Discoveries: Sea-life

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Sea-life

Children’s Museum of South Carolina

Myrtle Beach, SC

Explore more at

http://www.cmsckids.org/
 
Materials
 
Magnifying Glass
 Goldfish (any fish) in a fishbowl

Instructions

  1. Hold up magnifying glass to fish in fishbowl.
  2. Name the parts of the fish that you know.
  3. Look at the fins – what shape are they?
  4. Can you see the scales?
  5. Look at fish through magnifying glass again.
  6. How do you think he is breathing?

Why It’s So

Fish need oxygen just like people do. How can fish breathe underwater if people can’t? The answer is gills. When water moves over a fish’s gills, the fish is able to get oxygen that is in the water. If you have a pet fish at home, you might have discovered that it is always opening and closing its mouth. That is how the fish gets the water to move across its gills. Some fish, like tuna, aren’t very good at moving the water and they usually swim with their mouth partly open.
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