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Special Places: Eco-lessons from the National Parks in Atlantic CanadaGrade 10What’s the Future for Fish?Table of Contents:
SummaryStudents will learn about Atlantic salmon in the national parks in Atlantic Canada. They will work together in teams to create a Futures Wheel on the park of their choice. Using Atlantic salmon as the key species for inquiry, students will research the park, collect information, and then work the wheel outwards to predict what the outcomes of change will be and determine how the park will have to react to address the issues they uncover. Learning OutcomesStudents will be able to:
Activity InformationGrade level: 10 Subject: Science 10 (Atlantic)– Sustainability of Ecosystems Curriculum linkages: 114-1; 116-1; 118-5; 118-8; 212-4; 215-1; 215-4; 318-5; 318-6 (Students will be able to explain biotic and abiotic factors which keep natural populations in equilibrium and relate this to resource limits of an ecosystem; explain how a paradigm shift can change world views in understanding sustainability; propose and defend a course of action on a prospective social issue and plan changes to, predict effects of, and analyze the impact of external factors on an ecosystem.) Duration: Approximately 120 to 160 minutes using the Atlantic Salmon Information Sheet; can be extended to allow students to collect additional information and present their findings Setting: Classroom Materials: Large sheets of paper/flip chart paper, pens or markers, Atlantic Salmon Information Sheet (p.13.1), Park Backgrounders for Terra Nova, Kouchibouguac, Gros Morne, Cape Breton Highlands and Fundy national parks, and a sample Futures Wheel (p.21.1). Teacher BackgroundHave you ever seen an Atlantic salmon? Their silver backs, dancing fins and flashing colours make them truly a defining element of our Atlantic coastal and river communities. As Bill Taylor of the Atlantic Salmon Federation explains, “the reverence we hold for wild salmon stems at least in part from the fact that they exemplify qualities that we admire and strive for in ourselves: perseverance, beauty, power and grace.” Runs of wild salmon continue to decline despite the work of many Canadians. Groups such as the Atlantic Salmon Federation, the various government agencies responsible for fisheries, as well as five of the seven national parks in the Atlantic region are all doing their part to improve the future of the salmon fishery. There were previously healthy salmon populations in Kejimkujik National Park in Nova Scotia. However, hydroelectric dams have blocked their migration access and even though Kejimkujik affords a suitable habitat, the cost to provide a fishway for the salmon is prohibitive. Atlantic salmon are “doing fairly well” in Cape Breton Highlands and Terra Nova national parks, according to a Parks Canada employee. There are signs of problems with the salmon population in a number of rivers at Gros Morne. In Fundy National Park the situation with respect to salmon stocks is the most serious. They have all but disappeared from the park, with the exception of two rivers (Point Wolfe and Alma). Salmon are like canaries in the coal mines: they are signals of the health – and sometimes the malaise – of our forests, rivers and oceans. Various factors have contributed to the dramatic decline of salmon stocks. The reasons are not completely known, however, and there is great controversy over conflicting possibilities. Some scientists believe that aquaculture is a major contributor as a purveyor of disease. The artificially bred salmon sometimes escape from their enclosures and introduce disease into a watershed and therefore into the wild salmon stocks. Additionally, there is also a loss of genetic distinctiveness in populations, a loss of biodiversity. The significant issue for Parks Canada is what happens to a salmon, born and raised within a national park, once it leaves and goes to sea for one or more years. Upon leaving the safety of the park, it is immediately exposed to a host of negative impacts. The salmon may be susceptible to poaching, predation or pollution and may not return to the stream to spawn. Despite the park’s initial protection, the salmon may not survive. A further dilemma that is beyond the control of the park is pollution from pesticides or toxic chemicals that may enter the water from upstream locations or that impact rivers downstream of the park, preventing fish survival or migration to the park. Understandably, this has a very negative impact on fish habitat and stocks themselves. A closer look at the implications of some of these impacts can provide insight into the health of the salmon population in the national parks in Atlantic Canada. A Futures Wheel (see sample) is a versatile tool used to study implications and relationships in any situation. It reveals the many effects on interrelationships of a single decision or occurrence. It can be used to highlight these interrelationships and to more clearly understand their dynamics. In this exercise, the issues surrounding salmon can be explored, as well as the many values, both intrinsic and extrinsic, that the fishery brings to people. Salmon play a critical role in the food chain, as well as holding aesthetic, heritage and spiritual values. They also provide food, commercial products, economic livelihood and recreation. It is perhaps this issue that is currently most critical – with declining salmon populations, the species may be indicating something that scientists have yet to read. ProcedureBegin a discussion about Atlantic salmon with your class. Find out if students fish and whether they bait fish, spin cast or fly fish. Ask whether they practise catch and release fishing, and explore their knowledge of fish populations, both within and outside the national parks. Lead the class in the following questions. You will find some preliminary answers to help lead the discussions.
Discussion Expand on the idea that any change may produce further changes, each of which may in turn produce more changes. Demonstrate this concept by discussing with students the many effects of a single event (e.g., a change in provincial government, spraying of mosquitoes within a community, lack of rain with respect to crop production). Draw those effects on a blackboard or flip chart in the form of a Futures Wheel. You may also wish to create an overhead of the sample Futures Wheel included in this lesson and share it with your students. Divide students into small working teams. Each team will first select one of the national parks as their area of focus. Hand out copies of the Atlantic Salmon Information Sheet and the appropriate Park Backgrounder to each team. They will then select one of the current issues and begin to create a “current affairs” file on that issue, with information collected specific to their individual park (if possible). Students will research their issue and collect information that can be used as background for their Futures Wheel. Activity Using the information from the research they have collected, have each working team prepare a Futures Wheel based on an inquiry into their specific issue. For example, if their issue was the aquaculture industry, their inquiry could be: what would happen if the ISA virus spread from the farmed fish throughout the wild populations of salmon? If their issue was the need for increased breeding habitat protection in Cape Breton Highlands National Park, their inquiry could be: what would happen if every area that required that protection was given adequate support and all habitats were protected? If their issue was forestry practices, their inquiry could be: what happens when there is no buffer zone next to all riparian areas adjacent to the national parks? When reviewing the issue, students will consider the following: what might happen if? why is that important? who is or could be involved? Students will list at least five first-level implications of their issue, and project out at least three levels of implications. They will be prepared to present and discuss each of the components that project out from any of the first-level implications. Once the working teams have completed their Futures Wheels, each team will present its findings to the class. As each working team presents its findings, the others can be prepared to add or complement those findings with their own. EvaluationFollowing the presentations, students will develop individual management recommendations for their park. They will consider what changes are needed in government policy, science, business practices, and attitudes and behaviors in fishing villages/communities. Their recommendations will reflect their knowledge and research into the future sustainability of the Atlantic salmon and can be sent to the appropriate park managers for their consideration. It is important to note that Gros Morne currently manages its salmon fishery under the Canada National Parks Act – Newfoundland Fisheries Regulations and the Newfoundland Provincial Wild Life Act – Wildlife Regulations. ExtensionDevelop a Futures Wheel using another key issue being addressed in the national parks in Atlantic Canada, such as rehabilitation of the Newfoundland marten (Gros Morne), management of coastal dune systems (Prince Edward Island National Park), or Acadian forest restoration (Kejimkujik National Park). References
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