Lesson Plan

A Fish's Journey

a pile of student worksheet pages
Grade Level:
Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
Subject:
Science
Lesson Duration:
30 Minutes
State Standards:
Louisiana:
3-ls1-1
Thinking Skills:
Understanding: Understand the main idea of material heard, viewed, or read. Interpret or summarize the ideas in own words.

Essential Question

What are the stages of the fish life cycle?

Objective

Students will learn and have a better understanding of the life cycle process, specifically the life cycle of a Bluegill in Cane River Lake.

Background

Like all animals, fish progress through a natural life cycle - being born, growing, reproducing, and ultimately dying. The general stages of a fish life cycle include progression from an egg to larvae, to fry, to fingerlings/juveniles, to adults. However, each fish species has its own special journey. In this choose-your-own adventure inspired activity, students will travel through their life cycle as a Bluegill living in Cane River Lake with the goal of surviving to adulthood and spawning the next generation.

Preparation

Contact Cane River Creole NHP for materials:
Email - cari_interp@nps.gov


Materials needed:

  • Numbered game signs
  • Student map sheets
  • Pencils, or other writing utensils
Before the lesson:
  • Gather/print necessary materials
  • Cut student maps and other materials into separate sheets


 

Materials

Lesson Hook/Preview

Bill Nye the Science Guy S05E06 Life Cycles - YouTubeBill Nye introduces the idea that every living thing has a life cycle in a 20-minute educational video. Note: This video is not specifically about fish but introduces life cycles and related concepts such as r- and K-selected species, spontaneous generation, and passing on genes.

For a more personal connection and to encourage students to start thinking about fish life cycles, ask students if anyone currently owns or have owned pet fish. Did any of their fish have babies? Do they know how baby fish grow up to be adult fish? This is what they will be learning today.

Procedure

  1. Put the game signs on the ground in order from 1-18.
  2. Explain to students that in this game they will participate in a choose-your-own adventure inspired activity. They will travel through their life cycle as a Bluegill living in Cane River Lake with the goal of surviving to adulthood to spawn the next generation of fish.
  3. Hand each student a map sheet and a writing utensil. Explain that students will use these map sheets to label which events they experience, and in what order those events occurred.
  4. Tell students to start at sign 1 and read the instructions to begin their life cycle. Remind students that they should mark “1. Hatching” next to the matching image on their sheet. Students will continue to mark events next to its corresponding image on their maps throughout their life cycle.
  5. Allow students enough time to reach the final game sign (sign 18) and complete their life cycle.
  6. After the students are finished, call everyone back for discussion. Have a group reflection where students can share what they found to be most interesting about the Bluegill life cycle. Ask students to connect prior knowledge they had of this habitat and organism with what they have learned from this activity to answer your essential question: What are the stages of the fish life cycle?

Vocabulary

  • egg: A reproductive organ made up by a nutritive yolk that the developing fish can feed on.
  • larvae: Newly hatched, partially undeveloped fish that live off a yolk sac attached to their bodies.
  • fry: Independent young fish (about a few months to less than 1 year old) that have fully absorbed their yolk sac and are able to eat on their own.
  • fingerling/juvenile: Transitional stage of fish between developing from fry into reproductively mature adults
  • adult: Reproductively mature fish.
  • spawning: Female fish release eggs into the water (either into a water column or nest) and male fish fertilize the eggs by releasing milt (semen).
  • generation: A period in which a group of organisms are born, develop into adults, and bear offspring at about the same time.
  • lateral line: A sensory organ in fish used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure in the nearby water.

Assessment Materials

Discussion Questions:

Instructors can test student’s understanding of the life cycle of fish by wrapping up the activity with a group discussion. The discussion questions will encourage students to recall their life cycle as a Bluegill, connecting prior knowledge of river habitats and organisms to what they have learned in this activity. Using this knowledge, students will be able to answer the essential question: What are the stages of the fish life cycle?

  1. What does a fish need to survive?
  2. What are some challenges fish experience during their life cycle?
  3. What was the most surprising thing about your journey?
  4. How can you help protect fish and other aquatic ecosystems near you?
  5. Based on what you knew before today and what you have learned because of this activity, can you name the stages of the fish life cycle?

Rubric/Answer Key

Discussion Questions:

  1. Food, shelter, space to grow...
  2. Predators/fishing, competition, parasitism...
  3. Open ended, but sample answers may include: how hard it is to make it to adulthood and reproduce, how many predators Bluegills have/encounter, …
  4. Open ended, but sample answers may include only keeping fish that meet regulation size when fishing, encouraging farms/businesses to reduce their pollution/minimize runoff, don’t litter, …
  5. Egg ➜ larvae ➜ fry ➜ fingerling/juvenile ➜ adult ➜ spawn

Supports for Struggling Learners

A more simplified version of this content could be diagramming the fish life cycle. Removing the challenges fish endure in their habitat and only focusing on the fish life cycle can help struggling learners more clearly understand the stages of a fish life cycle. Michigan Sea Grant presents a very simplified outline of the fish life cycle, as well as a Diagramming the Fish Life Cycle activity (Activity: Diagramming the Fish Life Cycle | Teaching Great Lakes Science (michiganseagrant.org)) that could be used as a learning supplement. If desired, this diagramming activity could also be used as an introductory activity before the game for a more complete lesson plan.

Enrichment Activities

Excelling learners can supplement their understanding by completing this worksheet (Life-Cycle-combo-2013.pdf (michiganseagrant.org)) that encourages students to consider more detailed aspects of the fish life cycle for different species. For example, students can consider variations of reproductive strategies, varying habitats at different life cycle stages, etc.

To learn more in depth about fish, their characteristics, and types, teachers can steer excelling or interested learners towards Fish - BrainPOP (Note: this is a paid service). Students will watch an educational video about the special features of a fish’s body and discover the three main types of fish - bony fish, cartilaginous fish, and jawless fish. There are associated materials provided with this service, including quizzes, worksheets, primary sources, and related readings.

Additional Resources

Contact Information

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Tags: fish conservation life cycle river lake science pe game physical activity role-play role-playing

Last updated: July 29, 2022