Overview of the Project

What Will You Learn?

In this project you will learn about fish and their adaptations for living in water.

Your Project Goals

Goal 1. Complete each of the following sections of your Project Book.

A. What is a fish?

B. How do fins help a fish?

C. How does body shape help a fish?

D. How does body color help a fish?

E. Why do fish have different mouths?

F. Why do fish have scales?

G. How can we determine a fish's age?

Goal 2. Participate in a fish-related learning experience, such as a trip to an aquarium for an education program, a club program on fish, a fishing trip, the 4-H Marine Ecology Event, or visiting a marine lab where fish research takes place!

Goal 3. Help another person through a fish-related activity by teaching or demonstrating the activity.

Goal 4. Share and/or demonstrate what you learned in the project to another group.

What Will You Need to Complete the Project?

1. Access to the Internet so you can conduct some research! There are resources and websites listed at the end of your Project book.

2. A real fish to observe and gather information on! You can obtain a real fish by going fishing, catching a fish in a net along a shoreline, buying a fish at a seafood market (mullet, tilapia, and grunts are OK), or going to an aquarium store or public aquarium and selecting a fish to observe. If you cannot obtain a real fish, select a specific fish from a book or research the Internet for a fish to use in your project.

3. A microscope (or strong magnifier) for looking at fish scales and fish ear bones more closely. There is a "Fins and Scales" support kit available that contains a small magnifier you can use. Ask your leader about this, or check with your science teacher and see if your school has a microscope that you can use.

Learn More

To access all the information and activities available in the Record Book, refer to the PDF version of this document here.