ESCANABA - Sixth-grade students in Andrew Doutree and Lisa Thomas' science class at Gladstone Middle School completed the final stage of their science project Friday, releasing approximately 165 salmon into the Escanaba River.
Following the release, the students traveled to the Thompson Fish Hatchery to learn how other species of fish are raised and cared for until their release into various bodies of water in the area.
The salmon were introduced to the students by Doutree in November when the first 200 salmon roe (eggs) were delivered to classrooms.
Doutree said he became aware of the project when he saw a flyer advertising the concept in 2010.
He said the difficult part was how to connect the science project with reading, writing and social studies.
After learning more about the project and how it could tie the curriculum together, he contacted the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Trout Unlimited.
According to Doutree, the DNR supplied the salmon roe, while Trout Unlimited provided the necessary supplies and food for the project.
"The students have been caring for the salmon since the eggs hatched in December, and through the process of studying and caring for the salmon, the students were able to learn through the hands-on process about life science," said Doutree.
The students learned how a salmon progresses through several stages before becoming a spawning adult. The students also learned how a salmon will go from its first stage of being an egg to becoming a small salmon or alevin. As they continue to grow the next stage is parr, followed by smolt, adult and spawning adult. It takes up to four years for a salmon to become a spawning adult.
When the salmon reach the spawning adult phase, the males grow teeth, which they use for defense. Another change for the fish at this stage is their snouts (noses) become more pointed and they don't eat anything during this time.
During the spawning season, the salmon fight their way back up stream to where they were born.
"As part of the classroom curriculum, we learned the internal and external parts of the salmon, and also its life cycle and the different species of salmon," said Ethan Juhola, a sixth-grade student in Doutree's science class.
As part of the project, the students also discovered how salmon rely on their sense of smell to return to the waters where they were first hatched. They rely on the specific scent provided by bacteria and other agents in the water to lead them back. The students said when the salmon they released Friday return to the Escanaba River in three to four years, the females will dig a redd (nest) in which to lay their eggs. The males will come afterward to fertilize them. Juhola said that as part of the project, they learned how to feed and care for the salmon in the tank they were being reared in.
"As part of caring for the young salmon, we learned that we needed to siphon the old water out every other day, replacing the old water with water that had been sitting in a bucket for 24 hours before it was used," said Juhola.
The high levels of chemicals (chlorine) used by the city of Gladstone to treat its water make the water toxic to salmon, he said.
By letting the water sit for 24 hours, the level of chlorine subsides.
"This project has been a real class effort, with the students volunteering to take care of the salmon," said Doutree. "Some of the students even named the fish."
Doutree said when other students learned about the project, four sixth-grade students did a presentation about the project to a class of eighth-graders.
"In addition to learning about the different species of salmon, we also learned more about responsibility," said Michelle Wall, also a sixth-grade student in Doutree's science class.
