Mammals or Fish?
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Approach: Station Level: Year 4 and year 8
Focus: Scientific classification
Resources: Computer program on laptop computer
796Kb
Questions/instructions:  


This activity uses the computer.

Click on the button that says Mammals or Fish?

video voiceover:
Scientists use the words “mammals” and “fish” to make two different groups of animals.
Run the mouse over the statements and I’ll read them out. Then drag the ones about mammals to the green side, and the ones about fish to the yellow side. When you’ve finished, click the “Done” button.
Click on graphic to enlarge.
Click on graphic to enlarge.
% responses
2007 ('03)
y4
y8
Mammals:

have fur or hair
98 (96)
99 (98)
are warm-blooded
96 (94)
99 (97)
have lungs
97 (95)
98 (97)
feed their babies milk
89 (86)
94 (95)
Fish:
have gills
98 (95)
99 (96)
live only in water
87 (81)
90 (88)
have fins
59 (58)
82 (76)
lay eggs
97 (93)
99 (97)

Total score:
8
47 (45)
71 (67)
7
34 (32)
19 (22)
6
16 (16)
8 (8)
0–5
3 (7)
2 (3)
Subgroup Analysis [Click on charts to enlarge] :
Year 4
Year 8
Commentary:
Students performed very well on this task. Because of the high scores, there was limited potential for improvement from year 4 to year 8. Results were very similar at both year levels in 2003 and 2007.