Muckleshoot Stewardship of the Salmon People
GradesK-8Biology, Visual and Performing Arts
What it is
This lesson explores how the Muckleshoot Tribe, the Salmon People, protect salmon through tribal sovereignty and modern science.
Students will follow a scent trail to model how salmon smell their way home, create a poster or comic strip of a sockeye salmon's journey using traditional Coast Salish art shapes, and run a salmon hazard course that simulates barriers, pollution, predators, and warm water during this 55-minute lesson.
The lesson also includes vocabulary words in the Muckleshoot and Lushootseed languages.
Teaching tips
Preparation:
Check on students' allergies and ensure there are no students who are prone to headaches or sensitive to smell before setting up the Scent-Trail Navigation Activity.
Use the story map to learn about the full curriculum and build necessary background knowledge for implementing this lesson.
Classroom Implementation:
This lesson fits well into science units on life cycles, animal senses, and ecosystems, or social studies units on Pacific Northwest tribes, treaty rights, and water.
Extensions:
Have students demonstrate their understanding by defining anadromous in their own words.
Materials:
Cotton balls
Essential oils
Small containers
Pool noodles
Nerf balls
Nature journals
Various art supplies
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