Mississippi Science MAQ.7.5
The Standard
- MAQ.7
- Students will investigate characteristics of aquatic chordates.
Dissect representative taxa (e.g., shark, fish); collect data; compare their internal and external anatomy; and analyze, explain, and communicate results.
2026 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science · Vertebrate Consumers
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students dissect a preserved dogfish and perch. They measure, sketch, and label body parts, then use their observations to explain and share a comparison.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student labels gill slits and the liver on a dogfish, and the gill cover and swim bladder on a perch. They use measurements and sketches to explain one similarity and one difference.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may mistake the perch's swim bladder for its stomach or call the dogfish's gill slits a gill cover. Some assume all fish have a swim bladder.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Sketch both specimens, label each animal's gill opening and one internal organ, record its body length, and explain one difference you observed.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Dissect preserved dogfish and perch in trays, measure body and liver lengths, and sketch their gill openings and internal organs.
Ask students to write: How do the dogfish's gill slits and the perch's gill cover differ in your sketches?
Give pairs shuffled organ cards and specimen sketches to match, then have them check each match against their dissection notes.
Show photos of whole animals at a fish market; students identify a shark and a bony fish by their gill openings.
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Printable MAQ.7.5 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to MAQ.7.5, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
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Related Standards
- ZOO.10.5
Dissect representative taxa and compare their internal and external anatomy and complexity.
- MAQ.6.6
Dissect representative taxa (e.g., clam and squid), collect data, compare their internal and external anatomy, analyze, explain, and communicate results.
- ZOO.4.6
Dissect representative taxa and compare their internal and external anatomy and complexity.
- ZOO.5.9
Dissect representative taxa and compare their internal and external anatomy and complexity.
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