14 Gallon Nano Tank in Classroom

I love it.

 

This is great! Following along

 

yes, a nice problem to have tank looks great!

 

So we will be doing "Fish Merit Badges" as a way to integrate the tank into our other studies. Here's what I've come up with so far (remember these are 5th graders!):

Mantis Shrimp Math Master: They will be given a worksheet with some scenarios and will have to work out ratios. i.e.: Our tank holds 10 gallons of water and pH is reading at 8.1, how much buffer do we need to add to get it to 8.3 if 5ml per 40 gallons raises it by .1?

Rainbow Wrasse Writer: Write a underwater themed short story.

Wartskin Angler Artist: Draw something underwater themed.

Chemistry Chromis: Complete 20 water chemistry tests.

Brainy Batfish: Worksheet which they match fish to their names.

Need some help thinking of more, I seem to be running out puny fish ideas! Some can be simple and fun and others can be more serious and harder. They get to choose how many badges they would like to complete and we will have an "awards ceremony" at the end of the year.

 

Curious Clown:Ask 3reefers a question about reefs.

 

Catalina Gobies are actually from cooler waters off California. I've never had any luck with clown gobies for some reason.

Any prawn goby with a pistol shrimp would be great for kids to watch and learn about symbiotic relationships.

Cardinal fish are great and can school/shoal.

 

So we learned some awesome stuff about shrimp gobies in class and then put what we learned into action! We discovered that the shrimp need hard bits of rock and shell to reinforce their borrows so we took some shells and stomped them to bits!

 

Loving my life as a teacher right now! Taking my students to University of Washington Applied Physics Lab this Friday, to meet 12 amazing female researchers, most of which are involved with oceanography!

 

Royal Gramma Reporter: Write and present a short, <5 minute report on a reef related topic.
Pom Pom Poet: Write a poem or a cheer about a marine animal and perform it for the class.

What fun! Sounds like you're doing a fantastic job!!!