Educational Videos & Activities
 GRADES 3-5
Hydropower

Video Description
Electrons, magnets, millions of gallons of water and giant turbines! Take a tour of Bonneville’s second powerhouse with a park ranger! In this video, learn about how hydropower is produced, where all that electricity goes, and how it gets used.

Next Generation Science Standards:

3rd Grade
• 3-PS2-3 - Electric or magnetic interactions

4th Grade
• 4-PS3-2 - Energy transfer

5th Grade
• 5-PS1-1 - Particles of matter

How Fish Survive Hydro Turbines

Video Description
Pacific Northwest Nation Laboratory and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District team up with Practical Engineering to discuss hydropower and fish passage science along the Columbia River. 

Navigation on the Columbia River

Video Description
Have you ever seen a barge on the river and wondered what it was doing, where it was going or what it was carrying? In this video, learn about how ships get past dams, what they’re carrying, and why it’s important!

Social Studies Standards:

3rd Grade
• OR 3.6 - Identify key industries of Oregon
• OR 3.8 - Geographical tools
• WA E2.3.2 - Variety of resources used to produce goods and services

4th Grade
• OR 4.10 - Technology, practices, societal decisions, and Oregon’s sustainability
• WA E2.4.2 - Basic elements of Washington State’s economic system

5th Grade
• OR 5.12 - Technology, practices, societal decisions, and Oregon’s sustainability
• WA E2.5.5 - Variety of resources used to produce goods and services

 
Salmon Lifecycle

Video Description
Salmon go to extraordinary lengths to lay their eggs. Join a park ranger to learn how these incredible fish complete their journey from stream to ocean, and back again!

Next Generation Science Standards:

3rd Grade
• 3-LS1-1 - From molecules to organisms: structures and processes
• 3-LS4-3 - Biological evolution: unity and diversity
• 3-LS4-4 - Biological evolution: unity and diversity

4th Grade
• 4-LS1-1 - From molecules to organisms: structures and processes
• 4-LS1-2 - From molecules to organisms: structures and processes

5th Grade
• 5-LS2-1 - Interdependent relationships in ecosystems (LS2.A)

 GRADES 6-8
People, Land and Water: Bonneville Then and Now

Video Description
Explore the past and present history of navigation, salmon fisheries, and tribes that have used the Cascades of the Columbia (now Bonneville Dam) since time immemorial. 

Oregon

  • 6.14. 7.15 Geography and culture
  • 7.23 Trade routes
  • 8.20 migration, cultural diffusion, economics

Washington

  • Civics: C3 Tribal relationships

Geography:

  • G1, G3: Physical and cultural characteristics
  • G2: Human interaction with environment

History:

  • H2 Causal factors shaping history
  • H3 Multiple perspectives
 
 
 GRADES 9-12
Bonneville Dam History

Video Description
Take a step back in time to learn about the construction of Bonneville Dam! Find out what President Franklin Roosevelt had to do with Bonneville’s beginnings, and how the dam impacted the region and our nation.

Oregon

• HS. 46 Changes in environmental and cultural characteristics related to trade, land use, and sustainability
• HS. 47 Political and economic power dynamics
• HS. 48 Modification of environment
• HS. 49 Impact of environmental and cultural characteristics

Washington

Geography:
• 2.9-10.1 to 10.3 Modification of environment
• G2.11-12.1 to 12.6 Human interaction with the environment
• G3.11-12.4 Spatial patterns of trade and land use

History:
• H2.9-10.3 How technology and ideas shaped world history
• H2.11-12.1 How technology and ideas shaped US history

Grades 5-8

This is a comprehensive guide for upper elementary and middle school teachers that will build understanding of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and its mission, specifically hydropower, navigation, natural resource management (including salmon), and recreation.

Each subject area provides factual information on that topic and at least two suggested activities to be implemented before, during, and after your visit. With this information, you will be able to design a tour to meet your individual needs.

Even if a visit is not possible, students can learn about how hydropower dams work, navigation through the locks on the Columbia River, history, the lifecycle of salmon and their passage through the dams, as well as recreation and water safety.

There are numerous hands-on activities such as “I am a Copper Atom” where students can act out excited electrons, and “Water Cycle and Energy Relay." There are interactive games such as river navigation, an anadromous fish game, and water cycle game. Also included is a fun fish mobile activity!