English Science Project – Fish Dissection

During this year, we had the opportunity to implement a very interesting activity to encourage and promote child’s apprenticeship. We decided to work with a natural experiment using the anatomy of a real fish, thus the kids were able to learn by investigating the internal organs such as the digestive system, the heart, the liver and the gills. The students could see the difference between the lungs and gills and understand the way in which they obtain the oxygen from the water.

For this activity, we started opening the fish following the formal dissection procedure, the teacher used gloves and a knife to perform all the cuts while the kids were watching all the steps wearing ropes and mouth-covers.

Some of the students were very surprised when they started seeing the head and the organs located inside the skull such as the brain, the eyes and the mouth. They were explained that fishes are not taking the oxygen by the lungs as the same way we do, but they have special organs called gills that help them to breath.

Further, the students were able to observe the digestive system, the windpipe, the stomach and the liver and they could also see the circulatory system formed by the heart the veins and arteries, it was a remarkable experience for them and they were very interested.

Finally, the kids were explained that each of us need to respect all kinds of life all over the planet, because we all are having a very close relationship with all living beings and we have to preserve the different ecosystems.

Science could be a very good way to combine the English with the natural science because the students learn English vocabulary and Science at the same time. We really hope to have the chance to implement similar interesting activities for the coming months.