Salmon Project

North Thurston Public Schools, The Nisqually Tribe, and the Nisqually Clear Creek Hatchery

Project History: • 2007 – First received fish from Clear Creek Hatchery.• 2009 – 3 high school crews, expanded program. • 2011 – NO VISITS - Hatchery access restricted. • 2013 – NO VISITS – I was not available. • 2015 – Reestablished the Salmon Project.

A Project with Two Parts:

PART 1 - Getting “Crews” to Clear Creek Hatchery

PART 2 – NTPS Student Salmon Dissections

Clear Creek Fish Hatchery

Nisqually Tribe Dept. of Natural ResourcesSalmon Enhancement Program

Bill St. Jean, Chief Enhancement

Biologist

Nisqually River Foundation Nisqually River Education Project

Sheila Wilson,Program Director

Clear Creek is located on Fort Lewis and is owned and operated by the Nisqually Tribe

2015 Salmon ProjectPART 1 - Getting “Crews” to work the Clear Creek Hatchery

Partnership: • Bill St. Jean, Nisqually Tribe Natural Resources Dept.• Sheila Wilson, Nisqually River Foundation • Dixie Reimer, NTPS District Secondary Education, Science

When: 4 Trips - Sept 29th, Oct 1st, Oct 6th, and Oct 13th, 2015

Crews: High School Students • 4 to 8 Students and a Teacher per Crew

• 25 Students in Total - 17 Boys; 8 Girls

• All 4 District High Schools - One crew from each:• North Thurston, River Ridge, South Sound and Timberline

• 422 “jacks” were donated and returned for student dissections

• 6 different schools received these salmon

The Timberline High School Crew

The River Ridge High School Crew

North Thurston High School Crew

South Sound High School Crew

Lots of “live” Chinook salmon were processed each visit

Stunning the live salmon isn’t easy

You hold the male salmon by the tail

Capturing the sperm in cups takes skill

Hatchery staff instructed students on each task

Removing eggs from females is dirty work

Fish are moved to counting and tag checking area

Learning opportunities were everywhere

Over 4 million salmon eggs were captured and processed

Sperm and eggs are mixed to fertilize

Once processed, many salmon are distributed for consumption – Hatchery staff explained importance of each step in the process

Placing a 50 pound bag of fertilized eggs into incubator

Every crew worked hard and learned a lot.

PART 2 – Student Salmon Dissections

614 - Number of Fish Taken - from 2 hatcheries

422 from the Clear Creek Hatchery 192 from the Tumwater Falls Hatchery (All to Komachin)**

75 - Number of Classes Who Dissected 55 Middle School Classes 20 High School Classes

2,100+ - Number of Students Who Dissected (estimate is based on 28 students per class)

1,430+ used Clear Creek Hatchery Fish (51 classes) 670+ used Tumwater Falls Hatchery Fish (24 classes)

Middle school dissections were done in teams of 3-4 students to a fish

"All Standards, All Students" Making the Next Generation Science Standards

Accessible to All Students

• Strategies that involve the community underscore the importance of connecting the school science curriculum to the students’ lives and the community in which they live.

• It is through these connections that students who have traditionally been alienated from science recognize science as relevant to their lives and future, deepen their understanding of science concepts, develop agency in science, and consider careers in science.

Student Engagement With School Science in Community Contexts

MS Ecosystems: Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.

While gloves were available, many got the “real feel” without them.

One teacher had the advantage of assistance from AmeriCorps

HS Cells: How do the structures of organisms enable life’s functions?

HS: How does the organization of interacting systems provide specific functions for multicellular organisms?

NTPS Student Dissection Summary

Number of Classes Who Dissected: 75 Classes – 55 MS; 20 HS

75 classes (8 fish per class) taught by 22 teachers13 at Chinook Middle School (4 – Life Science)18 at Nisqually Middle School (4 – Life Science)24 at Komachin Middle School** (6 – Life Science) 11 at North Thurston High School (3 – 2 Biology, 1 Nat. Res.) 2 at River Ridge High School (1 - Oceanography & Life Sci) 2 at South Sound High School (1 - Biology) 5 at Timberline High School (3 – 2 Biology, 1 Nat. Res.)

Number of Students Who Dissected: 2,100+ students (estimate is based on 28 students per class)

• 1,430+ used Clear Creek Hatchery Fish (51 classes)• 670+ used Tumwater Falls Hatchery Fish (24 classes)**

Over 95% of the fish carcasses were composted at the district’s Land Lab after dissections

Questions?