Watching colourful fish dive and swim through the clear waters, is nothing short of a treat to one’s eyes. And for children, who are studying the parts and structure of fish; and marine flora and fauna, an educational excursion to a public aquarium certainly induces better understanding of the same, as they get to practically witness everything from fins, eyes, scales to gills and tail.
To promote cooperative learning and make studies fun, Staford School organised a field trip to the Ganga Aqaurium for students of standard VI of sections A and B. This trip aimed at supplementing the lessons in Science on living and non-living things with practical knowledge. The students, who were greatly fascinated by marine life, jotted down several points that they learnt about, in their notebooks. As they keenly studied the movements of fish and other marine creatures including different types of fish — colourful fresh water and tropical fish, turtles, snails, oysters etc; they inquisitively asked their teachers several questions based on their observations.
Students also learnt about major indigenous fish foods like major carps (Catla, rohu, mrigal), snakeheads (giant, striped, spotted), catfish (butterfish, rita, magur, singhi, asian striped catfish), mahseers, and freshwater giant prawn. Fish of prosperity like flowerhorn, arowana, koran fishes were among the main attractions for children.
They loved watching all sorts of exotic fish and marine animals as they created a genuine sense of wonder for them. The fish were so beautiful and each had its own enchanting way of living its life in these aquariums. Students seemed to have turned into young scientists as they not only observed the marine life while focusing on their habitat, survival, and defence mechanisms, but also deducted conclusions, which were answers to their own questions.
All in all, the excursion proved to be a great learning experience for students and teachers alike.