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Activities and Experiments

Lesson 2: Fishes, Amphibians & Reptiles

Activity: Mirror, Mirror, on The Wall

When you look in a mirror, you recognize that what you see is your
reflection. Not all animals realize this. Many animals think the animal they
see is another member of their species, and react with either fear or a show
or bravado to defend to defend their territory. Let’s examine the reaction of

the standard betta.
1. Obtain a male betta, and place it alone in a bowl.
2. Place a mirror in the bowl.
3. When the betta sees his reflection, record his response.

What’s happening: Most male bettas will respond by showing all of their fins,
a behavior known as flaring, designed to make the fish look large, and
protect their territory. When mirrors have been left in bowls, males have
become so obsessed with flaring they have even forgotten to eat and died,
so take the mirror out as soon as the experiment is over! In the animal
kingdom, only primates have been shown to generally understand that they
are looking at themselves in the mirror. Amongst humans, babies under 10
months of age generally don’t understand this concept. If your betta did not

react by flaring, see if you can think of why. Is the fish used to living with
others and not very territorial? This is the trouble with only testing one
animal. There are usually other factors involved.

Activity: Frog Songs
You’ll need to travel to a pond where frogs can be found in order to do this

activity. But if you think talking to frogs (and having them talk back) sounds
fun, it’ll be worth it.

1. Get familiar with the sounds frogs in your area by doing some research
into your area’s frogs.
2. Travel to a pond with frogs in the evening. As you quietly walk up,
listen to the sound that the frogs are making.
3. When you get to the pond, the frogs will probably go silent, fearing
that you are a predator.

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