Meet Grade 5Bs very first aquarium, The Hunky-Dory Family, named by our very own students. Our aquatic family has definitely been an enriching experience throughout term 1 and term 2 thus far as the students are very keen on maintaining and supporting our aquatic family and are always eager to see the fish feed. The aquarium currently consists of 20 friendly neon tetras.
Benefits of a classroom pet:
- Teaches responsibility – children will learn what it takes to care for something other than themselves.
- Teaches them compassion and empathy – children will learn how to properly handle and care for the pet, even the toughest of kids will have the chance to practice their nurturing skills.
- Team work – working with classmates to ensure the aquarium is looked after and tasks are carried out.
- Therapeutic – Pets can bring calmness to children who have anxiety or stress in their lives.
- School attendance – students may tend to average more days at school than those without a pet.
- Enrich the classroom experience – classroom pets introduce children to the world of animals, especially if they don’t have a pet at home. We can also include the pet into the curriculum, such as Science, Mathematics, English, Humanities or other subject areas.
- All aspects of science can be taught from the mini eco-system; from water chemistry to how fish eat and the nitrogen cycle.
- Its presence makes fond memories!
Here are the students' thoughts:
"It makes the classroom look nice and colourful. I’m happy about it, it looks spectacular”
“When I look at the fish, I feel more calm & I feel better”
“It makes us feel peaceful”
“It keeps us company”
Fun Fact: Believe it or not, neon tetras are members of the same family as piranhas!
