Scientific Method Fish Behavior

1. Scientific MethodFish Behavior By: Tiffany 6D

2. Problem/ Question • How can different temperature of Earth’s water affect aquatic living things (fishes)?

3. Background Info • Dissolved oxygen comes when water is moved/ shake (creates waves) because it can take oxygen from the surface. Dissolved oxygen can also come from aquatic plants because every type of plant does photosynthesis (a process when plants get sunlight and produce oxygen). Filters/ oxygen line also gives oxygen because they move the water. • Cold water has more oxygen because it can hold more dissolved oxygen. • Warm/ hotter water contains less oxygen because the dissolved oxygen in warm water evaporates with water vapor. • The fish that we choose to use is the therapy fish (GarraRufa) because it can stand from 15 C- 37 C. • A fish breathes by opening their mouth to let dissolved oxygen in and then let it out through their gills. • Most fishes have a flap of bone called a gill cover. It protects and covers the gills of most fishes. 0 0

4. Purpose • To see how different temperature on Earth affect the behavior of living things

5. Hypothesis • If I give hotter temperature of water, then the fish will open its mouth more often and its gills will flap even more, trying to get oxygen because based on my research, hot/ warm water cannot really keep much dissolved oxygen, so it will be harder for the fish to breathe.

6. Equipments and Materials 0

7. Variables Independent: • Different temperatures of water in the tank (10, 20, 30, 40 Dependent: • The behavior of the fish Control: • The size of the fish tank, the brand of the tank, amount of water (around 3/5), the source of water (sink), the amount of food given each day (around8-12 pieces), same brand of fish food given, the size of each fish food, same type of fish, same size of the fish, same thermometer used in every tank, same oxygen connector and machine, same amount of water in the cylinder Tupperware, same type of water in the Tupperware (sink water).

8. Procedure • Find a place that’s not windy. • Prepare all the all the material and equipments needed (but leave the ice cube in the freezer/ other cold places). • Fill in ¾ of plastic cylinder Tupperware with sink water and put the oxygen connector inside the Tupperware. Put all the fishes inside the Tupperware when not used. • Light up 4- 5 candles. • Fill the stew pan with around 650ml (half of the pan) of sink water. • Fill the stew pan with around 650ml (half of the pan) of sink water. • Hold the stew pan on top of the candles and put the thermometer inside the pan and wait until it reaches 40 C.

9. Procedure • Pour the water from the pan to one of the first tank until the water in the fish tank is about 3/5 full and use the thermometer to re-check the temperature in the tank. • Put the pan on the newspapers so that the floor/ table/ place where you do the experiment will still be clean. • Put one fish inside the first tank using a small net. And around 5 pieces of fish food in the first tank. • Observe how the fish react (the speed of swimming/ moving, how many times the gills flap in around 30 seconds and how fast the gills) and record in your book. • Boil/ warm up the water in the pan again until the temperature is the same with the previous temperature. • Pour 2/5 of water from the pan and 1/5 of sink water into the 2nd tank and measure. If it is too cold, add more water from the pan. If it is too hot, add more water from the sink and measure until it reaches 30 degrees C. • Put another fish in the 2nd tank and the same amount of fish food inside the tank.

10. Procedure 14. Observe how the fish react (the speed of swimming/ moving, how many times the gills flap in around 30 seconds and how fast the gills flap) and record in your book. 14. Warm up the pan again and pour it until around 1/5 of 3rd fish tank. 15. Fill in 2/5 of the fish tank with sink water and measure the temperature using the thermometer. Mix using hot and cold water until the temperature reaches 20 degrees C. 16. Put another fish in the 3rdtank and the same amount of fish food inside the tank. 17. Observe how the fish react (the speed of swimming/ moving, how many times the gills flap in around 30 seconds and how fast the gills) and record in your book. 18. Fill in 2/5 of the 4th tank with sink water. 19. Take the ice cube from the cold place and put 3-4 pieces of ice cube inside the tank and measure the temperature. Adjust the temperature by adding more sink water/ adding more ice cubes until the temperature reaches 10 degrees C.

11. Data • Fish tank 1: 40: For the first 5- 10 seconds, it swan really fast, right, left, up down in many directions. Then suddenly, the fish stopped, its gills started to flap really fast and a few seconds later, it died. • Fish tank 2: 30: The fish swam panicked (fast), swam for around 5-10 cm and paused and go again and paused. But it didn’t died. Its gills flapped slower than the first fish. • Fish tank 3: 20: The fish panicked and moved around really fast and around 10- 15 seconds later, it stopped for about 3-5 seconds and then it swam normally. Its gills flapped bigger 1 time and 3 small flaps and it was repeated in this pattern • Fish tank 4: 10: The fish swam really fast in many directions but then, about 30- 60 seconds, it has adjust with the temperature of the water and began swimming normally. Its gills flapped slower but it flapped steadily for about every 3-5 seconds.

12. Result • Based on the data, the fish (GarraRufa/ therapy fish) cannot stand water that is too hot because there is less oxygen in the water and so they can’t breathe very well. This type of fish can breathe easily with normal temperature of water (20-30 degrees C). And it can breathe in a steady and calm speed in the 10 degree temperature water because it has more oxygen.

13. Conclusion • Different temperature can affect a fishes behavior; how it moves, breathes and acts. This is because there are different amount of dissolved oxygen in different temperature of water. Hot water has less oxygen while cold water has more oxygen because hot water always evaporates. My hypothesis seems to be correct because based on my result and data, the fish flapped its gills faster in warm water than cold water (because its trying to get oxygen). For this experiment, the independent and dependent variable’s connection is that the independent variable is like the cause and the dependent variable is the impact. You can try to use a different type of fish to see if it reacts the same way or not. You can also try to compare by using oxygen/ filters.

14. Conclusion • Summarize our experiment results in a few sentences and use this summary to support our conclusion. Include key facts from our background research to help explain our results as needed. Answer the question written in the problem. • State whether your results support or contradict your hypothesis.  • If appropriate, state the relationship between the independent and dependent variable. • Summarize and evaluate your experimental procedure, making comments about its success and effectiveness. • Suggest changes in the experimental procedure (or design) and/or possibilities for further study.