Fourth Grade Field Program

Students for Salmon

Students for Salmon is a hands-on environmental science program for every fourth-grade classroom in Whatcom County. Over a three-part series (a class visit, a full-day field trip, and a student-led restoration project), students investigate the health of salmon habitat in their own watershed.

The experience

A day in the field as stream scientists.

Field trips run at active restoration sites throughout Whatcom County. Students spend the day doing real field science:

  • Surveying salmon habitat at a working restoration site
  • Sampling macroinvertebrates (the aquatic insects salmon eat)
  • Testing the water quality of their own watershed
Fourth graders doing field science at a creek

Book a field trip

Schedule your class.

Teachers book field trips directly on our class calendar. Pick an open date that works for your classroom.

Questions?

Email Nathan at nzabel@n-sea.org.

Accessibility

Field sites vary in terrain. Contact us about accommodations and we’ll work with you.

Program details

What to know before you book.

  • Grade levelsFourth grade, all Whatcom County schools
  • Group sizeOne classroom per field trip
  • Duration4 hours
  • CostContact us for current pricing
  • What to bringBoots, warm layers, and a water bottle

For teachers

It fits your science curriculum.

Students for Salmon supports the Next Generation Science Standards, along with the John McCoy Since Time Immemorial Curriculum and State Environmental and Sustainability Standards. Curriculum includes six classroom Learning Cycles, five before the field trip and one after, connecting the trip to your district’s curriculum.

View the Curriculum
A teacher and students reviewing field materials

What teachers say

My students still talk about the day we spent in the creek. It made the science real in a way a textbook never could.

Whatcom County fourth-grade teacher