Cottonwood Students Learn at Salmon la Sac

Cottonwood Students Learn at Salmon la Sac

Every year, third grade students at Cottonwood Elementary raise salmon to learn about the salmon life cycle and to learn about quality habitats for salmon. This fall our students traveled to Salmon la Sac in the upper Yakima River to see sockeye salmon in their spawning grounds.

At Salmon la Sac, students were able stand on a bridge over the Yakima River to see the salmon easily. Cottonwood students and teachers were assisted by Tiffany Bishop, Director of the Yakima Basin Environmental Education Program. Tiffany met our students at Salmon la Sac to do a lesson on the spawning salmon and how the sockeye population has been restored in the river.

Students observed how the males fight and females protect their redds (nests) as they lay their eggs. In the winter, Cottonwood Elementary will receive Chinook salmon eggs and students will raise them to the “fry” stage and then release them into the Wide Hollow Creek. This fall our students were able to see the last stage of the life cycle at Salmon la Sac.