Teaching Lessons with an Aquarium
Using Fish Tank to Teach Biology, Chemistry, Math and Ethics
Feb 29, 2008
The aquarium is a small piece of nature in your home that provides opportunities for learning in biology, chemistry, math and ethics. Your children will love participating in caring for the aquarium, and with the right spin on the lessons, they will not even realize they are learning.
Teaching Biology with an Aquarium
The fish in the tank, as well as any plants or any other living organisms provide an excellent place to start teaching about biology. Discuss what it takes to keep the fish alive: food, oxygen and clean water. A lack of oxygen, over feeding or under feeding or putting dangerous (foreign) additives to the water can affect health of the fish. This can lead to a conversation about protecting our natural water sources and preventing pollution.
If you have access to a microscope, it is also possible to watch the blood flow through a fish's fins. The tail fin works best. This must be done quickly to cause minimal stress to the fish.
Teaching Chemistry with an Aquarium
All of the parameters of the water come into play when discussing the chemistry of an aquarium. For example, you can learn what the pH of the water is, and why it is important for the particular fish you are keeping. The use of a basic fish book or online resource such as Inside Aquatics can help you know what the pH should be and explain why.
You can also look at the nitrogen cycle. When first setting up the tank, proper cycling allows the water chemicals to go from ammonia to nitrite to nitrate. You can easily test these chemicals with simple aquarium kits and only when the cycle is complete is it safe to put fish in the water. This cycling process can take up to a couple of weeks.
The water cycle is also evident in an aquarium as water evaporates out of the tank and needs to be replaced. Talk about why the water level dropped (evaporation) and where the water went. Tie the weather into the discussion with conversations on humidity. Also discuss how adding water to the fish tank is tantamount to rain in replacing the evaporated water.
Teaching Math with an Aquarium
When setting up an aquarium, you can use basic geometry to figure out how much water the aquarium will hold. 10 gallons of water looks very different in an aquarium than in 10 one-gallon milk jugs. Also, most medicines or water conditioners suggest x amount per y gallons and require simple algebraic equations to figure out how much to add. These basic math skills may become more understandable and more enjoyable when applied to this real world use.
Teaching Ethics with an Aquarium
The aquarium can be a tool for teaching ethics as well. It is important to teach children to properly care for and handle animals and to give them the respect that they deserve. While animals are not treated as equals to humans, they do need to be respected. Teach your children how to be gentle and respectful by not tapping on the glass or sticking their hands into the water.
Having an aquarium in your home can provide a multitude of learning opportunities, as well as provide a relaxing decoration. When setting up an aquarium, remember to involve your children in every step of the process, and ask them many questions to provoke thought and learning.
Learn how to set up a brackish water fish tank, how to introduce new fish into your aquarium and what to do when your fish get sick.
 |
