NEMO ClassroomCurriculumGuide LoRes

NEMOCLASSROOM CURRICULUM GUIDE

Welcome 1Lesson 1: Building a Lapbook 3Lesson 2: Learning with the Lapbook 4Lesson 3: Paper Aquarium 6Lesson 4: Classroom Aquarium Set-Up 6Lesson 5: Field Experience at Greater 6 Cleveland Aquarium Lesson 6: Fish Ethogram 7Lesson 7: Changes in the Habitat 8

Appendix A1-A13

Welcome to NEMO

Thank you for taking part in the NEMO program this year! Whether this is your 6th year of NEMO, or your 1st, we are excited share this experience with your class.

The Aquarium has updated exhibit décor, and has several new species on exhibit, including poison dart frogs, an Argentinian tegu, �ashlight �sh and others.

You will see a few updates in NEMO curriculum for the 2019-20 school year. The Student Research Notebooks and Aquatic Animal Adaptations Sheets have been updated. The Aquarium will provide the Student Research Notebook packets on the day of the visit, so there is no need to print that part in advance. The pre- and post-visit lessons remain unchanged from last year.

Please check out the NEMO logistics guide for information about pre- and post-surveys, bus booking information and other program logistics.

If you are new to NEMO, please plan to attend our 2-part professional development series.

If you have any questions about the lessons presented in this guide, please do not hesitate to reach out to Aquarium education sta�. Our contact information is listed on the left.

We look forward to working with you and your students this year.

Erin, Matt, & Lili

Erin CarpenterDirector of Education and [email protected]�ce: 216.882.8803 x7703

Matt DebelakEducation [email protected]�ce: 216.862.8803 x7715

Lili FikterEducation Associatel�[email protected]�ce: 216.862.8803 x7720

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CONTACT INFORMATION

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Connection to Ohio Learning StandardsThese activities extend the Aquarium �eld experience and enhance the following Ohio Standards in Science:

Fourth Grade Life Science Topic: Earth’s Living History Content statement: Changes in an organism’s environment are sometimes bene�cial to its survival and sometimes harmful.

Content Concepts: • An animal’s patterns of behavior are related to the environment. This includes the kinds and numbers of other organisms present, the availability of food and resources, and the physical attributes of the environment. • Ecosystems are based on interrelationships among and between biotic and abiotic factors.

The NEMO lessons incorporate these content concepts and build on the study of habitats, and adaptations.

Fourth Grade: Science Inquiry and Application • Observe and ask questions about the natural environment • Plan and conduct simple investigations • Employ simple equipment and tools to gather data and extend the senses • Communicate about observations, investigations, and explanations • Review and ask questions about the observations and explanations of others

Science inquiry and investigation skills are utilized throughout the NEMO experience. All lessons and activities are designed with these skills in mind.

Connection to Science FusionNEMO lessons correlate to Unit 4 of Ohio Science Fusion textbook: Living Things and their Environments (available in Science Fusion Grade 4 Ohio Teacher Edition on pages 165 to 210).

Speci�c connections to the Science Fusion textbook appear through the NEMO curriculum guide using the following format:

Science Fusion Connection: page 170-179

Please note: page numbers refer to pages in the Teacher Edition, not the student edition.

Florida Aquarium’s Fish in the ClassroomThis resource (available on the Aquarium website) contains lesson plans which are now included in the NEMO pre-visit and post-visit activities. It also serves as a great reference for classroom aquarium maintenance and upkeep.


2 | NEMO Classroom Curriculum Guide

NEMO Classroom Curriculum Guide | 3

Lesson 1: Building a LapbookA lapbook or “foldable” is a visual organizer for student activities. It is a great place to keep pre and post visit lessons in a single, organized and aesthetically pleasing location.

The lapbook also acts as a sturdy writing surface (like a clipboard) for students to use during their �eld experience at the Aquarium.

The base of each lapbook is constructed with 2 �le folders.

Activities included in Lesson 2: Learning with the Lapbook comprise the recommended pre-visit curriculum. Additional activities may be added to the lapbook and its layout can be tweaked to �t the needs of individual classes.

Step-by-Step Guide as follows.

Step 1: Open the �rst �le folder and fold each end into the middle. The tab will extend beyond the middle crease. Repeat with the second folder.

Step 2: Open the �le folders and glue the back of section 4 to the back of section 5. Staple at the top and bottom to reinforce.


Step 3: To make the cover page, �rst fold in the end �aps. Then fold along the dotted line between sections 3 and 4. The cover page will be glued to the back of sections 2 and 3. Cover template is available on page A1.

Step 4: Attach the Aquatic Animal Adaptations sheets to the back of the lapbook (back of 6 & 7). Staple across the top so pages open as a �ipchart. Aquatic Animal Adaptations sheet is available on pages A2-A3.

Student Research Notebooks

Due to teacher feedback about limited resources to prepare the research notebooks, this year, the Aquarium education team will provide the student research notebook when the group arrives at the Aquarium.

Please still bring the completed lapbooks, and pencils with you.

Lesson 2: Learning with the LapbookThe following lessons comprise the recommended pre-visit curriculum. Additional activities may be added to the lapbook and its layout can be tweaked to �t the needs of individual classes.



Habitat Investigation

In the habitat investigation, students explore several aquatic habitats and discover the biotic and abiotic factors that make each unique.

Review the term habitat and have students brainstorm habitats with which they are familiar. Did they include any aquatic habitats? If not, prompt them to extend the list. What makes one habitat di�erent from another? Di�erent habitats contain di�erent living and non-living factors.

Use the Habitat Investigation PowerPoint (available on the Aquarium website).

This PowerPoint provides an overview of rivers & lakes, coral reefs and the open ocean. Using pictures, maps and brief descriptions, the PowerPoint introduces the habitats and summarizes a few characteristics of the �sh that live in each.

After viewing the PowerPoint, review the di�erence between living factors and non-living factors. For each of the three habitats listed on the Habitat Investigation sheet (available on page A4), ask students to circle the living factors, box the non-living factors and cross out factors not found. (Answer key available on page A5).

Which habitats contain freshwater? Which habitats contain saltwater? Is there a factor unique to a coral reef? Students can work in small groups to discuss similarities and di�erences of each habitat.

Attach the HabitatInvestigation sheet tosections 2 and 3 inthe lapbook.

Science Fusion Connection: page 168


Habitat Match

Now that students have a sense for what makes each aquatic habitat unique, let’s add �sh!

Fish have adaptations or characteristics that help them survive. Di�erent �sh survive in di�erent habitats in di�erent ways. For example, �sh native to Ohio’s rivers and lakes typically have dull, muted colors for camou�age. Sharks and jacks have streamlined, rocket-shaped bodies that help them swim continuously through the open ocean. Coral reef �sh are often bright colors to blend into the bright corals on the reef.

Hand out the Habitat Match �sh cards (available on pages A6-A7). Cut the cards apart. Working in pairs, or individually, students can group the �sh cards by habitat.

Fish cards can be printed with or without the labels on the back to vary the di�culty of the activity. River and lake �sh can be further sorted into native Ohio �sh and freshwater �sh of the world.

After �sh are sorted, and checked for accuracy, students can glue the �sh into the lapbook. Label short panels with habitats as pictured below.


Do �sh living in the samehabitat have similaradaptations? Could a �shfrom the open oceansurvive in a coral reef?Could a �sh from riversand lakes survive in theopen ocean? Havestudents revisit the list ofliving and non-livingfactors in the habitats toexplain why or why not.

Science Fusion Connection: page 170-179 & page 182A

Vocabulary

To �nish the last panel of the lapbook, students can paste and label the vocabulary list (available on page A8). Words may be added or subtracted to meet the speci�c needs of the class.

Science Fusion Connection: page TR77-TR79

Aquatic Animal Adaptations Sheet

The Aquatic Animal Adaptations sheet will be used heavily during the on-site �eld experience at the Greater Cleveland Aquarium.

To practice using the sheets, and to become familiar with the names, students can identify the mouth shapes, body shapes, tail shapes, and color patterns of the �sh from the Habitat Sort.

Lesson 3: Paper AquariumThe paper aquarium lesson is the perfect prelude to students assisting with real aquarium maintenance.

Please refer to the Florida Aquarium’s Fish in the Classroom lesson for instructions and templates (available on page 23-30 in the Fish in the Classroom document on the aquarium website.)

Shortly after completing the paper aquarium activity, introduce students to real, daily aquarium care. Refer to knowledge gained in the Aquarium Set Up teacher workshop at the Aquarium. The Florida Aquarium’s Fish in the Classroom document is a great resource for daily aquarium care. Please do not hesitate to contact the Greater Cleveland Aquarium education team with additional questions.

Lesson 4: Classroom Aquarium SetupWith student assistance, set up the 10-gallon aquarium in your classroom. Refer to notes taken at the Aquarium Set Up teacher workshop. The Florida Aquarium’s Fish in the Classroom document (available on the aquarium website) is a great resource as well.

Be sure to have a schedule in place for �sh feeding, water quality monitoring, etc. before you add live �sh.

Lesson 5: Field Experience at Greater Cleveland AquariumWhat better way to learn about �sh than by visiting the Aquarium!

Reservations should be made with Aquarium sta� early in the school year. Field experiences themselves take place September through March. If you have any questions about scheduling your visit, contact the Aquarium education team.

During the Aquarium Field Experience, students will participate in a classroom introduction, a guided tour through the exhibits, lunch and a hands-on Build-A-Fish activity. Students should bring their lapbook to the Aquarium.

Additional �eld trip logistics are available in the NEMO Logistics Guide (found on the Aquarium website).



Science Fusion Connection: page 168

Science Fusion Connection: pages 3-24, 40-42


Lesson 6: Fish EthogramThis lesson is modi�ed from “Lesson 8: Fish Observation” in the Florida Aquarium’s Fish in the Classroom document (page 71-78).

The study of animal behavior is called Ethology. Scientists use ethograms as a research method to collect data about animal behavior. An ethogram gives scientists a snapshot of what an animal did at a particular time.

The goal of this lesson is for students to use inquiry skills and work in teams to observe and identify �sh behavior.

Divide the class into teams of 3 researchers and assign the following 3 jobs: timekeeper, recorder and lead observer. Using the ethogram data sheet (available on page A9-A11), students can �ll in their names and �ll in the species name of the �sh they plan to study.

Have students complete the �sh body parts identi�cation chart using the Aquatic Animal Adaptations sheet from their lapbook as a reference.

Discuss the �sh behaviors listed on the ethogram data sheet. Make sure the students understand what each behavior would look like. Ask the students to complete the hypothesis about their �sh.

Show the students how to use the stop watch. The timekeeper will operate the stopwatch and say “time” every 15 seconds.

When time is called, the lead observers will say which behavior the �sh is exhibiting and the recorder will mark an “X” on the data sheet in the appropriate box.


At the end of 3 minutes, the recorder will count and record the number of Xs for each behavior column.

Ask students to graph their data on the bar graph template provided on their data sheet. Students can analyze the bar graph to determine which behavior the �sh exhibited most often. Did the �sh behavior match the students’ hypotheses? Why or why not?

Lesson 7: Changes in the Habitat – Writing ActivityThe goal of this lesson is for students to learn about changes that happen in natural environments and consider how these changes will impact the living things. Students will then have a chance to creatively imagine how the animals living in the aquarium would respond to similar changes.

Have students brainstorm a list of changes that you could make to the aquarium in your classroom. If your students have trouble, get them to think about changes that could happen in the animal’s natural habitat. Then have them think of ways that they could recreate those changes in the classroom aquarium.

*Please note, actually making harmful changes to the aquarium is NOT recommended. This is merely a brainstorming activity*

Possible bene�cial changes could include: Moving �sh to a bigger aquarium (putting more water), adding plants or adding more shelter

Possible harmful changes could include: Moving �sh to a smaller aquarium (taking out water), raising or lowering the temperature, adding predators, adding salt to the water, adding pollution, removing plants, removing shelter or allowing algae to accumulate

Changes that could go either way depending on your aquarium set up: Adding �sh, removing �sh, moving plants from one side of the aquarium to the other

Once the students have come up with the list of changes break them into small groups to try and determine if the changes are bene�cial or harmful to the animals. As a class go over the changes and see how the students did determining bene�cial or harmful changes.

Use the habitat change worksheet (available on page A12) and have the students write, from the perspective of the �sh, about what is it like to live in the classroom aquarium. Have them re�ect what it is like to have to live with one of the changes you talked about making to the aquarium. Make sure the story explains why the change is good or bad for the organism. This is a good opportunity to use 6+1 writing skills: ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence �uency and conventions. Students can draw a picture to illustrate a main event in their story.



Science Fusion Connection: pages 183-193

NEMOAQUARIUM LAPBOOK

MY NAME:

A1


A2 | NEMO Classroom Curriculum Guide

NEMO Classroom Curriculum Guide | A3


HABITAT INVESTIGATION For each habitat listed below: • Draw a circle around the living factors found in that habitat. • Draw a box around the non-living factors found in that habitat. • Cross out the factors that are not found in that habitat.



Rive

rs &

Lak

esCo

ral R

eefs

Ope

n O

cean

Freshwater

Saltwater

Fish

Plants

Sharks

Turtles

Temperature

Rocks

Frogs

Pollution

Sea Stars

Plankton

Logs

Sand

Sunlight

Eels

Algae

Mud

Freshwater

Saltwater

Fish

Plants

Sharks

Turtles

Temperature

Rocks

Frogs

Pollution

Sea Stars

Plankton

Logs

Sand

Sunlight

Eels

Algae

Mud

Freshwater

Saltwater

Fish

Plants

Sharks

Turtles

Temperature

Rocks

Frogs

Pollution

Sea Stars

Plankton

Logs

Sand

Sunlight

Eels

Algae

Mud



HABITAT INVESTIGATION ANSWER KEY For each habitat listed below: • Draw a circle around the living factors found in that habitat. • Draw a box around the non-living factors found in that habitat. • Cross out the factors that are not found in that habitat.

Rive

rs &

Lak

esCo

ral R

eefs

Ope

n O

cean

Freshwater

Saltwater

Fish

Plants

Sharks

Turtles

Temperature

Rocks

Frogs

Pollution

Sea Stars

Plankton

Logs

Sand

Sunlight

Eels

Algae

Mud

Freshwater

Saltwater

Fish

Plants

Sharks

Turtles

Temperature

Rocks

Frogs

Pollution

Sea Stars

Plankton

Logs

Sand

Sunlight

Eels

Algae

Mud

Freshwater

Saltwater

Fish

Plants

Sharks

Turtles

Temperature

Rocks

Frogs

Pollution

Sea Stars

Plankton

Logs

Sand

Sunlight

Eels

Algae

Mud

FISH FLASHCARDS Guess which habitat the �sh lives in. Flip to check your answer.

Rivers & Lakes Rivers & Lakes Rivers & Lakes

Rivers & Lakes Rivers & Lakes Rivers & Lakes

Coral Reefs Coral Reefs Coral Reefs

Coral Reefs Coral Reefs Coral Reefs

Open Ocean Open Ocean Open Ocean

VOCABULARYAdaptation – A trait or characteristic that helps an organism survive

Aquatic – Related to water

Behavior – Something an organism does

Behavioral Adaptation – Something an animal does that helps it survive

Camou�age – A shape, coloring or patterning that helps an animal blend in with its surroundings

Environment – All of the living and nonliving things that surround and a�ect an organism

Freshwater – Water found in streams, rivers, ponds, lakes and underground

Gills – Structures in an organism that remove oxygen from water

Habitat – The environment in which an organism lives

Instinct – A behavior that an animal inherits from its parents without having to learn or observe

Observation – Information collected by using the 5 senses

Physical Adaptation – An adaptation to a body part





ETHOGRAM DATA SHEETDate: Time of Day:

JOB STUDENT NAME

TimekeeperThe timekeeper watches the stop watch and says “time” every 15 seconds.

ObserverThe observer calls out the behavior every 15 seconds when the timekeeper says “time.”

RecorderThe recorder places an “X” in the proper box when the observer says the behavior.

What kind of �sh are you observing?Circle the adaptations your �sh has:

Are there any other features or markings that you can use to identify your �sh?



ETHOGRAM DATA SHEET

FISH BEHAVIORS

Feeding

Swimming

Resting

Not Visible

Other

The animal is eating food

The animal is moving from one place to another

The animal is not moving

The animal cannot be seen

You see a behavior other than the ones described above

TIME FEEDING SWIMMING RESTING NOT VISIBLE OTHER

15 seconds

30 seconds

45 seconds

1 minute

1 minute 15 seconds

1 minute 30 seconds

1 minute 45 seconds

2 minutes

2 minutes 15 seconds



3 minutes

Hypothesis:

We think our �sh will spend the most time:Feeding Swimming Resting Not Visible Other

Did you see any behaviors other than the ones listed? If yes, what were they?

Directions:

Below is a list of animal behaviors with descriptions. Mark an "X" in the table each time a behavior is observed. After 3 minutes, add up the number of "X"s in each column to see which behavior your �sh displayed most often.



ETHOGRAM RESULTS GRAPH

Was your hypothesis correct? Why or why not?

What kind of �sh did you observe?

FISH BEHAVIOR GRAPH

FISH BEHAVIORS

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

NU

MBE

R O

F TI

MES

Conclusion:

Our �sh spent the most time:Feeding Swimming Resting Not Visible Other



HABITAT CHANGEDirections:

Imagine you are a �sh in the classroom aquarium! Now imagine you have to live with one of the changes your class discussed. Draw a picture below to show what it would look like for this change to happen in your aquarium. Then, writing from the �sh’s point of view, talk about what it is like to live with this change. Make sure you explain why this change is bene�cial or harmful for you.

My change is

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