Ryan

Research Project Proposal

For my major research project I would like to do something to do with fish. I have looked around on the internet for different types of studies that you can do with fish. There were many different types of fish that you could do these projects with although many of these fish are tropical and therefore fairly hard to look after. To try and save on the total cost of my project I had to find some fish that would happily live in cold water so that I did not have to buy a water heater and a filter. I researched some fish that would live happily in cold water and the three that I like the most were the goldfish, the black moor goldfish and the Siamese fighting fish. These fish are fairly cheap; the most expensive is about $8. They will also live in cold water without the need for a filter. The goldfish will eat the average goldfish flakes that can be bought at a pet store or a supermarket. The Siamese fighting fish will need to eat Siamese fighting fish pellets that can be bought at the pet store. After I sorted out the fish and what they were going to eat, I had to work out what project I was going to conduct with them. I looked through the science buddies website and some other sources that I found. I came across one project that suggested that you could test whether small fish, such as goldfish, had long term memory. I decided that I could test this by setting up an aquarium and putting a divider in the middle. On one side of the divider I would split the tank in half, length ways. There would be a hole in both sides of the divider and one side would be painted blue, while the other side would be painted red. Every day when it came time to feed the fish I would put their food in the left side of the divider. This side would be painted red. I would time how long it took them to find their food and over the space of 20 days I would see if there times improved. I realized that I would only be able to feed one fish at a time so I knew that I needed to get two small bowls that the other fish could be in until they got fed. I talked to mum and we had a look around to see how much this would cost. After looking at a few pet store websites we came to the conclusion that it would only cost about $15. I also thought that maybe I just buy one fish and test it for 15 days and then sell it back to the pet shop to save on the cost of the other tanks. I have also thought of some variables I could do with this project. I thought that if there times improved very well that I might fill the tank up with little fake plants from the pet store and see if this affected how fast they could find their food. I am still looking on the internet for some more variables that I could do with this project. I would like your feedback on what you think about this project and any other variables that I could use. I look forward to discussing this further with you.

**__ Research Paper __** **   __  Can gold fish retain information about where they get their food? __ ** **    __  This project will test the times it takes normal goldfish and genetically modified gold fish to find their food. __ **

** Introduction ** For my major project I am going to research whether or not your average goldfish can retain information about where they get fed. This project will be based on making my goldfish swim through a hole in their tank to get their food. I will be testing a total of three goldfish for two weeks each. This will ultimately tell me whether or not goldfish are smart enough to find their food. I am doing this test because for many years I have been led to believe that goldfish only have a three second memory and for that reason you can keep them in a really small tank because every lap of the tank is like viewing a new world. If I can prove that goldfish are smarter than what we give them credit for then I can bust the myth that goldfish are dumb. I have always enjoyed fishing and fish really fascinate me. ** Previous Experiments ** Recently a student at the Australian Science and Mathematics School in Adelaide did a test with his goldfish where he would flash a beacon 30 seconds before feeding them. He reports that within a week the fish were swimming up to the beacon within a few seconds ready for their food. Roy Stokes commented on his project, saying “My experiments showed that goldfish have the mental capabilities to learn and remember fairly complex concepts and they can retain that knowledge for at least a number of days”. He proved this after he stopped using the beacon for 6 days and after that period of time the goldfish came up to the beacon just as fast. Roy commented that “they can retain that knowledge indefinitely if they use it regularly”. There have also been other projects performed by people where they make their goldfish swim through a maze to get their food. According to MythBusters who performed this experiment their goldfish were able to complete the maze and ultimately find their food.

** My Project ** The main idea for my project is to make a specialized tank that has dividers in it. This fish will have 10 minutes to swim through the right hole in order to get their food. The tank will have a plant in the main part of the tank and one in the divider in which they will get fed. If they cannot find their food within 10 minutes I will feed them in the part of the tank that they are in at that point. I will test each fish for a total of 15 days and over the course of the project I will test three different types of goldfish. The first fish will be a Comet, I will then test a Calico Fantail and the last fish that I will test is a Black Moor. Overall I will be able to tell whether normal goldfish are smarter than the mutated breeds. I will present my findings in a graph and also a journal of the day to day findings for each fish. I will also be able to use the previous experiments done by people to compare my findings and give better evidence on whether or not goldfish are smarter than what we give them credit for. This project can also help to make a decision about whether keeping goldfish in a really small tank is actually a good thing. If they can remember things then it is probably cruel to keep them in a small bowl. ** Conclusion ** After doing my background research and looking at the findings from other projects that have been done, I am fairly confident that I will be able to teach my fish where their food is and be able to get them confident enough to swim through the hole in a very small amount of time. It will be interesting to see whether or not the mutated fish are as smart as the normal goldfish. I hope that all of the fish that I test will be able to get the hang of the feeding process and I look forward to putting the results together to try and prove that goldfish can remember where they get their food.

** Bibliography ** ** [] ** ** [] ** ** [] ** ** ﻿ **   ﻿ **Variables**

(What I change) ||  Dependent Variables (What I observe) ||  Controlled Variables (What I keep the same) ||  · Comet  · Calico Fantail  · Black Moore
 * Question ||  Independent Variable
 * Can genetically modified fish learn to swim through a hole to get their food as fast as non- genetically modified fish? ||  The fish

The comet is the non- genetically modified fish as it is known as the most common of all the goldfish breeds.

The Calico Fantail and the Black Moore are modified because of their colours, tails and eyes. || The times that the fish take to find the hole and get their food.

I will also make an estimation on whether or not the fish actually know where their food is or whether they just fluke it day by day.

It will also depend a little bit on how interested the fish is in its food. For example if the fish is not interested it will not strive for the food and it will alter the times. || * The hole in which they swim through. (Left hole)
 * The food that they get fed. (Goldfish Flakes)

By feeding the fish in the same hole every day it will be exactly the same and give an accurate reading on whether or not genetically modified fish can find their food in the same time it takes non-genetically modified fish to find it. ||

** Hypothesis **

If I feed each fish in exactly the same way for 15 days each, then the genetically modified fish will not be able to find their food as fast as the non-genetically modified fish.

**__ Materials List __**

 · 1 square metre of 6mm thick glass  · 1 tube of silicon and a silicon gun <span style="display: block; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"> · A glass cutter <span style="display: block; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"> · 1 roll of masking tape <span style="display: block; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"> · A bag of fish tank gravel <span style="display: block; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"> · 1 green fish tank plant (not alive) <span style="display: block; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"> · 1 red fish tank plant (not alive)

<span style="display: block; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"> · 1 Comet <span style="display: block; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"> · 1 Calico Fantail <span style="display: block; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"> · 1 Black Moor** <span style="display: block; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"> · Goldfish flakes <span style="display: block; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"> · A stopwatch <span style="display: block; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"> · A towel (for spilt water) <span style="display: block; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"> · Pad paper for recording times <span style="display: block; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"> · Red Lego block (to put above the left hole) <span style="display: block; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"> · Blue Lego block (to put above the right hole) <span style="display: block; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"> · A fish net (encase fish gets stuck in divider) <span style="display: block; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"> · A filter that meets the requirements of your tank <span style="display: block; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"> · Electricity outlet close by for filter <span style="display: block; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"> · A syphoning kit so that you can clean the water after each fish

====<span style="display: block; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;">* Only 1 fish will be in the tank at any one time because after each fish has completed its testing I will return it to the pet shop and swap it over for the next one. Having more than the one fish in the tank at one time could alter the results. ====