study

Authors: Autumn Eckenrod, Washtington Department of Fish and Wildlife

Salmon Unit Vocabulary Words and Definitions

Vocabulary words and definitions for salmon life cycle unit.

Material Type: Homework/Assignment

Authors: Michaell Lake, Stephanie Tynan

Parasite Perils Data Analysis Game

In this activity, students collect and analyze data adapted from recent research that explores the correlation between the presence of fish farms and mortality rates in wild salmon runs adjacent to the fish farms. Students then relate their findings to nearby populations of orcas to theorize how a decline in the wild salmon population could affect orca populations.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: Amy O'donnell