Goldfish for science projects. >-(

Madcrawdad said:
not looking to keep this thread alive forever, just wondering if you ever got a chance to call...and was the news good, bad or otherwise?
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Sorry, I have just been so busy. I planned on calling today and even made myself a note, but did not end up doing it. I have been planning on doing it forever. HOPEFULLY I get to it tommorow!!
 
I get it. She's in middle school. At that age children can be VERY passionate about things. Unfortunatley that passion does not usually last much longer than the next episode of Laguna Beach.

On the subject of the goldfish. While I'll admit that it seems like an ill concieved project, observing and documenting behavior is an excellent activity for middle school students. As a 7th grade teacher I will tell you that SKILLS not knowledge is what students learn at that age. What do you remember from middle school? Not much I'm guessing, but if the teachers did thier job you at least left with the skills to attain permanant knowledge in the future.

My guess is that the teacher felt that the students would have more interest in the project if they were given ownership of the fish. I recently tried to get my students excited about brine shrimp as a study animal, and they were to a degree. When I set up an activity where each team in my 8th grade class had their own container with brine shrimp to raise and care for, then the interest in the project really spiked.

To those people who suggested calling the ASPCA right off the bat after only hearing the details as related (second hand I might add) by a Jr. High student:
SHAME ON YOU
You're talking about possibly ending someone's career over some feeder goldfish? Get some perspective people.
 
I totally agree with you Mooman! I occasionally supply some snails to a teacher that is a very avid aquarist. Has gorgeous planted tanks and biotopes set up in the classroom. Most of the fish and equipment is donated by fellow hobbiests that positively applaud him for teaching the kids about all aspects of fishkeeping and aquaculture. The kids REALLY get into it and enjoy being involved in the living landscape of the classroom. One less generation of uniformed fish owners is good news in my books.
 
mooman said:
I get it. She's in middle school. At that age children can be VERY passionate about things. Unfortunatley that passion does not usually last much longer than the next episode of Laguna Beach.

On the subject of the goldfish. While I'll admit that it seems like an ill concieved project, observing and documenting behavior is an excellent activity for middle school students. As a 7th grade teacher I will tell you that SKILLS not knowledge is what students learn at that age. What do you remember from middle school? Not much I'm guessing, but if the teachers did thier job you at least left with the skills to attain permanant knowledge in the future.

My guess is that the teacher felt that the students would have more interest in the project if they were given ownership of the fish. I recently tried to get my students excited about brine shrimp as a study animal, and they were to a degree. When I set up an activity where each team in my 8th grade class had their own container with brine shrimp to raise and care for, then the interest in the project really spiked.

To those people who suggested calling the ASPCA right off the bat after only hearing the details as related (second hand I might add) by a Jr. High student:
SHAME ON YOU
You're talking about possibly ending someone's career over some feeder goldfish? Get some perspective people.
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you have a good point. we also need to realize that this could all be a Middle school rumor. believe me, i know what theyre like.

unless you acctually talk face to face and hear that this experiment is going on from the teacher's mouth, it probably isnt going to happen. anyone with any common sense in their heads would know that you jsut dont do stuff like that to an animal. its like leavingt a dog in its crate for a month without washing it out or giving it food or water.
 
hmm, you were passionate enough to write 5 pages worth of comments, but now you are "too busy"? Why don't you call instead of going on AC? Very, very immature.
 
now, i just read this thread... but lets be real people.... these are feeder goldfish.... they are bred to be eaten by bigger fish, which means that they are bred to die. Its not like your taking a beautiful fish straight out of the amazon river to observe in cups, your taking a 10 cent feeder fish from the local fish store (which by the way i can attest that many die in those tanks anyways) and putting it in a cup for an elementary "expirement". I can understand why the occasional person would be out raged due to this but are you outraged when a fish eats a fish in the ocean, outraged when you see a dead fish in a tank and yell at the person to take better care of? No, you dont do that millions of these fish are created everyday to do just what they are doing, die. I think everyone just needs to take a nice deep breath and realize hear that life sucks, fish die, its all a part of the life cycle, and who really cares if they die in bad water conditions instead of in some fishes mouth?

On the other hand bettamom i have absolutley nothing agaisnt what your doing, i think it is very admarable for someone of your age to be concerned with the well being of animals and not be like the normal teenager and say something like "sweet lets kill it!!!". If you can save the fish, all the power to you... but there are millions of feeder fish that die everyday and to do things like call the ASPCA are completley wrong, and tbh i dont think the ASPCA would waste there time on something like this.

-Jay
 
uh oh. . . SOMEONE'S never heard of the Feeder Fish Rescue Society!

you send me your feeders and I give them a nice home. FFRS Power!
 
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