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No-Fish Game Helps Kids
Understand Overfishing October 10, 2007
The main point I like to teach kids about the effects of overfishing is that fish levels have dropped 90% in the past 50 years. The problem is, that doesn't mean anything to kids.
To help illustrate the dramatic drop, I play the no-fish game. There are two versions of it. In each version, I select ten kids from the audience to be my fish. Here I am choosing ten kids at Loma Verde Elementary in El Paso, Texas:  Those ten come up front. The whole class helps me count the number of fish. "Everybody count with me," I say, then go along the line of kids. "One, two, three..." Now the kids understand clearly that there are ten fish. I show the ten fish the boundaries of our ocean, usually a circular area about 15 feet in diameter. That's where they need to swim. They begin moving their hands at their sides like flippers and making funny fish faces as they move around the designated ocean area. Another kid holds a stick with a long, soft string tied to the end. A thick shoestring works well. That kid is the fisherman. He or she extends the fishing rod over the ocean and tries to touch the string to one of the fish. When a fish is touched, that kid returns to his or her seat. Here I am playing the game with the kids at Loma Verde:  After a few fish are caught, I stop the school of fish and the entire class helps me count them again. "Only seven left," I say. "What shall we do?" "Keep fishing!" they cry out. So we do. Eventually, we get down to just one fish left. Our one surviving fish stands front and center. I ask his or her name. Then, I ask the classroom to help me double-check the number of fish that are left. "Let's be sure to count all of them," I say. I clear my throat as if I'm about to begin a long counting session, then start with my hand on the head of the one kid. "One --" I say and stop abruptly, looking shocked by the empty space where there used to be fish. "That can't be right," I say, as the kids all laugh. "Let's try that again." They help me count the one fish and then laugh again when I'm shocked at the lack of additional fish. "Now, wait a minute," I say. "How many fish did we start with?" "Ten!" "And how many are left now?" "One!" "So..." I hold up both hands showing ten fingers. "Ten!" the kids yell out. "Became..." I point to the one remaining kid. "One!" "What happened to those other nine fish?" "We caught them!" "That's right, and it's exactly what's happened in the real ocean. Ten fish became one because we caught the other nine." Children love this game. It involves every kid in the room because even those who aren't fish or the fisherman get to yell out answers and urge continued fishing. Plus, the kids really understand the extent of the overfishing problem. That version of the game is good for classrooms of 20 to 40 kids. In assemblies of more than about 40 kids, it doesn't work as well because the audience can't see the fishing from seats far away and therefore can't understand what's happening. For larger groups, I play a different version of the game. I still choose ten kids from the audience, still count them with the audience, but then they stand in a single file line with one hand sticking straight out at waist level. I put my hand out, too, and walk along the group touching each hand as I go. I tell the audience to yell "stop" when they want me to catch the fish I'm touching. When they do, I "catch" that fish by pulling him or her gently forward. I still count the remaining fish with the audience as we work our way toward just one remaining. When there are only two fish left, I change the approach because with just two kids it turns into a popularity contest. I don't want anybody feeling unpopular, so instead of having the group yell stop, I have the two remaining fish play Rock, Paper, Scissors. The loser is our ninth caught fish, and the winner is our lone survivor. Here I am preparing to play this version of the game at Myrtle Cooper Elementary School in El Paso, Texas:  Here's the message the school put up to announce the event:  Try this game in your classroom or assembly to show kids how dramatically depleted our oceans have become from overfishing. If you'd like me to come to your school to play the game and read the story to students, please contact Darci to make arrangements. Labels: Games
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