What if the TDSB said, "You can no longer have pets in the classroom because you cannot create a safe and happy environment. Pets should stay in their natural environment." Do you agree or disagree?

• 10 students in the class feel that pets should be allowed in the classroom because students can research to find out how to take care of them
• 3 students in the class feel that only betta fish should be allowed in the classroom because they are not messy, they are quiet and lazy.
• 3 students in the class would agree with the TDSB because they feel that pets are messy and maybe you cannot find research on how to take care of them so they should be left in their natural environments.

Keeping Betta Fish Healthy

By cleaning the fish bowl every three days and changing the water, we can help the betta fish to not get sick.
For the betta fish that live in the ocean, rain is very important. Rain is important because it can make the ocean clean. Do not throw garbage in the ocean because you will make the fish sick! Be careful when playing with rocks. If you throw them in the water, the fish can get hurt.

Indigo Flips!

We have noticed that when we came close to the bowl, Indigo was moving a lot! He was moving his fins.

Alien Indigo!

When we were taking pictures of Indigo, he looked like an alien!

He finally moved his right fins (Mridula and Humza)

Indigo looks very white in this picture which makes him look like an alien. The light in the camera, the flash, makes him look very white! His eyes are red and golden.

Indigo is Very Excited!

Indigo moved very much around the bowl. (Zainab and Ali)

Indigo thought he was going to be famous because of the camera and the spotlights!

We found out something new about Indigo!

From our research, we know now that Indigo is a BOY because we know it's hard to find female betta fish. We also know that boy betta fish have flowy fins and flowy tails and Indigo has this. Our fish must be very aggressive!

How can we tell if our betta fish is a boy or a girl?

• the male betta fish has big, flowy fins and a tail


• you cannot tell by colour that a betta fish is a boy or a girl


• female betta fish are hard to find


• male betta fish make good pets
• female betta fish have shorter tails
• female betta fish are smaller
• male betta are more aggressive than females

What do betta fish like to eat?

• don't give the betta fish too much food because he will get sick
• betta fish are meat eaters
• brind shrimp
• bloodworms
• betta fish pellets (you can buy them at the pet store)
• give it live food every now and again but not all the time
• feed the betta fish just once
• 3 pellets each time
• betta fish will come to the top of the fish bowl once he sees you with the food

The Environment

• Where do betta fish come from (natural environment)?
• muddy ponds
• Malaysia
• Thailand
• tropical places
  
  
  
  How can we create an environment for the betta fish in our class?
  
  


• put the betta in a fish bowl that is big enough so that the betta can swim without getting hurt


• clean the water bowl every 3 days


• do not put other betta fish in the betta fish's bowl because they will fight and may die because they are fighting fish
• don't put the bowl where it is too hot
• do not put any marbles or rocks in the fish bowl because it could get stuck
• you can only put flat, smooth rocks because if the rock is hard, the betta fish might get hurt

Indigo Changes Colours!

One day, we took pictures of Indigo in the classroom. Indigo's colour was changing as he was moving around in the light. Indigo is very happy now.

Indigo Finally Swims!

On Wednesday afternoon, Indigo was moving a little bit around the bowl and then he went deeper in the bowl. Yesterday, we moved his home. He used to be beside Ms. Angelovski and now he is infront of the class, on the brown table. He has his own desk!

Meet our fish...Indigo Speedy Rex

This is our fish, Indigo Speedy Rex. Our fish is a betta fish. We will show you more pictures. If you click the picture, it will give you a closer look!

We love our pet fish

Our pet fish's name is Indigo Speedy Rex. It is a beta fish. We know that it sleeps a lot! Our fish, is very lazy. Our fish is so pretty. It is blue and silver.
OUR FISH IS VERY HAPPY LIVING IN OUR SCHOOL. We follow the rules from our board.
We are making this blog so that people can find out how to take care of fish. We hope you read our blog everyday to find out more about fish.
Love,
Ms. Angelovski's Grade 1 class and Ms. Poulis

The Toronto District School Board's Rules about Animals in the Classroom

The TDSB has rules on having animals in the classroom. These rules are the STRUCTURE that we need to have in our class so that the animal is happy and that we are safe in our classroom. Here are the rules:

1. Animals such as turtles and birds should not be kept in the classroom because these animals easily get infections
2. The animal should not be let out of its cage in the classroom
3. All of the animal's waste and cage cleaning should be placed in a sealed plastic bag and thrown away
4. If the animal scratches or bites your skin, immediately clean the affected area and report it to the principal
5. Wash your hands throughly after touching the animal
6. Cats and dogs are not to be kept in schools but may be welcomed as occasional supervised visitors only after the Principal says it's okay

The following questions need to be answered before we can keep the animal in our classroom

• Do students or teachers have any allergies to this animal?
• Are there any students or teachers who are scared of this animal?
• Does this animal interfere with the student's religion?
• Are there appropriate cages for the animal?
• Do classroom teachers understand that it is their responsibility to clean and maintain the animal cage?

Our First Day Together

Today in the library, we learned about blogs. (Shusmit)
We learned that a blog has an address (Iyiola), a title (Humza), a picture or a symbol (Vania and Zaina) and hyperlinks (Mridula).

Questions we have

• Shusmit: When do betta fish eat?
• Vania: How big is a betta fish mouth?
• Humza: How do betta fish eat?
• Fardeen: Why do betta fish move? How do they move?
• Asad: Where do betta fish live?
• Ali: What do girl betta fish look like? What do boy betta fish look like?
• Iyiola: How do betta fish lay eggs?
• Mridula: When do betta fish move fast?
• Ms. Angelovski: How old is Indigo?
• Ms. Poulis: What enemies do betta fish have?
• Marjan: Why do betta fish move very slow?
• Nazia: Where do betta fish come from?
• Zainab: Why are betta fish's colours differently? Why are his fins different from other fish?
• How do betta fish sleep?

Big Question

How do systems and structures meet our needs?

Systems: Natural and Man-made
-habitat
-environment
-food
-clean air
-water

We have a pet fish. We are trying to meet its needs in our classroom. What needs does the fish have?

1. We need to research and find out what needs fish have and how we can meet them in our class.
2. We meet these needs by trying to imitate its natural environment in our classroom.
3. What problems can arise? Can we make a physical envrionment similar to a natural environment?
4. What structures (rules) do we need to put in place?

September 16, 2009

Welcome to our blog. Today is it's first creation.