Thursday, February 22, 2007 Older Editions

Students learn by 'Cammed Salmon'

By Cliff Hauptman
Pike School

By obtaining Atlantic salmon eggs from the Nashua National Fish Hatchery in New Hampshire each winter, the third grade at the Pike School, on Sunset Rock Road, has been raising and releasing young salmon every spring for the past eight years.

And the public can now watch the growth of the fish, from egg to fry, in real-time streaming video, 24/7, from February until June.

Pike's Salmon Cam (www.pikeschool.org/home/academics/middleschool/ backpack/salmoncam) runs nonstop, and observers of the site are seeing live coverage. They can also see the daily water-condition measurements and observations of two teams of Pike third-graders.

As part of the third-grade science curriculum on "water," the students start out learning about watersheds, wetlands, and the ways in which water connects all the ecosystems in an area. They discuss water as a basic necessity of life, and from there they discuss food webs and adaptations, focusing on aquatic animals.

That leads to the exploration of lifecycles and connections to other organisms they have studied in the past, ending the year discussing the impact of humans on the environment (both positive and negative) and the importance of stewardship.

Part of the "Adopt-A-Salmon Family" program of the US Fish and Wildlife Service's effort to reintroduce Atlantic salmon to the Merrimack River, Pike's nearly decade-long salmon rearing endeavors have only recently become a live Webcast.

This year's batch of 250 eggs was introduced to the classroom tank on Feb. 7, and viewers are able to watch their development into eyed eggs, alevin, and fry, which the students will release into the Souhegan River (a tributary of the Merrimack) in Milford, N.H., in late May or early June.

Ed Santella, third-grade science teacher, has been the driving force behind the Salmon Cam, and his enthusiasm for the project is kept high not only by the appearance of a new group of third graders each year, but also by the real impact he sees the project making on the students' awareness of environmental issues.

"I think the most amazing part about this whole program is that the children are actively involved in being environmentalists," says Santella. "We try to learn as much as we can about the interactions that take place in nature, but more important is the fact that the children are actually part of an attempt to fix, rather than just read about, a long-term problem. That, to me, is wonderful for them. I am also excited by the range of emotions and thinking that goes on during our release. The students become committed to 'their' salmon, and I think that translates well to concern about the environment as a whole."

In truth, a sense of attachment to each year's brood of young salmon extends beyond Santella's third-graders to the whole Pike community, from the parents of the third-graders to the other Middle School teachers and the entire faculty and staff.

With the addition of the Salmon Cam, that community can now become global.