1. 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