Big Fish Research Paper

Fish Animations

Science: Biodiversity, Adaptation & The Role of Water

Technology: Creative Communication

Math: Geometry

60 Minute Lesson

White paper (1 piece per student)

Pencil (1 per student)

Crayons and markers

Introduction (5 min)

Fishnet (10 min)

Food Chain Discussion (5 minutes)

Big Fish (30 minutes)

Clean Up & Wrap Up: (10 minutes)

Swim in the rivers, lakes, streams and every other freshwater habitat of the world to discover nature’s buffet: food chains!

NGSS 2-LS4-1 Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.

NGSS 2-ESS2-3 Obtain information to identify where water is found on Earth and that it can be solid or liquid.

NGSS 3-LS4-3 Construct an argument with evidence that in a

No, it’s not “watch out for sharks!” The rule is to never drink the salt water. Instead, humans, animals, plants and insects need to drink freshwater to survive. But, where does the freshwater come from? From freshwater habitats! Freshwater habitats are all over the world, and there are many different types. Here are some of the biggest ones!

Ponds and Lakes: A pond is a small body of water that is shallow enough to grow rooted plants like the cattails. Generally, there is little movement of the water and the temperature is consistent from top to bottom. A lake is a large body of freshwater they can range from small ponds to large bodies of water like the Great Lakes. Lakes generally are the source of water for rivers. Since the lake supplies the water for the river and they are both freshwater, the species and plant life may be the same.

Rivers and Streams: From space, rivers and streams look like veins on the Earth’s surface. They have the same habitat features as lakes and ponds, but the water is moving much more quickly. Rivers and streams move water from the mountains to the ocean. The longest river in the world is the Nile River at 4,145 miles. Small streams converge to make small rivers and small rivers join to make larger rivers and so

Before getting started, read through the Background Information, lesson, art project and extensions and prepare art supplies for campers.

A few more preparations for the day to consider:

Find a large, open space.

Set out all supplies in a convenient location for campers to grab.

Make an example for campers to see ahead of time.

Be prepared to split campers into work groups. 5 groups of 5-6 works well with the included supplies.

Set out all supplies in a convenient location for campers to grab. Each of the 5 groups needs 2 packs of crayons and 2 packs of markers as well as paper and pencils for each camper.

Note: Folding the paper and knowing where to draw the fish may be hard for younger campers to fully grasp, so ensure that all campers have their paper folded and fish positioned