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.

This online lesson provides perspectives from Native American community members and their supporters, images, news footage, an interactive timeline, and other sources about an important campaign to secure the treaty rights and sovereignty of Native Nations of the Pacific Northwest. Scroll to begin an exploration of the actions Native Nations took to address injustices.

This online lesson provides perspectives from Native American community members, images, objects, and other sources to help students and teachers understand the efforts of Native Nations of the Pacific Northwest to protect and sustain salmon, water, and homelands. Scroll to begin an exploration of the Pacific Northwest history and cultures.

So, how are people fixing their water problems? In this episode of Crash Course Kids, Sabrina talks about a few different examples how some freshwater sources were good, then bad, then made good again. Also, Sabrina talks about parasites, fish, and dams!

"These lesson plans relate to Indigenous ways of knowing and being through building relationships to the natural world and understanding the past in order to foster healing and resiliency. Some lessons demonstrate how Indigenous knowledge can support a deeper understanding of the land and the changes that are a result of climate change. Others are focused on remembering ancestors, understanding treaties and exploring culture through traditional land-based practices (such as hunting, gathering medicines, weaving, drumming, shelter building, tree tapping, etc.)."
*politics
*bison, butterflies, caribou
*interdependence
*drum, flute, elements of art, weaving
*creation stories
*Indigenous stories
*land learning
*land based education
*gum tea, spruce, maple syrup, salmon, medicine walk
*colonialism
*seasons
*coding
*elders
*Inuit naming, igloos
*resilience
*Sacred water
*circle
& More

We have been rearing salmon in our classroom for a long time, and the students love it. The project before this point was very teacher lead and much of the care, and set up was done for the students. We are excited to make a student-led project based unit that will better cover the content and incorporate the standards we are looking to teach.

Students work to build a dam that protects Salmon (fish) on the McKenzie River while creating hydroelectric power.

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.

Terry Williams is blunt when he describes the environmental crisis tribes in the Pacific Northwest are facing: "We’ve lost 90 percent of the salmon population."

As the Tulalip Tribe’s Fisheries and Natural Resources Commissioner, Williams has witnessed the decline of salmon and its impacts on tribal members. For the Tulalip and other tribes in the region, the population crash of salmon is much more than an assault on their economic lifeblood—it is a cultural and spiritual threat to their identity as a people.

The annual springtime Salmon Ceremony puts tribal members in direct touch with their ancestors, and other ceremonies and practices center on the fish through the year. Losing the fish is a strike to the core of the Tulalip people, but they have a long-term vision to restore wild salmon populations to levels that will support their fishing needs.