Academics
MIDDLE SCHOOL
Student Backpack
Salmon Cam
3rd Grade Salmon Cam
Welcome to the third grade Salmon Cam. The eggs arrived at the eyed egg stage. During this stage, the eggs are much more hardy and stable than during the egg stage. The black dots you see in the eggs are the salmon's eyes. On February 14th we found our first hatched egg. It appears that three or four other eggs have hatched as well. Hatching usually takes place in big groups, so once they start hatching it goes fairly quickly. The eggs finished hatching on February 17th. When the salmon hatch they will immediately start looking for a place to hide. The gravel at the bottom of the tank mimics the redds where they hatch in the wild.Newly hatched eggs are called alevin or sac fry. When they hatch, salmon have yolk sacs on their abdomens which contain the nutrients they will need to survive. The yolk sacs allow them to remain hidden in the gravel while they continue their development. Once the yolk sacs are gone, the salmon will emerge from the gravel to begin hunting for food. This usually takes 6 - 8 weeks, depending on environmental factors.
On closer examination, several of us have noticed that the yolk sacs are almost completely gone from the salmon's abdomens. That means that they are ready to move into the next stage of their development. That stage is called the fry stage. When salmon enter the fry stage they begin to look more like real fish. There will be much more action in the tank as the salmon fry swim around in search of food. We feed our salmon brine shrimp so that they learn how to catch their own food. When we release our salmon in May, they will still be fry. The salmon will remain fry for 6 - 12 months, depending on the availability of food. It is important that the salmon are placed into their home streams while still fry because many scientists believe that salmon learn the smell of their home rivers during the next stage, which is parr. If the salmon do not learn the smell of their home streams, then they may not be able to find a place to spawn when they are adults.
Pennacook Data Tables
| Monday 4/14/08 |
Tuesday 4/15/08 |
Wednesday 4/16/08 |
Thursday 4/17/08 |
Friday 4/18/08 |
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| Student Observations |
Wampanoag Data Table
| Monday 4/14/08 |
Tuesday 4/15/08 |
Wednesday 4/16/08 |
Thursday 4/17/08 |
Friday 4/18/08 |
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| Water Temperature |
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| pH | |||||
| Student Observations |
