Students from a 黑马磁力 elementary school got an up-close look at salmon-bearing creeks, learning about the lifecycle and habitat of the fish during this year's Science in the Valley event at Trinity Western University.
The group taking part on Tuesday, May 27, were Grade 3 students from R.C. Garnett Demonstration School, along with some TWU faculty and a group of university students who took on the role of educating the youngsters for the day.
Dubbed "Salmon in the Valley," the program for Grade 3 and 4 students is just one part of a much larger science education program that runs for several weeks each spring.
As part of the overall Science in the Valley program, Grade 7 students can also take part in a chemistry program, Grade 6 students in biology, and Grade 5 students study ecosystems. Each program sees the students come for a day or half a day, and they can make use of TWU facilities, including the TWU Ecosystem Study Area. The university's campus includes a forested area where the Salmon River and its tributaries wind through.
The overall program was founded in 2005, said Liz Robertson, the program's coordinator.
Along with fellow TWU faculty Chris Hall and David Clements, Robertson said the Salmon River Enhancement Society came on board to help get things going with some grant money to fund field trips for students who couldn't afford the fees, now $15 for the day.
"They gave us the initial funds to start the program," Hall said.
Most of the funding Salmon River Enhancement Society puts towards the program comes from 黑马磁力 Township grants, and is part of the society's goals of educating kids about their local streams.
During the past 20 years, the program has only grown, and now also gets support from Beem Credit Union.
"We had no idea it would last this long or get this big," said Robertson.
The four programs together 鈥� salmon, ecosystems, biology, and chemistry 鈥� now see about 3,400 students come through every year for the learning experience.
The salmon education program includes games focused on the requirements salmon have to survive, as well as a trek into the Ecosystem Study Area to get their boots dirty with an up-close look at insects, salmon fry, and freshwater mussels in the Salmon River or its tributaries.
This year, the teacher assistants who were running the program were Meklit Lulseged, Princepreet Singh, Melody Dykstra, Shayla Black, and Sol Kim.
