Estuary Survival
The Rules of Life
The Players
Dungeness crab – Cancer magister
• 5mm across carapace – megalops
• 12mm across carapace – 1st instar
• 20mm across carapace - juvenile
Coho salmon – Oncorhynchus kisutch
• 35mm fork length – parr
• 50mm fork length – smolt
• 65mm fork length - juvenile
Predator/prey cards
•The Striped Bass represents a non-native fish.
•These fish appear on the predator/prey cards.
•Predator/prey cards describe a situation with consequences for crabs and salmon in the estuary depending on factors such as your size and location.
Estuary condition cards
• Estuary condition cards describe the tides and different factors that will impact life in the estuary.
• The habitats below the low tide line include only the open water channel and the eelgrass meadows.
• If you’re crab or salmon occupies a square that has any of a particular kind of habitat in it, you may claim that habitat. For example, if you have any bright green eelgrass in your square, you are protected by the eelgrass.
Estuary Survival gameboard
Estuary Survival gameboard
Low tide lines
Estuary Survival gameboard
Estuary zones
Estuary Survival gameboard
Habitat legend
Habitat and tide zones
• The estuary playing board is divided into three areas – low, mid, and upper estuary which are divided by lines across the board.
• The low tide line is marked in black.• The habitat zones cross over these areas.• To claim a habitat, at least 50% of your square must be
covered by this habitat.• Four habitat zones exist
– Eelgrass (bright green)– Open water (blue)– Mudflats (brown)– Salt marsh (dark green)
Your scorecard
• Investigator’s name
• Common name of the animal
• Genus and species
• Size and life stage
• Three questions
• Scoring box for each round
Tokens are worth 20 points each
35mm salmon smolt
50mm salmon smolt
65mm salmon smolt
5mm crab megalops
12mm crab larva
20mm crab larva
sample scoring for 3 rounds
Position Habitat Fate
C7 Eelgrass My crab survived an oil spill because he was in the mid-estuary.
C7 Eelgrass My crab survived because the eelgrass provided cover from cormorants.
C7 Eelgrass My crab grew one size class because the high tide brought food from the ocean.
Graphing survivorship
Survived round 1
8 crabs
5mm
5 crabs
12mm
6 salmon
35mm
3 salmon
65mm
Survived round 2
Survived round 3
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
surviving individuals
round 1 round 2 round 3 round 4
rounds
Estuary survivorship
crab 5mm
crab 12mm
crab 20mm
salmon 35mm
salmon 50mm
salmon 65mm
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