4th-6th Fish

These are some of the results from my 4th-6th grade students for the State Fish Art contest.

I wrote a little bit about this project here: http://artteacheradventures.blogspot.com/2012/06/art-of-conservation-ducks-and-fish.html

You can also read more about it here: http://www.wildlifeforever.org/contest

I was initially a little confused and thought that students had to represent the fish from their state, when they can actually use the official fish from any state on the list. That's why all my 4th-6th grade students  drew Channel Catfish- the unofficial state fish of Kansas. Kansas does not have an official state fish, and I'm not sure why! We have a state mammal, amphibian, reptile, insect, bird, tree, flower, and even grass, but no fish!

I am so proud of how hard the students worked on their fish. Even though there was an essay required to enter the contest, I had about 15 students actually write the essay and turn everything in on time to enter.

This student clearly has an environmental/pollution theme.

Did you know that Channel Catfish....

-have 8 "barbels" (whiskers) on their heads?

-are "bottom feeders"?

-don't have scales?

We spent some time talking about their anatomy, behavior, and habitat so the students could be as accurate as possible in their drawings.