My family has a Christmas tradition. Every year we buy a christmas book. We write the year and how old we are in the book. For example, the one we bought last year is called Olivia Claus. I was 8 years old, my brother Cade was 12 years old, and my sister Taylor was 14 years old. Do  you have a family tradition? Tell me what it is. I would like to her all about it!

Fry and Parr are cool.  Do you want to learn about fry and parr? Fry are twice the size of alevin. When the yolk sac is all used up, the bottom of the fry is silver. They are about 3-4 cm.  They have teeth, scales and fins. If they develop black marks they are called parr. These help to camouflage them. They swim away from the redd to find food.  They eat insects, plankton, and fish eggs.  Birds and large fish eat fry and parr.  Fry and parr use their swim bladder for the first time to move in the water.  2, 4, 6, 8, who do we appreciate?  Fry and parr!

Alevin are interesting to learn about.  Let’s learn about alevin.  Alevin are about 1 in. long.  They have a tiny tail and no fins when they hatch, and a yolk sac attatched to their belly.  They live in a redd with rocks and woody debris, because they need to hide from predators.  Do you know how alevin get their food?  Alevin get their food from the yolk sac.  The alevin grows quickly as it gets its nutrients from its yolk sac.  Fish and birds are alevin predators, like trout and blue heron.  Different types of salmon have different looking alevin.  Alevin are fun to learn about. 

The first stage in the life cycle of a salmon is the egg. The  egg color is pink,red and orange. A salmon egg is about the size of a pea. It is soft and smooth.  Eggs have two black dots which are the eyes. The eggs need to be in cool, clean,  water. They are layed by the female in a redd. Trees along the stream provide shade to keep the water cool, and to help stop erosion. The eggs are hidden in rocky gravel to protect them from predators. There is  a yolk sac attached to each embryo. The yolk sac holds yolk which is the embryo’s food as the embryo grows. Predators are birds, fish, ducks, trout and people. Only 3 out of 3,000 salmon eggs survive to be adult salmon. salmon eggs are fun to study.

Every day after thanksgiving we go to get our christmas tree. First we go to a christmas tree farm we look and look until my mom finds the right tree. When she finds the right tree my dad cuts it down and we put it in the truck.  Me my sister and brother sit on the back so the tree dos not fall. When we get home we bring it in the house and stand it on the stand. My mom puts on the lights then we put the ornaments on and then we admire the tree.