How do fish swim?

It's been a little more than a year since our kids got their fish and the had the big fish party when they arrived.

Thanks for the cake Grandma!

Our son's Betta died so that experiment is done.  He didn't want another one. He also gave his hermit crab to his little sister.  He's on to building computer servers, online broadcasting, streaming, and gaming.  Tween fun.

RIP "Guppy" the Betta

Our daughter's 4 fish have turned into almost 30. And we've added plants to help deal with the changing conditions. So it is a continual experiment in chemistry and biology.

"Before" the population explosion

Really, we need to take a bunch of our fish back to the amazing "pet store."  It's really more like a zoological learning center than a store. They are so dedicated to education and their care taking responsibilities.

Back at home...our daughter has been wondering about how fish swim among other things.  The fish have provided opportunities for several immersion learning style lessons. Here's some of what we are learning...

Fish locomotion


There are some great images and resources from A Quick Course in Ichthyology by Jason Buchheim, Director, Odyssey Expeditions"

The Art and Science of Swimming

Here is an awesome combined art project and science experiment from The Helpful Art Teacher that examines the hydrodynamic properties of fish.




Drawing Fish

The Helpful Art Teacher can also help you learn  to draw and paint Koi (Carp) using traditional Japanese and Chinese techniques.  There is a lovely set of lessons on observing the motion of fish and translating it to beautiful pieces of art in a way that you can really do!

Alternatively, here's an easy tutorial on drawing fish from How to Draw 200 Animals from a side view, albeit with less dynamism that the technique above.

Fish Anatomy

Here are some great illustrations of internal and external fish anatomy for outdoor fish and more geared toward tank fish. 

Platy Fish

Since most of her fish are Platys we were look for some specific information on their origin, variations, life span, differences between males and females.

Fishlore and the Tropical Tank have been helpful resources for breed information. We're still having trouble trying to find a comprehensive photo index of all the different types.