I am supposed to give a lecture about salmon/steelhead fishing to 54 fourth graders on Tuesday. I am looking for ideas for props, topics and gifts. So far I have maps, three mounts, hookless lures and I am going to tie up 54 leaders without hooks ( cut off at the shank) to give away.
The class is studying the social, economic, historical and enviromental influences salmon have on our community. They have other speakers planned- a state biologist and an indian. I really want to keep this primarily fun and secondly informative.
If any one has any ideas, now is the time to step up! If anyone has done this before I would appreciate advice.
Thanks in advance

Okay... okay....
How about someone donates a fresh fish to take in on ice????

I'll freeze it and give it back?
Anyone?

ive given presentations on steelheadin to highschoolers, its a slightly different crowd, but for the most part i focused on gear presentation, and what the fish is looking for, other things i went into were how to cast a casting rod, and different techniques or lures/gear that people use for different types of fish

Hey,
I like the fresh fish idea...wish I had one for ya! I do have a fish or two in the freezer.


How about a sample of some prepared fish; preferably a good smoked product? That would get their interest.

Pictures, and lots of them might be cool.

Books maybe, especially with historical pictures.

How about setting up a rod and reel (no GL3s!) that the kids could hold while you pull the lure and make the drag hum like a big king- tie another kid to it and have him run 20 yards!

Most of the kids will be more interested in anything they can look at, touch, feel, or experience than in just hearing about it.

Bring plastic worm type lures- kids who have never seen them before love 'em.

A "fresh" bait display, eggs, herring, shrimp, etc. Don't encourage tasting!


Troutlodge can actually bring a portable net pen full of trout for the kids to catch. It does cost, but not as much as you might think. May take a while to get lined up- maybe later or if you have a chance to do it again.

I'll try to think of some more ideas...

Gary

Ask a lot of questions....kids love to answer.

How many of you fish? Do you like to catch trout? Did you know you can catch big trout (steelhead) on a bobber? (sorry, Dave) float?
etc, etc...
Have fun.....I'm sure you will!!

You can use alot of the issues discussed in this forum to inform and enlight. (I am talking from a science perspecitve here)

Use it in a sport fishing mode. How to target, etc.

Salmon smell in parts per million, have smell some smelly jelly, not only to feed, but also to find their native waters.

Predatory fish, travel in schools , etc. expalain, Flashers, Squid, Spoons, Smell, etc.

Depth, show different weights, downriggger balls, leads, etc.

Try to promote anything that they can touch, feel, smell, etc.

Show your passion, the more interest you portray, the more interest they will have.

Let us know how it goes.

Yes... yes...
You guys are on the right track. I am taking notes, all good ideas.
More if you have them.... please!

I definitely am going to touch on the difference between native and hatchery fish. I am not sure how to represent the political issues or whether I even want to.
I am going to start with the return salt water migration and end up with late winter steelhead.
I just need help filling in the blanks.
Thanks again

Im in 9th but i like pictures and visual aids and no boring stuff, make it short exciting and sweet, amybe find some pictures of some huge fish to show for em? there is a picture somewhere on the board of this guy with his hand in a ling cods mouth cuz it is so big, that would be a good picture, amybe some kenai kings or some halibut. Just a thought. Let me know how it goes!

Make up 54 copies on your PC of a Steelhead/Salmon WDFW punch card and explain how it works and how it should be filled out when they catch a fish. Cut them up and pass them out with a pencil. Oops should use pen so they don't get a ticket....

Then put up a day, date, species, fin clipped and so forth senario on the black board and see if they can fill it out right.

A lot of adults probably can't do it right so it would be cool for the little ones to know how.

Make a swivel or something with a loop in it like a hook, maybe out of a clothes hanger, and bring some type of cord and teach them how to tie an easy knot, like a clinch knot. Nothing to hard like snelling a hook, or?

How about a hula hoop for a target and a snoopy rod and try to cast in it from 10-15 feet away with a small sandbag for a weight.

How about a picture of a fishing guide and tell them that if they don't continue on with their education they will look like this. (insert picture of Bob T.R.B.O. here)

What a great program you have. Kinda like me and the 9 grandkids. Have fun..I would.

fp

maybe talk about some of the state and world records. Bring in a scale to weigh some of the kids so they have an idea just how large these fish can get.

Make sure you inform them how to properly handle and release a fish.

I dont know if you remember the "visible v-8" model kits that let you see the inner working of a v-8 engine. Well, I was in the hobby store in Puyallup on Monday and they had "the visible trout". That might be kind of cool too. And I'm sure if you did do that and had no need for it after the presentation, the school would love to have it.

This sounds very challenging to find material and to present it in a way that the 4th graders will apreciate.

Good luck and let us all know how it went. What was good, what was bad. Have the teachers/adults "grade" you so you know what to change if you ever get a chance to do this again.

GREAT idea, fp.

See if you can find out what the biologist intends to cover so you're not overlapping the topics too much.

Keep at the forefront of your mind that your audience is very young, around 9 i think, so talking a lot will bore the bujeezus out of them quickly.

Have a large poster display of the stages a fish goes through and why these fish can get so big. Point out the differences in sea running fish and fish that spend their life in fresh water only.

Kids might get a kick out of the idea that the steelhead may be a world traveler. You could have props associated with other places so the kids could get a perspective on how far a fish can travel in their life.

Ask for 5 voluteers - put them up at the front of the class and have them pretend that they are steelhead. You be the angler and have a rod with a dummy lure. Toss the dummy lure and have one of the kids run off with it - not far away though , then reel them back in. Keep the fish. Do it again, keep the fish. Do it again, keep the fish. Then show them how many of them are left. Talk to them about catch and release and the affect this practice could have on their future fishing opportunities.

Pass out small bags of m&m's to each child, and have the children open the bag, and look at all the m&m's they have. Then ask them to take 10 m&m's from the bag - explain that out of all the eggs a fish lays not all of them will hatch. Then ask them to put 5 m&m's back in the bag - explain to them that out of the eggs that hatched 5 of them died from being eaten by other fish, etc. Tell them that the five fish they have now go to sea and grow to be large adults. Then have them put 3 back in the bag and explain to them that other mammals and commercial fishing have removed them from the sea. Now explain that out of that whole bag of m&m eggs that they have in their hand only two of them came back to the river to river to start the process over again. You don't have to be accurate as to the percentages but this type of illustration will have more impact than simply explaining it to them.

However you approach this keep in mind that a childs mind is like a sponge. If they are excited about the material you are presenting they will learn and retain the experience. Children can be one of the best teaching tools to adults too. What a child learns from your instruction may have a benefit from this point on if the child takes what he learns and passes it on to his mom or dad when they're out fishing.

Here's one fun thing you might consider to keep their attention. Take a snoopy pole or short rod that you can cast indoors and periodically as you're talking you could cast giveaway items out to the kids. Use light line and tie objects on with a light thread so the kids can break off the item easily and "steal the bait." You could tie on some gummy wormy buggy things for the boys or some fancy feathery something for the girls. You could also tie on a container like you get in bubble gum machines and often there is a box next to the machines to recycle where you could find a bunch. They would be heavy enough to cast and wouldn't hurt anyone. You could put any light item inside, even just a maribou feather or a clown corkie would be something different for them to handle and treasure as kids do. Having things flying at them combined with the opportunity for a bit of loot will keep them on their toes and help keep things moving. And how fun for you, it'd be fishing in a barrel! Good Luck

This is great. I like the M&M aproach to demonstrate reproductive success. I can tie that into the importance of wild stocks. Thanks for the help. I think it is all coming together.
I am still open for more ideas. I am taking a little from everyone.
Thanks

JTD,

Well?

fp

The class went better than I could have expected. The kids were "eating out of my hands!"
The teachers was so impressed that they invited me back every year and the next day in class they decscribed my buddy and I as "heros" because we are trying to save wild fish. The whole idea that a minority of the three user groups are taking the lions share of the harvest for which the sportsman are paying caught the teachers off guard. They are going to explore that idea more for the rest of they school year.
That had to be one of the most satisfying days of my life! I am in a rush but had to fill you in.
Thanks for all the advice.

Good job!!!!! Maybe next year we can all come. You could probably teach me a thing or two. Im sure all of us would love to hear more details of your presentation when you have time to post them.