Activity 5: Salmon and Steelhead Creek Walk

 

 
Steelhead trout in creek.
Photo by David Pritchett

Overview
Background Information
Objectives
Time
Materials
Advance Preparation
Setting the Stage
Conducting the Activity
Wrap-Up
Enrichment

Overview
In this activity, participants visit their local creek (or stream or river) to observe and describe the habitat and how people might be influencing it. As they continue through the unit activities, they will build on what they find here, learning how salmon and steelhead depend on an appropriate habitat and how human actions affect that habitat.

Background Information
Human activities within the watershed - even far away from the creek or river - greatly affect whether salmon and steelhead can live there. In this activity, participants visit the local creek to get an overall sense of its condition and to begin looking for ways that people affect the salmon and steelhead habitat.

For information about what salmon and steelhead need in their creek habitat, see the Background Information section in the Unit Overview .

In addition to steelhead, there are five different Pacific salmon species along the west coast of North America, all of which used to live in at least some parts of California. Today, only Chinook, coho, and steelhead can be found within California, and even their ranges have been greatly reduced.

The status maps you will use in the activity show the current and past ranges of the six different species of Pacific salmon and steelhead. Following are definitions for the different status categories used on the maps:

  • Extinct - The species was present in the area at one time, but is no longer found there. This is also called locally extinct.
  • At Risk - The species is at risk of extinction in the area. Less than 1,000 fish survive long enough to spawn.
  • Special Concern - The species is vulnerable to decline in the area.
  • Low or No Risk - The species is present within the area and is at no apparent risk of decline or extinction.
  • Not Evaluated - There is not enough information to determine the status of the species in the area.

Objectives
Participants will: (1) study status maps to determine whether their local creek or stream is within the current or past range of different salmon and steelhead species, (2) visit their local creek or stream to describe the habitat, and (3) use their observations to begin a map of the creek.

Time
Setting the Stage: 10-15 minutes
Activity, Part One: One group session
Activity, Part Two (walk): One hour or more
Wrap-Up: One group session

Materials

* = Included in Adopt-A-Watershed Kit

Advance Preparation

  1. If you haven’t already done so, identify a suitable study site (see Identifying a Study Site under Unit Overview: Tips for Managing the Unit for suggestion).
  2. If you are not able to take participants to a field site, you can try doing this activity through a “virtual” field trip using aerial photos and other photographic images of the creek site:

    • Search for and view aerial photos or other maps on TerraServer-USA
    • Photo Finder - Find and order aerial photos from the USGS
    • Do an online image search for the name of your creek.
    • Check with your local historical society for older photos of the creek site.
  3. Set the date and plan for the field study trip, including any safety issues (see Planning Field Study Trips under Unit Overview: Tips for Managing the Unit ).
  4. If your field study site is more than about 1/4 mile long, plan to have teams observe and map different sections of the creek. You will need an adult chaperone for each team.
  5. Make one color copy of each of the Pacific Salmon and Steelhead Status Maps.
  6. Make copies of the “Creek Walk Checklist ."

  7. If possible, arrange for your resource professional to join you at the site (see Resource Professionals under Unit Overview: Tips for Managing the Unit ).
  8. Within a week before the creek walk, make a quick trip to the site to check for unexpected hazards, such as high flows, changes in access trails, or pollution. If anything about the site appears unsafe, check with your resource professional about finding another site.

Setting the Stage
Remind participants about what they learned from Activity 4: Community Survey about whether salmon and/or steelhead live in your local creek, and how people affect salmon and steelhead. Ask them how else they might be able to confirm whether salmon and/or steelhead live there.

Conducting the Activity
Part One – Getting Ready for the Creek Walk

  1. Explain that one of the ways participants can determine whether salmon or steelhead live in the local creek is to check out the range of where they can be found. Show participants the salmon and steelhead status maps, and explain:

    • That there are 6 different species of Pacific salmon and steelhead that live along the western coast of North America.
    • That the maps show where the salmon and steelhead species can be found now and where they once lived, but are extinct.
    • What the different colors of the map show about the salmon and steelhead in a given area (see Definitions of Status in the Background Information ).
  2. Give each team one of the maps.
  3. Have teams look at their map, locate where your community would be on the map, and determine the status in your area of the species indicated on the map. Ask teams to share what they learned from their maps.
  4. Explain that participants will be taking a walk along the creek to observe and describe the habitat and how people might affect the creek. Ask participants the following, listing their responses on the board (at this point, accept all their ideas):

    • What is a habitat?
    • What things must a habitat include? (food, water, air, space, conditions for reproduction)
    • What might we see that would tell us how people affect the creek, and salmon and steelhead? (Participant responses may include, “Trash in the creek,” “A road along the creek,” or “Someone fishing.”)
  5. Hand out copies of the “Creek Walk Checklist ” and read it over together. Ask participants to review the lists you made on the board to see whether there is anything to add to the checklist.
  6. Explain that as part of the creek walk, participants will sketch a map of the creek to help them notice details and remember what they see. Participants will include some of this information in community maps they will make in Activity 8: Mapping Our Community .
  7. Ask students what a map legend or key is. If they do not know, tell them that it explains the symbols used on a map.
  8. Explain that each team will work together to answer the questions and sketch their maps. Each team member will have a job:The recorder will write the team’s responses on the checklist; the sketcher will sketch the team’s map; the mapper will mark on the map where the team saw the checklist items; and the reporter will report to the whole group what the team learned.
  9. Make clear your behavior expectations for the creek walk and explain any logistical details. Be sure to talk about any safety issues such as poison oak, water safety, or wearing sunscreen (see Planning Field Study Trips under Unit Overview: Tips for Managing the Unit ).
  10. Answer any questions participants may have about the checklist, the map, or the walk.

Part Two – Creek Walk

  1. On the day of the creek walk, make sure that participants are appropriately dressed. Review the purpose of the walk.
  2. As soon as you arrive at the site, gather the group and ask, “What safety concerns might there be here? What potential hazards do we have to look out for? What areas appear to be fragile (such as stream banks or certain plants)? How can we avoid damaging the habitat here?”
  3. Point out boundaries for the walk and review behavior expectations. Make sure that adult chaperones know what you want them to do with the participants.
  4. Encourage participants to work as quietly as they can so that they will be more likely to see wildlife.
  5. Have participants work together to sketch out a map and find the information on their “Creek Walk Checklist .”

Wrap-Up

  1. Go through the worksheets as a group. For each item, have teams share what they observed.
  2. Display the participants’ maps.
  3. Have participants look at the KWLR chart. Have them think about the guiding question: How do people affect salmon and steelhead, and how do salmon and steelhead affect people? Ask whether there is anything they want to add to or adjust on the chart based on what they learned from the creek walk.
  4. Have teams add their checklist and map to their portfolios.
  5. Explain to participants that the maps will be used again in Activity 8: Mapping Our Community and in Activity 11: Creek Monitoring when participants will be learning more about the habitat needs of salmon and steelhead.

Enrichment
Using a field guide for the local area, make a bulletin board of plants and animals that may be found at the field study site to help participants learn to identify them.

Worksheet (click to download PDF)