The following information is based on Grades 5 to 8 Science: Manitoba Curriculum Framework of Outcomes which itself is based on the Pan-Canadian's Common Framework of Science Learning Outcomes (K - 12). Each outcome includes a brief description of the outcome, teacher background information, suggestions for instruction, a list of the general learning outcomes (GLOs) covered and overall skills and attitudes (cluster 0 outcomes) addressed in the outcome. Each outcome also contains a page number reference to the Manitoba Education and Youth document entitled "Grades 5 to 8 Science: A Foundation for Implementation" (2000). Also, where appropriate, worksheets, activities and examples have been included.
    To download these activities and/or worksheets (A=Activity... W=Worksheet... E=Example... ), click on the corresponding colour button(s) for each learning outcome. The exercise(s) will be saved to your computer as an adobe PDF file(s). To view these files, you will require a copy of adobe acrobat reader to be installed on your computer. To download a free copy of the reader, click here.













    Fish are animals - they move, they have sensory organs (eyes, mouth, barbels), and they have body structure (skeleton, skin). They eat other organisms to survive. They also breathe oxygen, however they "breathe" by "inhaling" water through their mouths. The water is then passed over special structures called gills. The gills absorb the oxygen from the water as it flows over the gills and then exits the fish's body. The gills are protected and covered by a gill cover or operculum, just behind the cheek. (Yes, fish have cheeks!) While they do not use them to breathe, fish do have nostrils that they use to smell.
    Fish have fins. They may have one or two dorsal fins (fins on top of the fish's back). If they have two, they may be separate or joined together. Some fish have an adipose fin on their back, which is actually a fleshy lobe that is a "leftover" of a more-developed dorsal fin that was lost as the particular fish species evolved. Fish have pectoral fins (fins along the side of their body where their "arms" would be) and pelvic fins (fins underneath their bodies). They also have an anal fin just behind the vent where they excrete wastes. Their tailfin or caudal fin may be lobed or club-shaped.
    Depending on what they eat, fish may or may not have teeth. Fish that are carnivores or piscivores (i.e. they eat other fish) will have well-developed teeth (like a northern pike ). They will likely have mouths at the end of their snout, or even above it, which helps them grasp their prey. Fish that feed off the bottom often do not have teeth. Their mouth may be located underneath their head to help them "vacuum" up their food (like a sucker ).
    Some fish have barbels or fleshy feelers ("whiskers") that hang in front of the mouth (such as the catfish). These barbels are sensory structures that help the fish detect its food as it swims along the bottom of a river or lake.
    Fish have a lateral line. This is a system of holes along the sides of a fish that is actually a sensory organ. Similar to sonar, fish use it to detect vibrations and sense what they cannot see.
    Manitoba has many different species of fish. Some of them look very unusual and are easy to distinguish, such as the prehistoric-looking lake sturgeon. Sturgeon have an outer armour of bony plates (called scutes) and a shark-like (heterocercal) tail which are vestiges of earlier times. These features have disappeared in most modern-day freshwater fish.
    Other Manitoba species look very much alike, such as the various species of trout. All of these species have adipose fins and are distinguished from each other primarily by their body colouration. Other species also have adipose fins but can be distinguished from trout because they lack teeth (such as the whitefish ). Other species with adipose fins are obviously different from trout because they have barbels (like the bullhead).
    Some fish have spines while other species have no spines. Fish may have spines in their dorsal fins, like a walleye, or along the leading edge of their pectoral fins, like a catfish. Goldeye and northern pike do not have any spines.
    Fish have scales, which may be very large or barely visible to the naked eye, depending on the species of fish. For example, goldeye scales are very large. On the other hand, catfish scales are so small, these fish look like they have a smooth skin. Some fish do not have scales, such as a burbot .
    All of these features - spines, teeth, barbels, tail shape, fins - can be used to help classify and identify fish species found in Manitoba. The size and shape of the mouth, body colouration, and markings (spots or stripes) can also be used to sub-classify similar species.
    Encouraging students to develop their own system of classification and provide their rationale for the system assists them in developing both their observation and classification skills. In addition to creating their own classification key, students develop their own understanding of existing keys - what they are used for and how they work.




































    Provide each student with a copy of the External Features of a Fish. Review the parts and discuss the uses of some of the more unusual features.
    Provide each student with a copy of the Fish Parts puzzle as a fun way to help them remember the correct terminology! for answer key.




    For this activity students may work individually or in small groups. Provide each student or group of students with:

· a set of Manitoba Fish cards. [ - "Blow them up" and ask students to cut them out into individual cards.]
· a large piece of paper [such as flip chart paper]
· coloured pencils, rulers, markers, scissors, glue
· large space for each student or group of students to work

    Ask the students to develop their own classification key for Manitoba fish. Allow the students time to arrange the different fish species cards. Once they are satisfied that all samples are categorized appropriately, ask the students to glue the fish cards onto the large piece of paper, and use the coloured pencils or markers to link groups or individual fish and provide the rationale for their findings. The rationale could take the form of brief notes or more detailed headings.
    If you have a large bulletin board, students could thumbtack the cards to the board and use pieces of string to link groups or individual fish. They could write their rationale on small cards and thumbtack the cards in the appropriate places on the bulletin board. Students could also use classroom walls to arrange their fish and their rationale notes, using masking tape, string, "sticky tack", etc. to stick and connect the cards.

Assessment:

    To see how close your students came to the "real thing", check the actual Key to Manitoba Fish Species. You may want to provide students with a copy of the key so they can compare their results unless you plan on following this activity with Activity 1 under Outcome 6-1-04. (In the latter case, don't reveal the real key just yet!)
    However, it should be emphasized that it is not important that the students' classifications resemble the actual key (and most likely, they will not). The most important outcome of this activity is that students can show their reasoning behind their choices and justify their categorization of the fish species.



























    Review the Teacher Background and activities for Outcome 6-1-03 which describe the parts of a fish.
    Look at the actual Key to Manitoba Fish Species. The lake sturgeon is the only fish species with the heterocercal tail (i.e. the upper lobe is larger than the lower lobe - like a shark's tail). This separates it from all other Manitoba fish species.
    The next main branches of the fish "family tree" are based on whether a species has an adipose fin or not. Again, this is a very obvious visual clue for classifying fish. Barbels and spines are then used to subdivide branches, then teeth or no teeth, scales or no scales, etc.
    Notice that the further along the branching process, the more specific the clues must be to determine the species. For example, it is not just whether the fish has spines or not, it is where those spines are located. The colour of a fish is usually the last feature used to identify a species. Colours can be "tricky" because they can change slightly depending on the habitat the fish is found in, what they are eating, the time of year (e.g. spawning or breeding colours are usually brighter than colours at other times of the year), etc. Therefore only obvious colouration features (white fin edges, spots, stripes) that are (fairly) reliable are used in the key.









    Ideally, this activity would follow Activity 2 from Outcome 6-1-03.
    Once the students have had the opportunity to develop their own classification system for Manitoba's fish (see Outcome 6-1-03, Activity 2), now they can look at an actual key and see how close they came to categorizing the fish species correctly! (That is, according to the existing key. Be sure and emphasize that their keys may be just as appropriate if they can give good reasons for their choices.)

    Provide each student with:

· a set of Manitoba Fish cards. [Blackline master]
· Student's Key to Manitoba Fish Species. [Blackline master]

    Ask the students to look at the Manitoba fish cards and try to find their place on the classification key. They should then match the correct fish by writing the letter on the fish card into the appropriate numbered space on the key.
    For the correct answers, see the Teacher's Answer Key to Manitoba Fish Species. [Blackline master]



    Provide each student with a copy of the Manitoba Fish Species Word Search Puzzle. [Blackline master] Ask them to try to identify the common Manitoba fish species using the puzzle.
    For a Teacher's Answer Sheet, [Blackline master] .



    Provide each student with a copy of the Scrambled Fish worksheet. [Blackline master] Ask students to unscramble the letters to find out the names of some common Manitoba fish. For a Teacher's Answer Sheet, [Blackline master] .



    Provide each student with a series of sketches of Manitoba fish. [Blackline master]
    Provide each student with the complete Key to Manitoba Fish Species [Blackline master] and a "Name that Fish" worksheet. [Blackline master]     Ask them to determine the name of each fish and explain the rationale used for their choice.
    For the Teacher's Answer Key, [Blackline master] .




























    Community is a fundamental, complex ecological concept necessary to an understanding of how small changes "here" can produce large changes "there". Simply put, a community contains all the living things that meet their basic needs in the same general location or habitat: a forest, a field, a pond, a stream. These living things can affect one another in a number of ways. Some eat or are eaten by others. Some break down dead things and release useful nutrients. Some provide shelter, or cover, for others. Some modify conditions, such as bottom type, creating or eliminating suitable physical habitat for others. A list of the specific connections or interrelationships, among community members is almost endless. The basic point is that by affecting one living thing, others are inevitably affected, often in unseen and unthought of, ways.



    In this activity, students begin to put together a "picture" of these connections, based on some of the things aquatic community members do and some of the things that they need.
    Copy a class set of the student blackline master 1. Copy Blackline master 2 and 3 back to back to produce one full card set for each group of five students. Cut out the individual cards and laminate if possible.
    Teachers [Blackline master] for column - row - diagonal interpretations.
    Optional: enlarge one set of Blackline master 2 pictures for display on a bulletin board.

Procedure:

1. Discuss with students the concept of their home community. Where does it begin and end? What goods and services are provided by different community members? (examples: food distribution, garbage pickup, police, fire, etc.; add others based on "job descriptions" on Blackline master 3). How is the community "self sufficient"? How is it connected to other communities?
2. Look at the similarities and differences between human and biotic communities. Emphasize how many species provide the "goods and services" in a biotic community. Discuss some of the "goods and services" listed on Blackline master 3 and how they represent community interactions and relationships.
3. Divide the class into teams of five. Hand out a community bingo grid and five game cards to each student. Indicate that they will explore some of the interrelationships in an aquatic community through a game of "community bingo". Explain the game rules.

a) When a grid box is called out, e.g., OM-N, whoever has that card puts it picture-up on his or her grid.
b) The whole team can help complete a row, column or diagonal, but each student's cards must remain on his or her own grid.
c) A team gets one point for completing a column, row or five-card diagonal, and one point for explaining the interrelationships connecting each card to at least one other member of the row, column or diagonal. If they cannot, the second team to complete tries for one point, and so on.
d) Play continues until all boxes are called.

4. Have the students study their community member cards before play. Once the cards are laid picture-up, they cannot be turned over to reveal information that will help in the connections. Team members who complete a row, column or diagonal must discuss what they remember of their information to build the connections. Allow time for this.
5. Begin play, calling grid boxes at random until all boxes are called. Assess and award points for convincing connections.
6. Have each group assemble the complete community picture. Discuss any important connections that cross rows and/or columns. For example, osprey will eat all fish species shown. They are also an animal that does not physically live in the community and may only spend some time there. Are they full-fledged community members? Where are the actual boundaries of the community?
7. Optional: An enlarged set may be assembled as a bulletin board display and yarn or string used to graphically depict the interrelationships.
8. Have the students explain the effects of the loss of a community member (card) on at least four other community members.

Options:

1. Give one community card to each student, using one full set, and part of another if necessary. Randomly put students into circles of six to eight. Have students make a verbal connection to one of the other community members in their circle, and a physical connection using a ball of yarn or string. The person receiving the ball then makes a connection, and so on until the students run out of connections. Holding the yarn or string tightly, have students lean back to demonstrate the supporting interconnections. When they are still leaning back, have one or more students let go in sequence, demonstrating the effects of species loss on that community segment.
2. Have students enlarge and colour one of their cards, and compile a large picture of the lake community for the bulletin board.

* Community Bingo is modified from the Fish Ways Aquatic Resource Education Program, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources





































    An adaptation is a structural or behavioural change in an organism which improves its ability to survive in the environment.
    There are many different species of fish, all varying in body shape and structure, and colouration and markings. These differences in appearance - along with differences in behaviour - have evolved over time (in some cases, millions of years) as different fish species adapted to different environments. The Key to Manitoba Fish Species shows the more obvious similarities and differences among our fish.
    Most fish have scales, which may be very large or barely visible to the naked eye, depending on the species of fish. Scales help to protect fish from injury and small predators. They overlap to reduce friction through the water, however fish with larger scales give up some flexibility and speed for the added protection. The prehistoric-looking sturgeon is unusual. While ancient sturgeon had a heavy, armour-like covering of hard, shiny, interlocking scales, modern sturgeon have lost their scales and retain only a bony plate over their skull and five rows of bony plates, called scutes, that run the length of their body. The sharp, hooked scutes protect young sturgeon from predators and adult sturgeon from injury while feeding or reproducing in rocky areas.
    A fish's body shape also reflects its "lifestyle". Suckers and sturgeon have round bodies that are flat on the bottom and suit their bottom-feeding existence. Northern Pike are more slender (laterally compressed) which allows them to rapidly pursue their prey. Other fish that lurk in the weeds or rocks, such as bass, tend to be shorter and thin or disc-shaped. This allows them to make quick turns around the rocks. The narrow, disc-shaped goldeye can "slice through" the water with little resistence. Its narrow profile, when viewed from head-on, also makes it less detectable to predators. Trout and arctic char are streamlined and elongated, for high-speed swimming or prolonged swimming against strong currents.
    The fins of different fish species can also differ. They many be soft or have spines. Spines can be used for protection from predators (e.g. in catfish, walleye ). Spines not only discourage predators but also make their prey more difficult to swallow. Spines can also be used to stiffen fins to assist in swimming (e.g. in sturgeon). Fins are used for locomotion, stability or balance, and steering. They can also be used for braking and aggressive displays.
    The tail is actually a fin - the caudal fin. It helps to propel the fish forward as it is moved back and forth - the actual forward thrust coming from the pressure of the fish's tail against the surrounding water. Fish with smaller caudal fins undulate their bodies to move forward. Their tail may be lobed or club-shaped. The sturgeon's shark-like (heterocercal) tail or caudal fin contrasts with the homocercal (symmetrical) tail of all other Manitoba fish species, and is considered to be the most primitive of tail forms today.
    The shape of a fish's mouth reflects what it eats and how it consumes its food. Fish that feed on the bottom of a river or lake, such as a sucker or carp, have "sucker-shaped" mouths under their head which they use to "vacuum" up their food, including aquatic insects or plant material. The sturgeon's tube-like mouth can actually protrude for maximum sucking action. Generally, fish that feed off the bottom do not have any teeth, or only have small teeth. A carp's molar-like teeth are used to grind up vegetation.
    Fish that are carnivores or piscivores (i.e. they eat other fish) will have large mouths with strong jaws and well-developed teeth (like a northern pike or walleye). They will likely have mouths at the end of their snout, or even above it, which helps them seize their prey. Some fish, such as bass, feed on prey that they see from below so their lower jaw is actually longer than the top one. Other fish, such as catfish, have a longer upper jaw than bottom, because they tend to see and feed on their prey from above.
    Some fish, including sturgeon, channel catfish , bullheads, and stonecats, have barbels or fleshy feelers ("whiskers") that hang in front of their mouth. Barbels are sensory structures that help the fish detect its food as it swims along the bottom of a river or lake.
    In the dim light and murky water, these bottom-feeding fish rely more on their sensitive "whiskers" to detect their food than their eyesight, so their eyes are very small. Fish that are piscivores tend to have big eyes, to better see their prey. A walleye's large eyes are actually sensitive to bright sunlight; walleye tend to feed at twilight or dark periods. Fish do not have eyelids; the water bathes them constantly so they do not need tears.
    Colouration in fish helps them to blend into their surroundings so they can stalk their prey. The yellowish-brown walleye prefers the open water where it hunts to be slightly turbid. The mottled markings of a pike help it to hide in the weeds or rocks where it lays in ambush for unsuspecting smaller fish. The vertical striping on a yellow perch also helps this carnivore hide in the weeds. The greyish-brown or olive colour of the rock bass helps it to hide in the rocks, of course!
    Colouration can also be used for protection. These same stripes and spots on fish help them hide from predators as well as from potential prey that they hope to ambush. Some fish are a darker colour on top while being pale or white underneath. The dark colour is less easy to see by predators viewing them from above while the light colouring on the bottom help them blend in with the light background when viewed by a predator from below. Juvenile fish often are mottled or have spots to help them blend in with the bottom or rocks where they are hiding.
    Colouration can also be used to attract a mate for reproduction. Fish, particularly the males, often become much more brightly coloured in the spring when they are reproducing or spawning. However, this colouration is temporary and sometimes confusing to someone trying to positively identify a fish.
    For more information on some adaptations in fish,


















































    Discuss with students the various physical adaptations of fish and their possible benefits or purposes, including mouth shape, body structures and shape, and colouration.
    Print several sets of Manitoba Fish cards. [Blackline master]
    Print enough sets to allow each student in your class to have one fish card.
    Shuffle the Manitoba Fish cards, turn them upside down on a table and have each student draw a fish card.
    Have the students work in pairs, making sure each pair has two different fish cards.
    Ask each pair of students to examine the fish they have drawn, discuss their features, and try to guess what kind of habitat they prefer and what kind of food they eat. They can prepare a Venn diagram outlining the similarities and differences between the two fish. Teachers can develop their own worksheets or and for blackline master worksheets of Fishy Relationships!
    As an additional activity, teachers can ask students to research their fish to determine how close they came to correctly guessing its feeding habits and preferred habitat, based on the fish's physical characteristics.

Evaluation:

    Students can fill out the "Fishy Relationships!" worksheet, or each pair of students can be asked to present their findings on their two fish to the class.
    The most important outcome of this activity is that students be able to justify what they think their fish eats and where it lives.



    Have the students design their own fish, picking a specific adaptation for the mouth, the body shape and the colouration.
    Have the students draw their fish, name it, and present it to the class. Students should be able to explain the adaptations they have chosen and how these adaptations help the fish to survive in its habitat.