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This is a 3-5th Grade Flatfish stations activity lesson in a K-5 Flatfish unit.

There are also two K-2nd Grade Flatfish lessons available on this site, one dealing with flatfish movement (www.lessonplanspage.com/SciencePEArtLAMDFlatfishDataMovementActivityK2.htm) and one dealing with data collection (www.lessonplanspage.com/SciencePEArtLAMDFlatfishDataCollectionActivityK35.htm).

Students will learn detailed information about six species of flatfishes. Students will discuss the differences and similarities among species. Students will relate information they have learned by teaching that information to their peers. Students will discuss information they learned from each other.

S4L2a - Individuals of the same kind differ in their characteristics, and sometimes the differences give individuals an advantage in surviving and reproducing.

Flatfish information sheet (below)
Sand buckets
Tweezers
Fact sheets
Laminated images (cut from fact sheets)
Whistle or bell
Word search puzzles (below)
Crossword puzzles (below)
Clipboards

Students are divided into six groups. The groups are each given a different information sheet with facts about a different species of flatfish. Each group should read the flatfish information sheet they are given and go over the information together. The groups then go to a large area, like the gym or the playground. The teacher sets up six stations, one for each group. The stations are 15-30 feet apart depending on the amount of available space.

While groups are waiting for their turn to begin visiting the stations, they will have a flatfish word search puzzle. At the end of the stations, there will be a crossword puzzle about the fish in the activity. Puzzles that do not get completed can be sent home or completed during a quiet work time.

(Each group is given a bucket with 6 laminated copies of their flatfish, laminated. As groups move from station to station, they will collect a laminated fish from each station.)

Step 1: The first group is sent to their station with a bucket containing 6 laminated images of their flatfish.

Step 2: The second group goes to the first station to learn about fish #1. The rest of the class, while waiting to begin the activity, is working on the word search puzzle.

Step 3: When the whistle blows, group #2 collects the fish from group #1, places it in their bucket, and moves to station #2 to review the information about their flatfish. Group #3 goes to station #1, listens to information and collects a fish.

Step 4: When the whistle blows, Group #3 moves to station #2 and repeats the process. At this time, group #4 enters the activity at station #1. Continue until groups have cycled through each station.

The table below shows where each group should be after each whistle blows.)

At the final whistle, groups gather either in open space or move back to classroom, depending on preference of teacher. Each group should have a bucket containing 6 laminated flatfish - the one they taught about and the five they collected from the other groups.

In class, the teacher can lead the discussion about the facts the students have learned. A group is not permitted at this time to answer questions about the fish they taught to the group. The teacher can also ask more directed questions such as: "Which fish has five spots?" "Which fish were not flounders?" "Were these fish right-eyed or left-eyed?"

Flatfishes are easy to identify. In an adult flatfish, both eyes are on the dark (pigmented) side of the body, while the other side is eyeless and white. Flatfishes lie on the bottom with the dark side up and the pale side down. Flatfishes can change color to camouflage themselves to match the bottom. Their shape and color makes it easy for them to lie on the bottom and hide from both predators and prey. Most flatfishes swim close to the bottom by undulating their bodies. They have long dorsal and anal fins to help them move along the bottom.

Flatfishes do not start out life flat. The larvae look like most other fish. They are the same color on both sides, and have one eye on each side of the head. As the flatfishes grow, their color and pigmentation patterns change and one eye migrates across the top of their heads to end up on the same side as the other eye.

Some flatfishes are left-eyed and some are right-eyed. This means, some flatfishes have both eyes on the left side (left-eyed) and some have both eyes on the right side (right-eyed)! Left-eyed flatfish rest on their right side and right-eyed flatfish rest on their left side.

Many flatfishes are found on muddy bottoms in shallow waters. Some flatfishes migrate in the winter to deeper waters. Most feed on worms, crustaceans and other small bottom invertebrates.

There are more that 500 species of flatfishes, in 6 or 7 families. Flatfishes include flounder, sole, turbot, halibut, sand dab, plaice and tonguefish. The flatfishes included in this unit are from the families Bothidae and Cynoglossidae. Both of these families are left-eyed flatfishes.

Moyle, P.B. and J.J. Cech. 1988. Fishes: An Introduction to Ichthyology, Second

Edition. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, pp. 311-313.

anal fin: Fin located on the posterior of the fish near the anus.

annelid (AN-eh-lid): A segmented worm belonging to the phylum Annelida.

arthropod (AR-thruh-pahd): An animal belonging to the phylum Arthropoda. Arthropods are characterized by jointed appendages and a hard exterior covering (exoskeleton).

barbel (BAHR-behl): A fleshy projection on the head of some fishes that may fulfill a sensory role or function as a lure.

copepod: Order of crustaceans found often in the plankton.

crustacean: An animal belonging to the arthropod class, Crustacea, which includes crabs, lobsters, shrimp and barnacles.

decapod (DEK-uh-pahd): An animal with five pairs of walking legs that belongs to the arthropod order Decopoda, which includes crabs, lobsters, and shrimp.

dorsal fin: A fin found on the dorsal (top) surface of a fish.

hypothesis: An explanation for observed events that can be tested by experiments.

invertebrate: An animal that lacks a vertebral column (backbone).

plankton: Organisms that drift in the ocean currents with little swimming ability.

polychaete (PAHL-eh-keet): A type of annelid worm belonging to the class Polychaeta.

phytoplankton: Photosynthesizing organisms that drift in the ocean currents.

undulate: To move in waves or with a smooth wavelike motion.

zooplankton: Animal-like members of the plankton.




Definitions from:

Karleskint, G., Jr. 2001. Marine Biology. Saunders College Publishing, Philadelphia, pp.G.1-G.12.

Levinton, J.S. 2001. Marine Biology: Function, Biodiversity, Ecology, Second Edition. Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 495-503.

www.dictionary.com

Dahlberg, M.D. 1975. Guide to Coastal Fishes of Georgia and Nearby States. University of Georgia Press, Athens, pp. 92-98.

Douglas, J., C.G. Ray, and R. C. Robins. 1986. Atlantic Coast Fishes. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, pp. 288-297.

Hoese, H.D. and R.H. Moore. 1977. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico: Texas, Louisiana and Adjacent Waters. Texas A&M University Press, College Station, pp. 255-263.

Karleskint, G., Jr. 2001. Marine Biology. Saunders College Publishing, Philadelphia, pp.G.1-G.12.

Levinton, J.S. 2001. Marine Biology: Function, Biodiversity, Ecology, Second Edition. Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 495-503.

Moyle, P.B. and J.J. Cech. 1988. Fishes: An Introduction to Ichthyology, Second

Edition. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, pp. 12-15. pp.311-313.

Bay Whiff

They feed on small fish and crustaceans.

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Blackcheek Tonguefish

They feed on copepods.

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Fringed Flounder

They feed on crustaceans, polychaetes and zooplankton.

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Ocellated Flounder

They feed on shrimp and decapod crustaceans.

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Southern Flounder

They feed on small fishes, crustaceans, and invertebrate parts.

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Summer Flounder

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