Can you name that fish??

I spent the day at Eagle Creek (in the Columbia Gorge) studying salmon and testing the water with Makena's 6th grade science class. What a beautiful day for a field trip in the Columbia Gorge! The sun was out and the leaves are just beginning to turn colors. Unfortunately, the sun wasn't keeping us warm along the river, but it was still beautiful. There are some beautiful hiking trails up there that we will have to visit again soon.

First we learned about the life span and journey of the Coho Salmon. As they are currently spawning, there were a lot of fish to see. It was all very interesting and I learned a lot. The guide then decided to cut open one of the dead salmon that he had found earlier in the morning - making a couple of the girls in my group a little unhappy. Surprisingly, there wasn't any giggling at the mention of the words 'spawning', 'reproduction', 'passing along genes' or 'sperm sack'.

Next we took a little nature hike, and tried to identify trees, shrubs, plants and wildlife. The kids weren't as excited about this part, but 6th grade field trips are so far MUCH better than the ones in grade school! We all went back to the warm bus for lunch and then were off again to study water samples. First we had to collect stirred up water, known as 'scuffing'. See below...

After viewing and recording several different types of water insects, we were off to test the water temperature, oxygen levels and ph levels. All good! This is also when we learned that the water temperature was 44 degrees...same as outside....brrr!