Fish & Amphibian Activities for Science Lessons

Students can learn about biology through habitat conservation programs.

Biology curricula on fish and amphibians can range from hands-on projects such as FrogWatch USA to online interactive games about fish and frogs. Museums, science organizations, governmental agencies, nature magazines, universities and conservation organizations all provide free lesson plans, downloadable materials and educational games and activities to help bring biology to life in the classroom.

General Fish and Amphibian Resources

Virtual frog dissection is just one of the options afforded teachers via new technology. the frog image by masteraz from Fotolia.com

The University of California at Berkeley offers comprehensive marine education resources available on the web. Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science runs the "Marine Activities, Resources and Education" (MARE) website which has lesson plans, activities and additional resources about marine life for grade levels K-6. The National Biological Information Infrastructure's (NBII) "Amphibian Resources for Teachers" page lists lesson plans and activities about amphibians that were developed mostly by universities. NBII's general amphibians page lists many pertinent articles about amphibian populations, life histories and distribution, and the NBII "Fisheries and Aquatics" page provides maps, hot topics and links. The National Science Digital Library has a K-12 educators' search engine that is a goldmine of resources. If you put "fish" into this search engine, 4,431 resources on fish appear. If you enter "amphibian activities," you receive 455 choices, ranging from ecological projects to downloadable coloring books.

Fish Games and Activities

You can watch fish swim live in the Monterey Bay through the Monterey Bay Aquarium's webcam. Puffer Fish image by Freelance from Fotolia.com

Ranger Rick, the nature magazine for children published by the National Wildlife Federation, has an assortment of online games, riddles and fun facts about fish and amphibians. The Monterey Bay Aquarium offers many maritime games, including an interactive virtual tidepool, live photos of the Monterey Bay and fish in it, kelp forest crossword puzzles and shark mask and totem pole activity sets. Pratt Educational Resources offers a fish-themed resource page with links to fish stories, games, crafts, music, activities, puzzles and trivia.

Amphibian Games and Activities

FrogWatch USA engages students in data collecting to help preserve dwindling frog populations. frogs in pond image by Sean Gladwell from Fotolia.com

The Amphibian Project has an educators' page provides information about field projects and hands-on activities such as making a pond, raising tadpoles and monitoring and collecting data about frogs. The "Amphibian and Reptile Curricula" website for National Environmental Education Week lists projects and activities for grades K-12, including FrogWatch USA and a Frogs WebQuest. Pratt's Educational Resources offers an extensive list of amphibian-themed resources including downloadable coloring pages, music about frogs, frog origami and puppet instructions, and a virtual frog dissection kit.

References

• UC Berkeley Lawrence Hall of Science Marine Activities, Resources, and Education: Curriculum Overview
• National Biological Information Infrastructure: Teachers Resources
• National Science Digital Library: K-12
• Pratt's Educational Resources: Amphibian Theme
• Pratt's Educational Resources: Fish Theme

Resources

• Monterey Bay Aquarium: Games and Interactives
• The Amphibian Project:: For Educators Curriculum Toolkit
• National Environmental Education Week: Amphibian and Reptile Curricula
• National Wildlife Federation, Ranger Rick: Games