The Grade Two class at the Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study travelled to Greenwood Conservation Area to release the salmon alevin they had been caring for in their classroom. The students bad been conducting an inquiry-based investigation into the life cycle and habitat of Atlantic Salmon and this was the conclusion of their three-month-long learning journey.
Raadiyah, the classroom teacher, felt it was important to include as many people who had helped the students’ learning, including Natural Curiosity, the World Wildlife Fund, parents, and representatives from the Lake Ontario Atlantic Salmon Restoration Program, the organization that helped facilitate the classroom salmon hatchery.
The class gathered next to the river where they eggs would be released and commented on the environment. They identified many of the characteristics they had learned during their inquiry: a body of water that winds, rushing water, tall trees providing shade, a rocky water floor.
Each child then had the opportunity to kneel next to the creek and release a set of alevin in to the rushing water. Many commented on how cold the water was – another characteristic of the ideal salmon habitat. The children were encouraged to wish the alevin well as they returned to their natural habitat.
The Robertson Program has been following this inquiry since it began – Click here to see what happened in Raadiyah’s Grade Two salmon inquiry
