Activity List / Sign-Up
Thursday Sept. 20 and Friday Sept. 21 (School Days)
SIGN-UP IS INCLUDED WITH REGISTRATION. Choose your top 5 activities from the list. We will do our best to accommodate your choices. Take into account any special needs your students may have when selecting your activities. Remember if you have participated in Kids in the Creek in the past two years, please refrain from signing up again so others have a chance to participate in this popular activity.
Animal Trackers
What dog has webbed feet? What cat is really a dog? Learn this and more from practicing wildlife biologists at the completely new and revised Animal Trackers. Then, compete with your classmates to see who is best at identifying who made the track. Requires skill AND speed! Divide into teams and play against each other or, maybe, even play against your teachers! (30 minutes)
Fish Detectives
Have you ever wondered how fisheries biologists study fish? Join fisheries biologists from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to see how they learn about the underwater world of fish. Learn how they observe, capture, and use tags to track fish. Determine the age of fish and methods used for tracking their movement in the river. (Located right next to “Raptors Over the Wenatchee”, #14 on the School Map, 30 minutes)
Gyotaku
Students capture their Salmon Festival experience in the same manner that Japanese fishermen once recorded their daily catch, by making a fish rubbing (gyo=fish, taku=rubbing). After the fish is painted, paper is carefully pressed over it for a colorful, lasting print. Please read “Teacher Tidbits⁄Gyotaku” for additional pre-work instructions. (20 minutes)
Hooks and Ladders
Have you ever faced a turbine or an osprey in your travels? Students re-enact the salmon’s life cycle and challenges as they “journey” downstream to the ocean, spend four years there, and finally return home. Learning and fun are the outcomes of this very active, involved simulation. (30 minutes)
Note: Hooks and Ladders must be taken with What’s Hatching? (below). If you sign up for Hooks and Ladders, you must also sign up for What’s Hatching?
Kids in the Creek
From the banks of the Icicle River and in its calmer reaches, students explore the parameters of a healthy fish habitat. With a fisheries biologist as a guide, they will determine where fish like to live, what they prefer to eat, and what macroinvertebrates are considered indicator species. If you are scheduled for this activity then you automatically receive Macroinvertebrate Mayhem. (30 minutes) Kids in the Creek Website
Note: Kids in the Creek must be taken with Macroinvertebrate Mayhem (below). If you sign up for Kids in the Creek, you must also sign up for Macroinvertebrate Mayhem.
Macroinvertebrate Mayhem
Students become caddisflies, stoneflies, and other aquatic insects in a game of tag. They quickly learn that some insects are more susceptible to environmental changes than others. (30 minutes)
Note: Macroinvertebrate Mayhem must be taken with Kids in the Creek (above). If you sign up for Macroinvertebrate Mayhem, you must also sign up for Kids in the Creek.
Native American Tribal Village
In this tribal village, students have the opportunity to observe the American Indian lifestyle in action, including bead work, basket making and the preparation of salmon using traditional methods of cooking and drying. See curriculum for student worksheet on cultural dances. (45 minutes)
Raptors over the Wenatchee
Using various mounted raptors (birds of prey) and live birds of the area, students explore the habits and life histories of these birds. Wing parts, feet, skulls, and food pellets show in great detail the interesting adaptations of the eagles, owls, vultures, ospreys, and hawks on display. (30 minutes)
Riparian Ramble…a nature trail walk
Explore the Icicle Creek Interpretive Trail through this unique multi-sensory safari. Stations along the trail are staffed by biologists who interpret wildlife, plants, archaeology, geology, and riparian⁄river themes. Students participate in a lively and engaging manner, involving them in hands-on learning. (40 minutes)
Rolling Rivers
Students and parents alike learn-through-playing in a giant sandbox! This hands-on interactive watershed modeling activity is a unique learning experience, in which participants learn the fundamental elements of a healthy and properly functioning watershed and then use that knowledge to create ideal Salmon habitat. Presented by Cascadia Conservation District. (30 minutes)
Salmon Storytelling Tent
In this colorful 30-foot long nylon inflatable salmon tent, students hear Native American legends conveying the importance of salmon, wildlife, and rivers to their culture from a creative and imaginative storyteller. (15 minutes)
Watershed Detectives
Solve the mystery of what’s happening in your watershed and the salmon’s habitat. Using scientific tools, students become detectives and uncover clues about the temperature and amount of oxygen in the stream that affects its health. Investigations will uncover the facts and help prevent problems in the stream neighborhood through use of the Enviroscape Watershed Model. (30 minutes)
Web of Life
Wearing colorful costumes, students are transformed into plants and animals of the salmon community. Dressed as mushrooms, flowers, insects, bats, birds, coyotes, bears and other plants and animals, children use colorful string to play a hands-on game illustrating the concepts of food chains and food webs. (30 minutes)
What’s Hatching?
Take a guided hatchery tour by a fish culturist and learn about the salmon’s life cycle, see live salmon eggs, discover how fish are aged, and watch the yearling salmon eat lunch. (40 minutes)
Note: What’s Hatching? must be taken with Hooks and Ladders (above). If you sign up for What’s Hatching?, you must also sign up for Hooks and Ladders.