Essential Academic Learning Requirements in Science as Met by this Course
Scope and Sequence of this Course

This distance learning course, Salmonid Ecology, is a comprehensive study of Pacific Northwest Salmon Resources. It is designed to introduce the learner to basic ecological principles and how these principles are related to the success or decline of salmon populations. The course will also include introductions to basic fisheries, fish biology, salmon biology, and stream hydrology.

This course is organized into 15 individual learning modules. Each module will contain one or more lessons related to the module's leading topic. The time and scope of this course is intended to coincide closely with an 18-week course. The modules include:

 

1. Wildlife Conservation - A historical and legal analysis

2. Principles of Ecology - Ecosystem relationships

3. Principles of Ecology - Wildlife populations

4. Principles of Ecology - Intraspecific and interspecific relationships

5. Plants in Salmonid Ecosystems - Plant associations with salmon supporting ecosystems

6. Streams as Salmonid Ecosystems - Hydrologic and ecological relationships in stream ecosystems

7. Lakes as Salmonid Ecosystems - Hydrologic and ecological relationships in lake ecosystems

8. Insects in Salmonid Ecosystems - Insect associations with salmon supporting ecosystems

9. The Ocean as a Salmonid Ecosystem - Biotic and abiotic relationships in the marine environment

10. Introducing the Fish - Fish morphology and adaptations

11. Vertebrates in Salmonid Ecosystems - Vertebrate associations with salmon supporting ecosystems

12. The Pacific Northwest Coastal Salmonids - Salmon species identification and comparison

13. Salmon Life-cycles - Comparative analysis of salmon life-cycles

14. Disrupted Salmonid Ecosystems - Salmonid ecosystem disruptions associated with economic growth

15. Disrupted Salmonid Ecosystems - Salmonid ecosystem disruptions associated with the utillization of natural resources

• Each module will contain study material including, but not limited to, reading assignments, examples, written activities, research topics, and field exercises. The location of these assignments and research topics will be from online and offline sources.
• Each module will conclude with a Quiz. The student is encouraged to complete the quiz immediately upon completing the module. The final exam and grade for this course will be dependent upon the policies of the institution through which you have applied for credit. These policies will be provided to you prior to your starting the course.
• Hopefully, the institution with which you are associated will provide the opportunity for you to participate in water quality field studies via the Water Quality Monitoring site.
• Students enrolled in high schools with three or four period days will receive more credit than students in schools with six or seven period days. Therefore, students participating in three or four period days are directed to complete extra reading and written assignements. These extra assignments are referred to as Module Extensions and are located near the end of Modules 5, 6, 9, 13, and 14.

Goals

This course is intended to provide the student with a holistic comprehension of the complex ecological issues associated with salmon resource management. Because there are many businesses and institutions that utilize or impact salmon resources, unavoidable differences in perspective exist between these groups and other agencies or organizations that are designed to manage or protect them. As a result opposing policies and practices have developed with a considerable amount of controversy. This course is not intended to support or promote any point of view. Nevertheless, since most of the sources of information that were used to design this course were published or provided by those organizations associated with the salmon resource, their specific point of view might be apparent. It is the intention of this course to make the student familiar with the various points of view so that he or she might formulate his or her individual perspective.

Materials and Expectations

• Students will need to purchase the following materials for this course:

1. Field Journal - a small bound notebook (approximately 9 inches by 5.5 inches)

2. Pencils - for recording field observations.

• Students are encouraged to purchase the following books or to check them out from a local library:

  Burt, William H., and Richard P. Grossenheider. 1976. A Field Guide to the Mammals. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, MA.

   

  National Geographic Society. 1983. Field Guide to the Birds of North America. National Geographic Society, Washington D.C.

• Students will be provided, on a loan basis, the following book which is to be returned to the Washington Virtual Classroom upon the completion of this course:

  Brown, Bruce. 1982. Mountain in the Clouds. Simon & Schuster, New York, NY,

• Periodic videoconference seminars will be scheduled throughout the normal academic school year. The student is to monitor the weekly schedule for these electronic seminars and to attend each that is scheduled during his or her course of study. The schedule can be found on the Salmonid Ecology Homepage.
• The contents of the videoconference seminars will be included on the final exam.
• The students will submit each written exercise, whether completed for a teleconference seminar or an online module, via email.
• The student will submit a completed field notebook to the course instructor via postal mail at the completion of the course.
•  The student is provided with a link to a comprehensive bibliography of sources used in the preparation of this curriculum.
• The student is provided with a link to a glossary of technical terms used in this curriculum.
  
  The Washington Virtual Classroom Consortium reserves all rights to the use of these published web pages as curriculum. This includes the publishing or rebroadcast of their content.