GloFish® Activities
You'll find many interesting classroom activities for Carolina Glofish® here. Please be sure to turn off your pop-up blocker, as the PDF's will open in a new window.
Camouflage for Life: Measuring the Adaptive
Value of Color
Students will determine the evolutionary advantage or disadvantage of GloFish® fluorescent fish colors in a
simulated environment.
Ah…Clean Water! Making
a Home-made Aquarium Water Filter
Students will: (1) construct a water filter and measure the effectiveness of the filter by comparing unfiltered
aquarium water to filtered aquarium water,
(2) compare the effectiveness of the home-made filter to a commercial filter.
Glow Little GloFish® Exploring Types of Light
and GloFish® Colors
Students will determine if different types of light affect how we see the colors of GloFish® fluorescent fish.
Biotech Animals: Science, Benefits, Risk &
Public Sentiment
In this lesson, students will: (1) Explore enhancements that can be made to animals using biotechnology, (2) consider
advantages of producing GM animals,
(3) research possible concerns associated with GM animals, and (4) analyze public opinion data about the use of biotech animals.
Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Predator? Designing an Experiment to Measure Prey Response
Students will design and conduct an experiment to determine which simulated predator fish will cause the strongest escape
response in GloFish® fluorescent fish.
Designer Colors: Investigating the Relationship of Body Color and Habitat Selection
Students will: (1) Determine if a GloFish® fluorescent fish is more attracted to a home that shares its same color, (2)
design a coloration pattern that allows a fish to be camouflaged in its environment.
Determining Actual Aquarium Volume
Students will: (1) Explore the factors that affect the actual volume of an aquarium, (2) calculate the actual volume of the
classroom aquarium.
Dissolved Oxygen: Comparing Oxygen Levels in Various Aquaria Samples
Students will: (1) Compare the levels of dissolved oxygen in water at two different temperatures, (2)
determine the impact of GloFish® fluorescent fish on the availability of oxygen in a sample of water.
Environmental Preferences: Designing an Experiment to Determine the Environmental Preferences of GloFish®
Students will: (1) Conduct an experiment to determine whether GloFish® fluorescent fish prefer a
light or dark environment, (2) design a controlled experiment to determine whether GloFish have a preference
for a specific environmental condition.
Take a Deep Breath: Collecting and Graphing Experimental Data
Students will: (1) Determine the rate of gas exchange in a fish using the number of operculum openings, (2) collect,
organize, and graph experimental data.
GloFish® Heredity: Using Punnett Squares to Predict Offspring Genotypes and Phenotypes
Students will use Punnett squares to make predictions about the possible outcomes of genetic variations when breeding golden
zebrafish with genetically modified GloFish® fluorescent fish.
What’s For Lunch? Exploring the Role of GloFish® in Its Ecosystem, Food Chain and Energy Pyramid
Students will: (1) Define terms related to relationships and energy transfer in food chains and webs, (2)Create a representation
of a food chain and food web involving GloFish® fluorescent fish.
Observing GloFish®: Making Biological Observations and Drawings
Students will: (1) Make detailed observations of a unique biological specimen: GloFish® fluorescent fish, (2) prepare appropriately
labeled drawings of the biological specimen,
(3) use observations and drawings to identify specific specimens.
Grow GloFish® Grow! Graphing GloFish® Population Growth
Students will: (1) Calculate the potential rate of increase in the size of a population of GloFish® fluorescent fish, (2) draw and
label a graph showing the S-shaped population growth curve for a population of GloFish.
Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Predator? Designing an Experiment to Measure
Prey Response
SStudents will design and conduct an experiment to determine which simulated predator fish will cause the strongest escape response in
GloFish® fluorescent fish.
Scales, Fins, and Shape: Modeling Structures and
Functions
Students will observe and model the structure and function of scales and fins of GloFish® fluorescent fish.
Going to School: Measuring Schooling Behaviors
in GloFish®
Students will: (1) Collect data to determine if schooling behaviors are exhibited in GloFish® fluorescent fish, (2) Design
an experiment to determine the effect of body color on schooling behaviors of GloFish.
Speedy Species: Calculating the Average Rate of
Speed of a GloFish®
Students will calculate the average rate of speed of a GloFish® fluorescent fish and compare the rate of speed of a
second species of fish.
What Makes GloFish® Swim?
Students will learn how buoyancy affects GloFish® fluorescent fish.
It’s Cold Outside: Exploring the Effects of
Temperature on GloFish® Activity
Students will: (1) Determine how a low temperature will affect the behavior of a GloFish® fluorescent fish, (2) design
tables for data collection and prepare a graph of collected data.
GloFish® vs. Zebrafish Comparing Appearance Using
Different Light Sources
Students will: (1) Compare and contrast the appearance of GloFish® fluorescent fish and zebrafish, (2)Make scientific
observations of GloFish and zebrafish when viewed under different light sources.
How Dense Is My GloFish®? Determining the Density of
Irregular Shaped Objects
Students will determine the densities of regular and irregular shaped objects and use these skills to determine the density of
a GloFish® fluorescent fish.