Alias - a word explanation game
We use a lot of words and expressions when we talk about wild salmon and the nature they live in. In this game, we challenge you to explain some of them!
Competency goals for grade 7, Science
- explore and describe different food webs and use this to discuss interactions in nature.
- explain how organisms can be divided into main groups and give examples of the characteristics of different organisms.
- explain how the geological cycle, plate tectonics and external forces help to shape and change different landscapes.
This is an animal that swims well. It is not a fish, but it eats fish. The animal has fur and is quite cute. It can swim a long way up the river to catch salmon, but also likes the sea. Sometimes you can see it lying on land. It doesn't have legs, but flaps. - Could it be a harbor seal?
This is how you play
Print out the words below, cut them out and put them in piles. Now you're ready to start.
Divide the class into teams, with a minimum of two people on each team.
Set the clock to 1 minute, for example.
Ask one of the players on the team to draw a word from the pile and explain without using the word.
When a player on the same team manages to guess the correct word, the team draws a new word, as long as there is time left.
When the bell rings, the trip is over. The team gets 1 point for each word they have managed to guess.
The team with the most points wins the round.
Tip: It's great fun to create your own words.
For the teacher
This assignment is best suited as a final assignment after you have worked on the topic of wild salmon.
The words to be explained can be found in the file below. Print and cut out. In the student booklet below, students will find what they need.
We are looking for the following words:
- Wild salmon - the wild salmon we have in Norway belongs to the species Atlantic salmon.
- Farmed salmon - Atlantic salmon that has been systematically bred for several generations.
- Humpback salmon - a species of Pacific salmon. It is an alien and therefore undesirable species in Norway.
- Rogn - fish eggs, but also the name of the tree rogn.
- Eye roe - roe where you can see the eyes of the baby salmon.
- Parr - salmon chicks in the river with stripes on the sides.
- Smolt - "young salmon". When the parr loses its stripes and is ready for seawater.
- Spawning salmon - salmon that will spawn.
- Winter spawning - salmon that have survived spawning and remain in the river over the winter, before migrating out to sea in the spring.
- Plum sack fry - newborn salmon fry that have a plum sack (food package) on their stomach. It contains the nutrition the fry need during the first few weeks.
- Spawning suit - when the salmon is about to spawn, it changes its appearance - it "puts on" a spawning suit. The male salmon gets a reddish color and a hook on the lower jaw. The female salmon becomes more brownish.
- Predator - animal that hunts, kills and eats other animals.
- Spawning gravel - the gravel in the place where the salmon spawn. The gravel (stones) must be of the right size so that fresh water reaches the roe.
- Fresh water - water that contains so little salt that it does not taste salty (less than 0.5 g saline per liter).
- Salt water - water that contains a lot of salt.
- Brackish water - a mixture of fresh water and salt water. Found, for example, where the river flows into the sea.
- Riparian vegetation - shrubs, bushes and trees that grow along the river's edge. Important for life in the river.
- Sea lice - a crustacean that attaches itself to salmonids and feeds on blood and mucus from the fish. A parasite.
- Anadromous - term for fish that lay eggs in freshwater but make nutrient migrations to saltwater.
- Parasite - a generic term for animals that feed by parasitizing other animals.
- River mussel - a mussel that lives in rivers and streams. The river mussel is totally protected in Norway.
- River - freshwater stream that flows through a natural bed with banks and flows into a lake, the sea or another river.
- Stream - small river.
- Watercourse - collection of rivers and lakes that have a common outlet.
- Bottom-dwelling animals - a collective term for all small creatures that live at the bottom of rivers and streams.
- Relict salmon - term for Atlantic salmon that were isolated above large waterfalls after the last ice age. They are extremely rare. There are two relict salmon strains in Norway: the Namsblanken and the Byglandsbleka. They belong to the same species as the sea-run salmon. Relict means "something that was left behind".
- Namsblank - see above. Only found in Øvre Namsen in Trøndelag.
- Byglandsbleke - see above. Only found in Otra in Byglandsfjorden.
- Arctic char - a term for char (a salmonid fish) that become smolts and migrate to the sea to feed.
- Sea trout - term for trout (a salmonid fish) that become smolts and migrate to the sea to feed.
Challenge students to create their own words from this website that can be used in the game.
Good luck!
Student booklet
The Nasjonalt villakssenter works for a stronger wild salmon and wants to promote the stream as an educational resource. Bring experiences from the classroom and put them in context with experiences outside. Many schools in Norway have a local stream. Even in our largest cities, there are streams that can be visited. Contact us for assistance, tips and professional support.
The student booklet "Who lives in your river?" can help with both preparation and follow-up work.