Classroom Resources
Classroom Lessons
The Spinning Salmon team has developed a curriculum designed to support student engagement in course content areas while connecting to TDC research. Each of the lessons below include a lesson plan, student handout and guide, and additional resources related to the lesson content.
Time: 45 minutes
Description: Thiamine deficiency complex in California’s salmon was first observed in early 2020. Workers in fish hatcheries noticed abnormal behaviors and elevated mortality rates in the salmon fry, leading to concerns that a disruption in the marine ecosystem may be affecting the transmission of thiamine from females to their eggs and subsequently to juvenile fish. This lesson goes into detail about the current research, observation protocols and data collection processes involved in the Spinning Salmon project. Click here to view the lesson.
Time: 1 hour
Description: Low egg thiamine levels correlate with higher mortality rates in the fry. For this reason, the research team has been experimenting with methods of improving egg thiamine levels through thiamine injections of the spawning salmon, thiamine baths of the spawning salmon, or even thiamine baths of the eggs. This brings us to our investigation inquiry: How has average egg thiamine changed over time? Students will investigate the inquiry by making graphs in FieldScope, an online data collection and analysis tool. Click here to view the lesson.
Time: 1 hour
Description: Pacific salmon species begin their life cycle in freshwater rivers, spend the majority of their adult life in the ocean, and swim back to the freshwater rivers to spawn. Of the thousands of eggs that are spawned, only few survive and return to spawn. This lesson discusses the life cycle of the Pacific salmon and the effects of thiamine deficiency on specific life stages. Click here to view the lesson.
Time: 55 minutes
Description: We depend on watersheds for water supply, essential ecosystem services, and more. However, the dams that we have built to store water and control water flow have significant impacts on the watersheds in which they are built, and the wildlife that lives within them. For salmon, dams are a barrier that prevent adults from reaching their historic spawning sites. Dams also indirectly impact salmon through its effects on water quality and quantity. This lesson discusses issues that salmon face due to human impacts on our watersheds, with a focus on the direct and indirect effects of dams.
Time: 1 hour
Description: Climate change affects California’s watersheds in a multitude of ways, impacting Pacific salmon at every stage of their life cycles. Warmer air temperatures in recent years has led to increasing water temperatures, which has caused a decrease in Pacific salmon hatch rates. Higher temperatures have also resulted in changes in snow melt, precipitation patterns, and seasonal river flow volumes, affecting the timing and salmon survival rates of salmon migration. This lesson explores the connections between climate change and biodiversity, with a focus on the diversity of salmon prey species. Click here to view the lesson.
Time: 35 minutes
Description: Salmon are a keystone species. Salmon travel through freshwater rivers, coastal waters, and open ocean throughout their life cycle causing them to be intertwined with freshwater and marine ecosystems. Through their migration to spawn in freshwater, salmon bring millions of tons of nutrients from the ocean into freshwater systems. Click here to view the lesson.
Time: 40 minutes
Descriptions: Recent research suggests that salmon reproductive maturation and migration timing is determined by a single gene region. The lesson discusses the research as well as the potential implications of the research findings on conservation efforts. Click here to view the lesson.
Time: 55 minutes
Descriptions: A collaboration of organizations, researchers, and farmers have led to the beginnings of a restoration project in the Central Valley floodplains. Researchers have discovered that the Central Valley floodplains, in which rice is farmed, is an ideal habitat for the threatened Chinook salmon that migrate through the Central Valley. This lesson focuses on the collaboration between farmers and researchers, as well as the potential benefits and consequences of opening rice fields to salmon populations. Click here to view the lesson.
Lesson 8: Cultural Impacts
Time: 55 minutes
Descriptions: Chinook salmon have sustained Indigenous populations for generations and are of great cultural significance. However, due to the construction of dams and other human activities, salmon populations have not reached historical spawning grounds in decades. This lesson explores the cultural connections, as well as the outreach of Indigenous peoples to raise awareness about the importance of protecting salmon and their waters. Click here to view the lesson.