Snoqualmie Middle School sixth-graders Paige Neether, Sierra Backes and Ryan Jarchow, from left, point toward a female chum salmon’s gills during a science lab. (Photo by Laura Geggel)

Snoqualmie Middle School sixth graders got a serving of salmon in their science class to help them become better acquainted with fish anatomy.

The pre-dissected chum prompted several ‘ewwws’ from squirmy students who kept an arm’s length from the silvery fish.

Sixth-grader Sara Whitley offered her two cents on the workshop while eyeing the fish, whose pink innards were the brightest thing on the newspaper-covered table.

“To see it cut open kind of makes you sick to your stomach, but once you touch it it’s kind of cool because you feel weird but you’re also learning the science,” Whitley said, adding she’s grateful to “have a cool teacher like Mr. (Gary) Moen and to go to a good school like SMS.”

Cara Ianni, education program manager for Stilly-Snohomish Fisheries Enhancement Task Force, quizzed the class and encouraged them to probe further,

“Why do the males have bigger teeth?” Ianni asked, motioning toward the mouths of the male and female chum.

“So the males can fight each other for the females,” said sixth-grader Kris Gordon, who knew the correct answer to this and many more salmon questions.

“I used to be into sharks,” Gordon said. “They’re about the same (as salmon) on the outside.”

The next topic rated higher on the ‘gross’ scale. Ianni told the students that salmon have slime all over their bodies to help them swim faster, slip through the grasp of predators and stay healthy.

“A wall of slime stops bacteria from getting through,” Ianni said.

Students also saw the salmon’s air bladder, which allows the fish to go up and down underwater. Sixth-grader Trevor Willhite said he liked the hands-on aspect of the lab.

“I thought it was pretty fun. I like how they actually use real salmon,” Willhite said. “I learned how the (salmon’s) body system works.”

Sixth-grader Patrick Nguyen said he didn’t care for the smell, but found himself intrigued by the dissected salmon.

“It was very interesting to see their internal organs,” Nguyen said. “I didn’t know a salmon that big had a very small heart.”

After the salmon dissection workshop, the students walked to the next of six stations, which helped students learn about salmons’ life cycles, environments and issues threatening their survival.

In another part of the classroom, students looked at salmon at different stages of life, from egg to alevin, fry to parr and smolt to adult.

“It looks like a tiger,” sixth-grader Gage Day said of the fry, which had black stripes similar to some tigers.

“How do the markings help this guy?” parent volunteer Stephne Porterfield asked.

“Camouflage,” sixth-grader Julia Miller said.

The workshop, which was free for Snoqualmie Elementary School, was paid for by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washington Department of Ecology and King Conservation District. The Stillaguamish Fish Hatchery in Arlington donated the salmon for the dissection.

Snoqualmie Middle School science teacher Gary Moen said his students enjoyed the lab, which tied into his lesson plan for diversity of life.

“The salmon study fits perfectly into our curriculum; plus, this fish is an important part of our history, heritage and economy of the Northwest,” Moen said.

In their next lab, students will plant trees along the Snoqualmie River to help protect salmon habitat.

Laura Geggel: 392-6434, ext. 221 or lgeggel@snovalleystar.com.

The state’s salmon Recovery Funding Board has awarded nine grants totaling more than $1.5 million to King County for salmon habitat restoration. The funds will be applied to projects in King County’s four main watershed areas. Of the $1.5 million, $553,630 will be spent in the Snoqualmie watershed. The funds were awarded Dec. 12.

“State funding is essential as we move forward with critical salmon restoration work and some of these resources will immediately be applied to on-the-ground restoration work employing people in our community,” said King County Executive Ron Sims.

The state funds will be matched by funds from affected cities, King County, the Puyallup Tribe, the King County Conservation District, and federal grants.

“Recovering our salmon populations in King County is the foundation for our efforts through the Puget Sound Partnership, as salmon are an essential part of the Sound’s food web,” Sims said.

A range of habitat restoration projects will benefit from the state funds. The projects include floodplain restoration, levee setbacks, and restoring Puget Sound shoreline.

In the Snoqualmie watershed, three projects will be funded: the Tolt River San Souci Reach Acquisition, Chinook Bend floodplain restoration and the Snohomish Basin Water Type Assessment and Prioritization Project.

The most expensive of the projects is Tolt River San Souci Reach Acquisition. The project received a grant of $300,000 from the Salmon Recovery Board and will be matched by a $434,000 contribution by King County.

The Tolt River project will add 47 acres to public ownership. The King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks will purchase 15 privately-owned properties in the river’s active channel and migration zone. The property acquisition will allow plans to go forward to reconnect two flood plains in the area, which will provide habitat for twenty percent of the Snoqualmie Chinook that spawn in the lower six miles of the Tolt River. 

The Chinook Bend project received a grant of $174,340 to restore floodplain habitat along the Snoqualmie River by removing a levee that prevents the river from accessing its natural flood plain. The project will remove 1,700 feet of levee and 3,000 feet of shore bank to restore the river to a more natural flow. Cottonwood stakes will be placed in the floodplain at strategic areas to slow down the flow of the river and add flood plain complexity.

The Snohomish Basin Water Type Assessment received a $59,290 grant to perform stream surveys on about 150 waterways in the Snohomish Basin. Most of the streams are in King County. The stream surveys are designed to provide information about fish presence and stream habitats.

The local projects competed with proposals from across the state in a rigorous evaluation process intended to identify the most effective and scientifically sound projects statewide. The projects were reviewed and prioritized by local watershed groups before sending funding requests to the state agency.