The Spinning Salmon Program: Science in the Classroom
A new article by Becca Van Arnam, published by the Delta Stewardship Council
Every fall, thousands of tiny salmon eggs arrive in high school classrooms across Northern California. Students huddle around their tanks, watching closely as the fish hatch, swim, and grow. But this isn’t just about raising fish, it’s about contributing to real science. Through the Spinning Salmon Program, now in its fifth year, over 3,500 students have helped researchers understand thiamine deficiency, a vitamin B1 shortage that can cause strange swimming behavior, including spinning, and low survival in young Chinook salmon. Students record observations on the behavior and survival of a control group of young salmon that have not been treated for thiamine deficiency. Because these fish are not typically monitored outside of laboratory settings, students’ data represent an important dataset on non-treated juvenile salmon. Through daily observations and discussion, students connect visible patterns in fish health to broader scientific questions before releasing their fish back into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. This youth-focused community and citizen science (YCCS) program has grown into a unique partnership in which classrooms become mini research labs, and students become collaborators in salmon conservation. This raises an important question: What do students gain when they are treated as scientific collaborators rather than just learners?
Read the whole article at https://deltacouncil.ca.gov/blogs/the-spinning-salmon-program-science-in-the-classroom
