Mini-Unit:
When Will the Herring Fisheries Open?

Performance Standard A15, Level 4

Students recommend a management strategy to solve a local problem related to resource utilization such as fish and game, building permits, mineral rights. and land use policies.

Key Concepts and Skills

• The opening of commercial fisheries is directly correlated to herring sexual maturation, as measured by roe percent.
• Herring maturation is correlated to several major environmental factors, including surface water temperature, weather, wind, tides, roe percents, projected age, and so on.
• Microscopic examination of fish scales provides clues related to the age of fish.
• Weather and tides affect the time of spawning.
• Arithmetic skills include percent calculation and metric-to-American unit conversions.

Timeline

One week in early spring to design and setup experiments followed by weekly monitoring (about 1/2 hour per week) from mid-March to the end of school.

 

Abstract

Students design class research project that will investigate the factors used to estimate when Alaska herring fisheries will open. Each student on the team is responsible for monitoring data related to the factor or factors in which they become subject matter experts. Each student team is responsible for collecting information and data relevant to a fishery within the state.

Materials

• Access to previous harvest records including quantity and time of harvest, water temperatures, age-class outbreak of herring harvest, and stock.
• Access to Internet information on weather and herring fisheries.

Activities

1

Collect samples of fish of specific ages; examine fish scales using a hand lens and microscope; draw your observations; write a generalization that can be used to determine the age of a herring using microscopic observations of herring scales.

Embedded Assessment

Check for student understanding by examining drawings and generalizations made about the appearance of scales and age of the fish.

2

Interview Elders, local fishermen, and knowledgeable outdoorsmen; discuss how they predict the arrival of herring and time of spawning. How did they learn to look for these predicting signs? How close do their predictions usually come to actual fishery opening dates? What is the outcome when their prediction dates are wrong? What kind of “window” of correct prediction is important to them?

Embedded Assessment

After consultations, form teams of 3–4 students and assign a specific herring factory to each. Based on the factory location, the group decides which factors will play the primary role in predicting the opening date of the fishery. Each student on the team will become the subject-matter expert for one or more factors.

3

Use a variety of research resources to collect information about the variables being studied (for example, Internet, Fish and Game Department, National Oceanographic and Aeronautic Association (NOAA) records, meteorological records and so on).

Embedded Assessment

Based on research each team will predict the herring fishery opening.

4

Each team will develop a list of factors they will use to estimate the opening for each fishery being considered. Each team member is responsible for monitoring the factor or factors which they are expert in. Based on their factors they will monitor statewide weather conditions to estimate the openings of the fisheries. Student predictions will be compared to actual openings. Based on the results of their site, teams modify their hypothesis and factors for subsequent fishery openings.

Level of Performance

Students research may be on topic, but is limited in scope. Data shows little or no evidence relating to the assigned fishery site. Students work is largely incomplete, incorrect, and may show major misconceptions.

Standards Cross-Reference
(Alaska Department of Education & Early Development Standards)

National Science Education Standards

Organisms both cooperate and compete in ecosystems. The interrelationships and interdependencies of these organisms may generate ecosystems that are stable for hundreds or thousands of years. (Page 186)

Living organisms have the capacity to produce populations of infinite size, but environments and resources are finite. This fundamental tension has profound effects on the interactions between organisms. (Page 186)

Human beings live within the world’s ecosystems. Increasingly, humans modify ecosystems as a result of population growth, technology, and consumption. Human destruction of habitats through direct harvesting, pollution, atmospheric changes, and other factors is threatening current global stability, and if not addressed, ecosystems will be irreversibly affected. (Page 186)

Human populations use resources in the environment in order to maintain and improve their existence. Natural resources have been and will continue to be used to maintain human populations. (Page 198)

Humans use many natural systems as resources. Natural systems have the capacity to reuse waste, but that capacity is limited. Natural systems can change to an extent that exceeds the limits of organisms to adapt naturally or humans to adapt technologically. (Page 198)

Natural ecosystems provide an array of basic processes that affect humans. Those processes include maintenance of the quality of the atmosphere, generation of soils, control of the hydrologic cycle, disposal of wastes, and recycling of nutrients. Humans are changing many of these basic processes, and the changes may be detrimental to humans. (Page 198)

Materials from human societies affect both physical and chemical cycles of the earth. (Page 198)

Benchmarks

The variation of organisms within a species increases the likelihood that at least some members of the species will survive under changed environmental conditions. A great diversity of species increases the chance that at least some living things will survive in the face of large changes in the environment. (Page 105)

Ecosystems can be reasonably stable over hundreds or thousands of years. As any population of organisms grows, it is held in check by one or more environmental factors: depletion of food or nesting sites, increased loss to increased numbers of predators, or parasites. If a disaster such as flood or fire occurs, the damaged ecosystem is likely to recover in stages that eventually result in a system similar to the original one. (Page 117)

Human beings are part of the earth’s ecosystems. Human activities can, deliberately or inadvertently, alter the equilibrium in ecosystems. (Page 117)