In the rainy chill late last month, 6th grade life science teacher Kirk Ordway and his students trekked out to Mt Hood National Forest. Their final destination? The aptly named Salmon River where, this past September, Ordway and his students observed fall spawning salmon firsthand and engaged in hands-on stream ecology on their Salmon Watch field trip experience.
Months later, the class returned to the river to release juvenile fish into the cold waters. The lucky few will journey out to the Pacific Ocean and return to the site years from now to spawn and continue their amazing life cycle. Located in Mt Hood National Forest’s Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness, the Salmon River is home to thousands of spawning chinook, coho, cutthroat trout, and steelhead.
In addition to their fish release at the Salmon River, Kirk’s students have been using their knowledge to give back to their community in other ways. As part of Salmon Watch, many classrooms develop service projects to tackle critical issues and increase community awareness about wild salmon and the watersheds that support them.
Inspired by Portland’s “Green Streets” program – planters that act as small rain gardens to capture polluted runoff from streets and keep our rivers and streams healthy – Kirk’s students from the 2014-15 school year decided to study stormwater management in both natural and urban settings.
Click on the title to read more!
After weeks spent analyzing data sets from three different eco-regions for pollution parameters as well as investigation into bioswale models, the class engineered & installed two different rain catchment systems, one at a residential home and one at local food cart FishBox (located at SE 43rd & Belmont St). The class calculated that their project kept nearly 2,000 gallons of water from flowing into the storm sewer in just one month’s time!
Not only are these 6th graders reducing polluted runoff and saving water, they are educating other members of the community in how big problems can be tackled with small solutions. We appreciate Mt Tabor Middle School’s ongoing participation in Salmon Watch and their commitment to serving as stewards of our community.
A beautifully created video of their work can be viewed at this link.
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