Salmon do a lot of traveling in their lives. Salmon travel to a shallow, quiet place in the water to lay their eggs. After they are born in a stream, they travel long distance downstream to the ocean to eat and grow. When a female salmon is at the end of her life, she then dies.
A salmon that wants to go home faces many obstacles. Some other animals catch salmon for food. For example, salmon are a favorite meal for bears. Bears wade into the cold water of a river and catch salmon with their paws. Even if a salmon escapes, it faces other obstacles, such as waterfalls and fallen trees.
The salmon’s biggest problem is human beings. People sometimes change rivers or streams by building dams or bridges. Then salmon cannot swim back home to lay their eggs. Over the years, some towns have dumped waste and trash into their rivers. Dirty water makes fish sick or too weak to keep swimming. Today, oceans, rivers, and streams have far fewer salmon than they used to.
Activities:
1. What is the main idea of this selection? List the details to support the main idea.
2. What are your suggestions to solve the salmon’s problems? Discuss with your partners.
3. It would be an amazing journey for the salmon to swim upstream back home. How do they make it? To explore this, watch the videos on the salmon’s life missions.
