CAEP: Teacher Resources

The following curriculum and program resources are recommended to assist CAEP teachers with concepts such as life cycles, aquatic habitats and watersheds, fish survival needs, climate change and human impacts.

In addition to classroom resources, we encourage teachers to take their classes on visits to watersheds, rivers, streams, fish hatcheries, fish ladders, or habitat restoration projects to observe the concepts and practices learned through CAEP in action.

Curriculum Guides

The Salmon Source - A Classroom Aquarium Education Curriculum Manual (PDF)

• Lower Elementary
  • Salmon and Trout Go to Preschool and Kindergarten -- A Thematic Unit (PDF)
  • Salmon and Trout Go to First Grade -- A Thematic Unit (PDF)
  • Salmon and Trout Go to Second Grade -- A Thematic Unit (PDF)
• Project WILD Adaptations
  • Macroinvertebrate Mania (PDF)
    • A teachers guide to Aquatic Wild and Project Wet Adaptations
  • Classroom Aquarium Education Program (CAEP) and Project WILD correlation of activities
• CAEP Correlations to Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) (PDF)
  • CAEP Correlations to Next Generation Science Standards - Quick Reference Guide (NGSS) (PDF)

Tank Set-Up and Care

• Tank Cleaning Instructions (PDF)
• Intro to setting up your tank (Video)
• Setting up your tank with an airlift system (Video)
• Setting up your tank with the outside power filter (Video)
• Setting up your tank with the power head system (Video)

Field Trip Guide

• Fry Release and Field Trip Guide (PDF)

Videos and Webinars

• CDFW CAEP YouTube Playlists
  • Ask a Biologist (CAEP) (Video)
  • Examining Our Ecosystems: Learn about Trout Habitat (CAEP) (Video)
  • More About Fish: Salmonids in the Wild and in the Classroom (CAEP) (Video)
  • Think Tank Time! A Fun Series about Hatching Trout Eggs (CAEP) (Video)
  • Steelhead in the Classroom Season 1: Week by Week Curriculum (CAEP) (Video)
• Fish and Water Health
  • Something's Fishy at the River (Video)
  • In Our Hands: Salmon and Steelhead On the American River (Video)
  • California's Central Valley Chinook Salmon (Video)
• Watersheds & Wildlife Across California
  • Program 1: The Sierra Foothills (Video)
  • Program 2: The High Desert (Video)
  • Program 3: The North Coast Rivers (Video)
  • Program 4: The San Joaquin Valley (Video)

Worksheets, Coloring Books and Handouts

• Fish Anatomy
  • External Anatomy in Color (PDF)
  • Internal Anatomy in Color (PDF)
  • Shaded Trout Anatomy (PDF)
  • Internal Trout Anatomy Handout, with labels (PDF)
  • Internal Trout Anatomy Handout, without labels (PDF)
• Data Collection Tools
  • When Will They Hatch? worksheet (PDF)
  • Final Trout Journal and Release Data (PDF)
• Coloring Pages
  • Pacific Salmon and Steelhead Coloring Book (PDF)
    • Published by USFWS
  • Life Cycle of a Trout Coloring Book (PDF)
• Activities
  • Return to the Red - Board Game (PDF)
  • Trout Hats (PDF)

Posters

• Life Stages of the Rainbow Trout Poster (PDF)
• Don't Let It Loose - What To Do With Pets When You Can No Longer Care For Them (PDF)
• A Trout's Anatomy (PDF)
  • Órganos Internos de la Trucha (PDF - Español)
• A Trout's Habitat (PDF)
  • El Hábitat de la Trucha (PDF - Español)
• A Trout's Diet (PDF)
  • La Dieta de una Trucha (PDF - Español)