Last updated: January 17, 2024
Lesson Plan
Fish Out of Water
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- Grade Level:
- Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
- Subject:
- Science
- Lesson Duration:
- 30 Minutes
- State Standards:
- K-LS1-1, K-ESS3-1, 3-LS4-3, 3-LS3-2, 4-LS1-1, 4-LS1-2, 6-LS1-5
- Thinking Skills:
- Remembering: Recalling or recognizing information ideas, and principles. Understanding: Understand the main idea of material heard, viewed, or read. Interpret or summarize the ideas in own words. Analyzing: Break down a concept or idea into parts and show the relationships among the parts.
Essential Question
How can one animal affect an entire ecosystem?
How do various parts of an animal come together to work as one?
Objective
Students will be able to identify the internal and external parts of fish.
Background
Fish are a valuable resource at Buffalo River, playing a critical role in complex food webs, serving as an indicator of water quality, and providing recreational opportunities for visitors. Discussing the ecological niche that fish fill can help participants see the interconnectedness of wildlife at the river. Participants will gain a picture of life as a fish as they learn about fish anatomy and compare it to their own anatomy.
Preparation
Ensure all materials are acquired prior to starting lesson. Materials include:
- Printout fish
- Printout fish inner body parts
- Anatomy labels
- Fish anatomy diagrams (provided in lesson plan)
- Fish life scenarios - print out 3 copies of each scenario listed in Activity #3
Lesson Hook/Preview
Ask the following:
- Why do you think fish are important to Buffalo National River and surrounding areas?
- What do they eat? What eats them?
- What fish have you seen or caught in our local creeks and rivers?
Procedure
Step 1: Introduce ecosystems and the role fish play in an ecosystem's food web.
Step 2: Using fish and fish organ printouts, have students label individual parts that they know and discuss what each part is for using organ labels.
Step 3: Divide students into multiple groups. Provide organ labels to each group. Place the empty fish cutout with organs inside on one side of the room with student groups on the other. Lead relays on who can identify fish parts the fastest. Check for understanding afterwards.
Step 4: Give scenarios fish may encounter to students. Students must then identify which body part would assist in the provided scenario. Students will then find the label associated with the body part and place it on the fish cutout.
Step 5: Have students name the body part that will help a fish navigate through life in given scenarios.
Step 6: Circle back to Buffalo National River and the effects fish populations have on the river's ecosystem.