Outreach at Cape Horn Skye Elementary

Six Columbia River Fisheries Program Office employees set out for a morning of outreach at Cape Horn Skye School. Our intent was to entertain and educate 55 curious 1st graders. Little did we know how fun it would be! It was the first time our outreach program involved such a young group. We began our event with a very short introduction, then jumped right into a video that introduced bats to children. They were intrigued and made some funny comments throughout the video.


Next on the agenda was a Creatures of the Night Presentation. This also held their attention, but the comments kept coming. Following the video we split the class into two parts, Group A and Group B. Group A were sent to another room to dissect owl pellets. An overhead projection of possible bones to be found was portrayed for the students to compare their findings. Ok, this time we had to chuckle under our breath at comments made regarding the owl pellets. We had to reassure the students that the pellets had been sterilized. Not many realize that an owl regurgitate the pellets. Most believe it comes out the other end.

Group B were provided the opportunity to make fish prints. We supplied them with two real steelhead and a multitude of rubber fish, a rubber starfish, and a rubber turtle to make prints with. The students were great! They had a blast painting and were thrilled with their prints.


Many thanks to Donna Allard, our Outreach Fishery Biologist, that lead the event and thanks to Cape Horn Skye School for the opportunity to provide an outreach event for the first grade classes.

Submitted by Andrea Houts