In our kits, we received goldfish, guppies and pond snails. We were not able to receive live land snails as they are not native to Michigan. We did, however, receive a video and other materials to learn about land snails so we can compare them to the pond snails. Later we will be receiving red worms and earthworms as well as two different kinds of isopods.
Our first exploration was in learning all about our new goldfish! Last week we learned about the different parts of the goldfish including their tail, fins, both on top of and below their bodies, their eyes, mouth, gills and scales! We learned that a goldfish's tail helps to move it forward, while it's fins also help them to move and steer them through the water. We also learned that goldfish do not have eyelids, so they are not able to close their eyes. The children found their gills and scales the most interesting part. They discovered that fish use their gills to help them breathe underwater and their scales to protect their bodies. We spent lots of time watching the goldfish open and close their gills and see their scales shimmer under lights!
After learning about all the parts of a goldfish, we learned how to take care of fish. This included learning how to clean the tank using a turkey baster to suck up waste, adding clean water that has been sitting out to ensure no chlorine is left and making sure it is room temperature. We also learned that goldfish eat food off the bottom of their aquarium rather than the top. The goldfish also prefer to swim near the bottom of their tank as well. We read the book A Fish Out of Water when we learned that goldfish only need a little bit of food each day.
Next, we observed different behaviors of fish. We did this by adding different things into their aquarium to see how they would react. First we poured water into one side of the tank to see if they would swim towards the splashing or away from it. We discovered that they swam away. We then added some live plants to see if they would swim through them or not. They decided to swim under them.
Finally, we added a tunnel to see if they would swim through it. We were so excited to see that after the fish felt safe and comfortable with this new item in their environment, they happily swam through the tunnel both ways and some even chose to hide in it!
Tomorrow, we will begin learning about guppies and comparing them to what we already know about goldfish. Stay tuned for our next science recap!
No comments:
Post a Comment