Learning about Swordfish

My 5 year old had a school project due in this week about swordfish. Together we found lots of fun swordfish facts.

Did you know

• Swordfish are cold blooded – exothermic, but have a special organ near their eyes which keep their eyes and brains warm so they can see and think better?

• They can swim up to 60 mph in short bursts.

• They commonly reach 3 m, but some have been found to be up to 4.5 m.

• They can weigh up to 650kg.

• The don’t use the sword -like bill to spear, but slash instead at prey.

• They don’t have teeth!!!

 

I wasn’t sure Z understood how long 3 m was, so we made a 3m long tower of DUPLO bricks on the floor. It was LONG!

 

 

We counted this to be 158 DUPLO bricks. We also counted in hands and feet.

 

For the weight we calculated this to be the same as 650 bags of sugar, or about  22 Z’s.

Comparing the length and weight to things he could visualise seemed to really help him and me understand just how big Swordfish can be.

Can you design a table to show all your results?

 

Did you realise Swordfish are that long? what animal would you like to find the size of in DUPLO bricks?

 

 

 

 

Last Updated on March 17, 2014 by Emma Vanstone