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Signals in the Reef Aquarium

Use reef fish observations and test data to argue how living in a group can help animals respond to danger.

Grade 3ScienceInteractive · Printable

Aligned to3-LS2-1

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What’s included

Single worksheet
Auto-graded online
1 NGSS standard
Printable answer key
14 questions
Classroom-ready

Details

Format: Interactive · Printable
Grade: Grade 3
Subject: Science
Question types: Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students use observations and test data to argue how animal groups can help members survive.
Students compare group and lone-animal responses to a possible danger.
Students identify limits of evidence about how groups help animals survive.

How to use

Read the aquarium team's notes together, then have students use the graph and observations to judge the display design and write an evidence-based argument.

Curriculum

NGSS standard covered

3-LS2-1

Argue that some animals live in groups that help the members survive.

Preview

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Name Date

Signals in the Reef Aquarium

Use aquarium evidence to judge whether living in a group can help reef fish survive.

Observe the reef fish

Read the aquarium team's notes. Use the observations to answer the questions.

A Signal in the Reef Aquarium

At Harborview School, a class cares for a small coral reef aquarium. The students are planning a display about blue-green chromis, small reef fish that often swim in groups called schools. They want visitors to understand how a school might help its members survive.

During three morning observations, groups of five chromis swam close together near a coral-shaped shelter. When a dark shape moved across the tank, one fish quickly turned toward the shelter. Several nearby fish turned after it, and the school reached the shelter together. In another observation, one chromis was swimming by itself. It began moving toward the shelter after the shadow came closer, but it reached the shelter 2 seconds later than the school.

The class then made a careful test. In each trial, one target fish was watched for five seconds after the same dark shape moved past the tank. In some trials, the target fish was alone. In other trials, it was swimming with four other chromis. The students kept the light, shadow, distance, and shelter the same. They recorded whether the target fish noticed the shadow and moved toward the shelter within five seconds. The graph shows the results from 10 trials in each condition.

What did the students keep the same in both kinds of test trials?