Whale or Fish?

Read about the physical features of whales and how they are grouped according to their method of eating food. A neat activity is described on the page; consider carrying this out in class. The resource makes a nice addition to a lesson...

Life comes in all different shapes and sizes, and fish are no exception. Here, young scientists create fish prints as they learn how specific characteristics allow different species to survive in their particular habitats.

Swim with the fishes. Learners simulate the migration of Chinook salmon. Groups pretend to be salmon, while others are predators, fishers, and hazards. The salmon start in the spawning area and swim downstream to the ocean until reaching...

Could the seasons be changing? Using National Park data, learners recognize patterns in the growth of seasonal plants. They look specifically at the first bloom date of cherry blossoms in Washington DC and compare them to temperature...

Today very few animals exist with both an endoskeleton and exoskeleton. Yet, in the Devonian period, a large number of fish species lived with both. Scientists debate if they were for protection or mineral storage, because none of them...

Middle schoolers will create a children's book on Keiko, the killer whale, that was rehabilitated and returned to the wild after living in an aquarium. In small groups, they conduct internet research to find out the history and current...

Dr. Joy Reidenberg is an expert in comparative anatomy, but also quite relatable to preteens! Here, she lectures on echolocation by likening it to "farting with the face!" She explains with film, actual whale voice recordings, diagrams,...

Some species of fish are more closely related to humans than they are to other species of fish! How did so many species, that aren't closely related, develop the same body shape? A short video explains the evolution of fish. 

The Next Generation Science Standards list the first concept for all disciplines as patterns. Learners view the progression as scholars move from grade to grade and apply these skills in an informative video on the NGSS

Have you ever wondered how to paralyze a fish? The cone snail produces venom that works, but what happens at a molecular level? A calcium channel blocker prevents muscle movement, enabling the slow-moving snail to catch faster, larger...