I was absolutely delighted to find tiny baby guppy fish (called fry) swimming around our classroom aquarium. I knew that my growing scientists would be just as delighted and couldn't wait to see their reactions.
I covered the tank before the children arrived... and during our morning meeting I informed the children that something had happened inside the tank. As scientists I asked them to figure out what had happened.
First, they made predictions:
-the snails crawled out
- the fish died
- we had a new creature in the tank
-the light broke
-the fish had babies
- the plants were moved by the snails and fish
Then, in secret small groups, we made observations:
After everyone had a chance to make the discovery that there were several new baby guppy fish in the tank we had a discussion about how this happened, what we needed to do to help these fish survive and grow, etc.
Then one of the students said, "We HAVE to put these in our Science Notebooks!" Hooray!!
The students drew what they had observed... and then wrote about it.
Later in the afternoon several students discovered that there were not just 3 like we had originally thought... they are 7! We have decided that we need to update that number our science notebooks tomorrow and add the correct term for our baby guppies: fry.
The children and I are so excited about the living science exhibit in our classroom. It provided an awesome, authentic learning opportunity!
Kindergarten Friends,
Can you spot one of our new fish in this picture?
Thank you for working so hard in Science.
You are amazing Scientists who inspire me often!
Love,
Mrs. Rider
