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Learners

This WebQuest is designed for 9th grade students interested in the biological sciences. The lesson also involves some composition, diagramming, and requires close cooperation and interaction within the groups. The lesson can easily be modified to different grade levels by changing the requirements made of each specialist.

For example:

  • require them to identify a larger or smaller number of species
  • give them a group of aquatic animals from which to choose
  • require a classroom presentation
  • lengthen the descriptions required, etc.

If there are students in the classroom with aquarium experience, it would be beneficial to place them in separate groups to help those with no experience. Many of the Web sites listed will assume that the readers have no experience, so students should be able to understand the concepts.

Curriculum Standards

The various aspects of this WebQuest exercise will meet a number of the content standards for the Alabama Aquascience elective for grades 9-12 as described on the Alabama Learning Exchange web site (similar content standards for biological sciences are likely to exist for other states as well). In addition to learning how to set up an aquarium and being exposed to some critical biological and ecological principles, the students will have an opportunity to utilize critical thinking, categorization, comparison and creative problem solving skills. This WebQuest will provide students the opportunity to:

  • Demonstrate the ability to choose, construct, and/or assemble appropriate equipment for scientific investigations.
  • Apply critical and integrated science-thinking skills.
  • Use written and oral communication skills to present and explain scientific phenomena and concepts individually or in collaborative groups using technical and non-technical language.
  • Choose appropriate technology to retrieve relevant information from the Internet such as electronic encyclopedias, indices, and databases.
  • Evaluate technology-based options for lifelong learning in the Aquasciences.
  • Exhibit a knowledge and understanding of aquatic species.
  • Describe the processes and environmental characteristics that affect the growth rate of aquatic animals.
  • Understand the importance of cycles in an aquatic environment.
  • Determine the important properties and contents of water as related to aquaculture and other aquatic studies.
  • Demonstrate knowledge and skill in management of water for aquaculture.
  • Describe ways of reclaiming wastewater/polluted water.
Helpful Resources
Print-friendly Something Fishy WebQuest Scoring Rubric (.pdf file)
Click here to download Adobe Acrobat Reader to view .pdf files

Fish graphics courtesy of UselessGraphics


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