Belmont Teacher Creates Fantasy Fish Farm to Combine Science and Math Skills
Science and math teachers in the district are always coming up with novel ideas to make learning more exciting for students, and Miss Auteri at Belmont did just that by using the fish tanks set up in the Belmont Science Room. Miss Auteri wanted her students to combine their math and science skills to plan out an ideal fish tank, so she set to work creating "Auteri's Fantasy Fish Farm" with the help of fourth grade teacher Deborah Serino and Science Director Alison Offerman-Celentano. Ms. Auteri created a beautiful color brochure outlining how students would choose fish for their aquarium, including size needs in relation to tank size (MATH!) and the special needs of fish (SCIENCE). She also gave students a handout describing the class assignment and a laminated chart detailing the name, cost, size, color and special needs/facts of the fish they could choose to purchase for their aquarium (SCIENCE & MATH!). The project culminated in a letter written to Principal Valerie Jackson from each group detailing their purchase request with an explanation of how they made their choice, why they could afford the fish they chose and how the fish would live together in the tank.
Ms. Serino's students piloted the exercise, which was enormously successful, and they worked in the science room alongside the real fish taking care of the tank while enjoying the activity. "Fish-tastic lesson," comment student Raymond. "It was fun to use real-life skills to do math and science" stated student Elijah. "It is fun feeding the fish" commented student Eren. "It was cool to see the pictures of the real fish" stated student Jaime. And Lauren summed up the excitement of the project when she said, "I wish Miss Auteri's fantasy fish farm was real."