Teacher’s Notes: Journey to the Atlantic Ocean

Background Information Salmon are born in freshwater streams and rivers across Northern Ireland as well as a number of regions of Europe and North America. One such river is the River Bush in County Antrim. Over time they mature into ‘smolt’ that are capable of living in salt water. When this process occurs they swim downstream and North of the Atlantic Ocean where they will often swim in ‘schools’ of fish that feed and mature into adult salmon. After a number of years the salmon are ready to return to their birthplace and reproduce. This is only possible due to the salmon being able to ‘imprint’ on the chemical composition of the river they were born during their early development.

Key Stage 2

Links with Curriculum The World Around Us Place Pupils should be enabled to explore: ways in which people, plants and animals depend on the features and materials in places and how they adapt to their environment. Movement and Energy Pupils should be enabled to explore: Causes that effect the movement of people and animals. Using ICT

Key Vocabulary County Antrim, Northern Ireland, River Bush, Europe, North America, Atlantic Ocean, Greenland, Norwegian Sea, river, ocean, migration, imprint.

List of resources provided 1. A Prezi presentation giving a very general overview. Focus can be placed on the maps provided with some video footage to reinforce the physical adaptations the fish undergo to complete their journey.

2. A link to Google Earth. A very basic map is provided with the Prezi. Google earth can be used with the whole class or pairs to pinpoint the salmon’s journey,

3. A blank map: with assistance pupils can label the countries the salmon are born, the Atlantic Ocean and the relevant seas as well as the direction in which the salmon swim.

Useful links Arkive http://www.arkive.org/ Google Earth http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en_uk/earth/index.html