Number (place value): Salmon Migration
Challenge level ⭐⭐
(designed for children with prior knowledge of the Year 3 and Year 4 programme of study)
Learning Objective
We are learning how to solve a natural world problem by using and applying our skills and knowledge of number and place value.
Useful prior knowledge:
- To order and compare numbers beyond 1,000
Credit: BBC One - Wild UK
Clip Description
Many animals move from one area to another at certain times of the year. When distances are great, this movement is called migration. Animals that migrate do so in order to survive. Many animals migrate in order to find food or to breed. They may need to leave an area because it is simply too hot, too cold, too wet or too dry at certain times of the year.
In this fascinating clip, we learn that Atlantic salmon travel thousands of kilometres to return to the place where they were born. They do this so that they can lay their precious eggs. After a year at sea, these large fish (with an average length of 71 – 76 cm) leave their saltwater home and return to the river in which they were born. Why do you think the journey upstream to their spawning ground is such an exhausting one? Watch the clip to find out.
Quick Whiteboard Challenge
The number of eggs that a female Atlantic salmon lays depends on her body size. She can lay between 1,500 and 1,800 eggs per kilogram of body weight.
How many eggs might a 3.5 kg female Atlantic salmon lay?