Fishy Business

Fishy Business

Essential Question:

How do readers determine central ideas and supporting evidence in literary and Informational texts?

Objectives & Standards

I can determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text. (RI.5.2)

I can determine a central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments. (RI.6.2)

Lesson Introduction

In this lesson, you will be looking for clues and evidence. Get ready to take the challenge!

Read the following article. Be sure to take notes.

After reading the article you will answer 3 open ended questions. Use evidence to support your answer.

Here are some tips to help you!

Gather Evidence:

Use your background knowledge to find evidence and clues in the text. Use background knowledge or your own experiences. Study data on charts and graphs, read captions and headings.

Ask Questions:

Ask questions to find out who, what, when, where, why, and how. Ask about the big picture as well as the details. Ask questions that will help you gather evidence.

Make Your Case:

Look at the facts you have gathered. What conclusion can you draw from the evidence. A strong case is supported by information that is based on facts, not opinions.

Prove It!

Prove that you have learned something new. Think about what you learned on your own and from others, as well as from asking more questions. Organize the information so that it is presented clearly. 

Paragraph 1-2

(1) The Columbia River flows westward for more than 1,200 miles (1,931 kilometers) across the Northwest. A paradise for fish, right? At one time, it was. Yet when humans decided to control the water rushing to the ocean, no one asked the fish what they thought.

(2) A dam is a man-made structure built across a river. Dams both help prevent flooding and provide water for irrigation. Larger dams generate pollution-free and inexpensive hydroelectric power. Over time, more than four hundred dams have been built along the Columbia River, eleven of which extend completely across the river.

Paragraph 3-4

(3) Consider, however, how these dams affect the natural environment, specifically the salmon living in these waters. Salmon make only two long journeys during their lives. Hatched in rivers far from the ocean, young salmon swim to the ocean where they spend their adult lives. Near the end of their lives, they swim back to their birthplace. In the cool streams, females lay eggs, and males fertilize them.

(4) What happens when a young fish swimming toward the ocean encounters a dam that crosses the entire river? Water stored behind the dam rushes downward through chutes and turns huge turbines to generate electricity. Spinning blades are not a healthy environment for fish! 8

Paragraph 5

(5) If the fish somehow makes it to the ocean, it must eventually swim upstream against the current to reach its spawning ground. Fish can do this for long distances when the slope is gentle. However, climbing a dam more than 100 feet (30 meters) high is quite a challenge! Because dams make it difficult for fish to spawn, salmon and trout populations along the Columbia River have dropped from 16 million to 2.5 million.

Paragraph 6-7

(6) Since the 1930s, builders have added “fishways” such as fish ladders to dams. A fish ladder is a series of gradually ascending pools next to a dam that are filled with rushing water. The fish swim upriver against the current, leaping from a lower pool to a higher one. They rest in the pool before repeating the process until they are above the dam.

(7) Fish ladders and other structures are like elevators. They fill with fish, rise to the top of the dam, and open to let the fish out. They can add millions of dollars to a dam’s cost, but isn’t the expense worth it? Causing whole populations of fish to die out is unthinkable. Preserving the environment is priceless

Open Ended

Gather Evidence:

List three ways that dams in the Northwest have helped residents of the area.

Open Ended

Ask Questions:

What are three questions about salmon near the Columbia River that are not answered in the text or by the images?

Open Ended

Make Your Case:

How well does the writer use details to describe the structures built to help the fish? Use examples from the text to explain your answer.

Open Ended

PROVE IT!

Write 3 positive effects of dams on people and the environment.

Open Ended

PROVE IT!

Write 2-3 negative effects of dams on people and the environment.