fish in the classroom

J

jennypenny

AC Members
Oct 30, 2005
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Athens, Ohio
am thinking of setting up an aquarium I my science classroom. I teach 7th grade life science, and although we will not learn about ecology until spring. I think it would be nice to have a side lesson that involves setting up a fish tank. I will most likely have each class create a chart that will track the cycling process. Then we will move on to adding plants and animals.

I think it would be appropriate to create a tank that mimics a Southern Ohio river or pond ecosystem. However, I am looking at other options as well. I know I can use a 10gal. I may, or may not be able to use a larger tank.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I’m looking for great ideas and anyone who might have experience with a similar set-up. Do you know of small fish that resemble native varieties? I do not have to have fish, other creatures might due. And of-course I want to keep things simple. Just looking for ideas.
 
if you want native fish, rosy red minnows are a domesticated variety of the fathead minnow, which is native to central north america. they do not have the natural coloring, but they are still native to ohio. although, they do get to 4" long so it would be best to provide a larger tank if you want a large group.
 
Look into local laws. It may be illegal to keep pet fish that are locally cought, but there may be some sort of loophole for edjucational purposes. you might be able to plan a field trip to try and find pre-determined specimins that would fit our sized tank. Try calling the local Fish and Game office to find out more about local species. And of course, bigger tanks are always better.

Just keep an eye on it. Some kids think it's funny to ruin this sort of thing for everyone else.
 
also, you may be limited on what you can return to the wild.

White cloud minnows? endlers?
 
What every I do I won't be returning anything to the wild. Frankly I'ld rather buy somethig than catch something. It is winter.
 
you could have the nitrogen cycle be the class project for the bacterial part of the science book(like you were going to), and then get some easy to keep and breed fish like platies, swordtails, or mollies and have them be part of the animals (life cycle and breeding, etc.) part of the book. each kid could be assigned their own fish and they will be able to record growth and color patterns and perhaps take it home at the end of the year (trust me, with platies, guppies, swordtails and mollies there will be enough).

you could give extra credit for the kids that acctualy take this stuff home and carry out the nitrogen cycle correctly :D

my teacher in 7th grade gave us extra credit for bringing in fish for his tank after it was cycled
 
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Yeah, live bearer might work well. I really think the nitrogen cycle could make the bacteria chapter a little more fun. Maybe instead of doing an Ohio ecology I could do the everglades. I could certainly get a hold of some mollies, and maybe a couple other species that live down there. Actually the more I think about it the more I like it. The fish are small, ad there is a very interesting food chain. What does everyone else think?
 
Mgamer20o0 said:
i say make sure its sealed up so the kids cant get their hands on it. after the one we had in the class got soap in it no more fish tank for us. i hope it works out for you.

the thought i have is guppies or platies. with that you get the whole cycle.
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haha they're 7th graders..not pre-schoolers i think they'll have enough common sense not to sitck their hands in if its not clean.

as for the stocking idea..i think you should go with a lightly planted tank with a male betta and a few shrimp or snails or an african dwarf frog....i have no idea on what to do if youre going to do a southern ohio theme tank.
 
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