The City of Bellingham has suspended the series of education programs and stewardship lessons for Bellingham elementary school classes. Programs for second through fourth grades are not offered for the 2009-2010 school year.
By
answering the questions "What makes a fish a fish?” and “How do I connect to
salmon?” this program offers an introduction to the connections between
urban streams, human choices and the riparian ecosystem. During a field trip
to the Environmental Learning Center, students work in small groups at
stations exploring aquatic adaptations, properties of the aquatic
environment, basic needs of fish, and connections between salmon, habitat,
and personal choice. Each station emphasizes stewardship actions appropriate
to second-grade students.
Students
studying the early history of Bellingham visit the Whatcom Creek Estuary and
make connections between the estuary of their great-great grandparent’s day
and the estuary today. Students use historic photographs and visit sites
while exploring how our actions and attitudes change over time. To
understand the hidden treasures and interconnections below the tide,
students also record observations of local seashore animal interactions in
an aquarium. Students learn how they can protect seashore animals and
important habitat. Handout:
The Estuary Rap poster (PDF).
Fourth-grade students experience a multidisciplinary study of watersheds, salmon, and urban streams. This series of lessons introduces natural systems providing a balanced ecological perspective and promotes informed personal stewardship decisions.
Public
Works guest teachers visit classrooms to introduce students to systems,
watersheds, stormwater and salmon. Students build a paper model to help
compare runoff from a “forested” watershed and a “neighborhood” watershed.
Students record their observations, comparisons, and explanations as part of
their student journal.
Following the Public Works staff visit, classroom teachers present an
award-winning, locally-produced video introducing students to the salmon
life cycle, habitat and human choices. Students answer the question, “What
is important to a salmon?” Additional activities continue to enhance student
understanding of habitat needs, limiting factors, and the value of salmon
preparing them for parts 3 and 4.
Students explore why salmon are important to them and learn about two different surfaces that water moves across: pervious and impervious. Students participate in a silent experiment, “Cookies and Catchbasins,” which models a neighborhood with pervious and impervious surfaces and teaches the importance of keeping pollution out of storm drains that lead to salmon habitat in streams and the bay.
A
field trip downtown to the Environmental Learning Center and Whatcom Creek
Hatchery provides context to classroom learning. Students walk on pervious
and impervious surfaces, view storm drain outfalls and search for adult
salmon returning to spawn. Hands-on activities and props reinforce salmon
habitat needs, interconnections, problems for salmon and potential
solutions.
A post-trip visit to the classroom helps students further understand
interconnections and interpret what they have learned. Students work toward
personal stewardship goals and understanding how to share our watersheds.
The Student Journal culminates with an essay prompt and graphic organizer. Students are encouraged to use these tools and produce a one to five-paragraph essay highlighting their learning. Handout: Student Journal (PDF).
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