Salmon in the Classroom Project

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Salmon in the Classroom Project
St John Ogilvie Primary Eco Committee 2007-2008
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How it started
In February, the Eco Committee were asked if they
would like to take part in a project to have
Salmon in the Classroom. We were all really
excited about it.
In March, Brian Shaw from the Ayrshire Rivers
Trust came to talk to the committee about salmon
and what we would do as part of the project.
A week later, Pete Minting who also works for the
Rivers Trust came to set up the tank and 100
salmon eggs. He told us how to look after them
and what we had to do.
It didnt take long before the eggs started to
hatch. The whole school was really excited
about having the salmon!
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What we did next
Mr Shaw came to the school and we helped to empty
the tank. We put the baby salmon into buckets
of river water. We walked to the River Annick
which is just a short distance from our
school. Mr Shaw found a good spot and we
carefully released the salmon into the river.
Releasing some baby salmon
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In total we released about 97 salmon into the
River Annick
30 baby salmon released!
Salmon free!
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Electro Fishing
At the beginning of June, Mr Shaw and Mr Minting
came back to the school to take us to the river
to catch some fish. They were going to show us a
technique called Electro Fishing.
We got the equipment out of the van, Mr Shaw
showed us the Electro backpack and how it worked.
Mr Minting and Mr Shaw turn the pack on and head
down to the water.
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Electro Fishing
The electric current attracts the fish to the
round rod in the water. The fish turn on their
sides this makes them easier to catch.
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Electro Fishing
Once the bucket had lots of fish in it, Mr Shaw
tipped them into a yellow tub, all except one a
huge eel!
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Electro Fishing
Mr Shaw gave each of us a chart showing all the
different kinds of fish we might find in the
river. We used it to see exactly what we had
caught. Mr Shaw put some anaesthetic into a
bucket and then carefully placed a fish at a
time into it. This makes the fish sleepy and
makes it much easier for Mr Minting and Mr Shaw
to measure them. We even got to touch the fish
they felt slimy!
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Electro Fishing
Once we had identified and measured the fish, Mr
Shaw put them into a bucket of fresh river water
to wake them up!
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Electro Fishing
To find out how healthy and clean the water in
the River is, Mr Minting went back into the
water and did a kick sample. He collected
everything disturbed by his kicking in a net.
We then looked at it using a chart we were given.
We were all really surprised that the water is
clean and that there are lots of different kinds
of bugs living in the Annick, especially as
there was lots of litter.
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Electro Fishing
We were sad when our time fishing was up. Mr
Shaw and Mr Minting took the fish in their
yellow buckets back to the water. We stood on
the bridge and watched. The fish had become
lighter in colour because they were in the
yellow bucket, it made them really easy to see
in the river. We watched the fish swim upstream
and find places to hide.
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What we thought about the project
Ross It was a really good project which helped
us to learn more about the salmons life cycle.
Jordan I learned lots about salmon and other
fish which live in our local river.
Shannon I thought it was really good because we
learned a lot about fish and the creatures
which help us to know if the river water is
healthy or not.
Andrew It was brilliant! We learned about how
salmon live and what they feed on.
Toni I thought it was a good project, we
learned a lot about salmon and what they do.
Kathryn I thought it was really good, we had
lots to do as a group and we all took part.
Megan It was very interesting, my favourite
bit was watching the fish swim away home.
Schauwe I enjoyed the project, I learned a lot
about fish and the river. My favourite thing
was when we were fishing.