The Fish Cannon

About this resource

Salmon must swim upstream past dams. People built fish ladders, fish elevators, fish trucks — and a bendy tube that zips fish over a dam, nicknamed the fish cannon. Why so many ways? Which one is best? Engineers dream up many solutions, then compare how well each one meets the criteria and constraints. In this one-week, 5-level Engineering Design: Generate & Compare Solutions unit for grades 3-5 science (NGSS 3-5-ETS1-2), students investigate a real mystery, then use their evidence to crack the case.

The Fish Cannon is part of Science Unlocked, a series of mystery-driven lesson sets. Every set opens with a real, surprising phenomenon, builds the science one level at a time, and ends with students solving the mystery in a claim-evidence-reasoning (CER) write-up.

Topics: engineering design process, claim evidence reasoning (CER), science phenomenon, review games.

What's included

• Teacher Deck (77 slides, PowerPoint). Answers are highlighted on the slides. Speaker notes tell you what to say and do, what to watch for, and how to support students or push GT students further. Prep slides and answer keys are hidden, so they skip during a slideshow.
• Interactive Student Deck (49 slides, PowerPoint + PDF). Students type in boxes, drag cards and check marks, and rate their confidence. Assign one copy per student in Google Classroom or your LMS.
• Google Slides versions of both decks. Click a button in the Google Slides Links PDF to make your own copy in Google Drive.
• Teacher Guide (24-page PDF). The standard, a week at a glance, a materials list, misconceptions to watch for, a run-of-show for every level, answer keys and sources.
• Student Printable (13-page PDF + a low-ink greyscale copy). The same tasks on paper in 12 pt type, for students without devices, sub days, or anyone who learns better with a pencil. Slide numbers match the Student Deck.
• Self-grading digital activity. SCORM 2004 and SCORM 1.2 packages for an LMS that accepts SCORM uploads, a web package, and a single HTML file that opens in any browser. Notes, sorts, matches, tables and multiple-choice items grade themselves, and students get a copy-and-paste backup of their work. A 2-page teacher quick start is included.
• Two whole-class review games that open in any browser: a Jeopardy-style game (6 categories, 30 clues) and Trashketball, where teams answer on whiteboards and then shoot for points.
• Kahoot! and Blooket import files. 48 review questions, one file per level plus an all-levels file, with a printable answer key.
• Start Here guide, HTML & SCORM how-to guide and Terms of Use, so you know which file to open first.

The 5 levels (about one 45–50 minute class each)

1. Stuck Below the Dam. A problem can have many solutions, criteria and constraints review. Key activities: The Fish Cannon mystery, Four Ways Past a Dam.
2. Idea Storm. Research first, brainstorm and sketch 3 different ideas, share and build. Key activities: Research cards, Idea Helper sort, My Idea Storm sketches.
3. Fish Pass Showdown. Build one idea as a model, test every team the same way. Key activities: Fish Pass Showdown build-and-test lab.
4. Chart It, Compare It. Compare all designs on a 1–3 chart, constraints first, real rivers. Key activities: Practice chart, class chart, Lab Conclusion, river case clues.
5. Crack the Case. Stretch MS-ETS1-2: a systematic (same-rules) way to choose. Key activities: Garden Water Plan Stretch, Crack the Case CER.

Built for real classrooms

• Every level follows the same routine: "I can" targets with a confidence check, a warm-up, copy-it notes with a word bank, hands-on practice, a checkpoint students must pass to unlock the next step, and an exit ticket. A 10-item Mini Quiz wraps up the week.
• Level 1 opens with a Power-Up on the earlier-grade ideas this standard builds on (2-ETS1-1, 2-ETS1-2, 2-ETS1-3, 3-5-ETS1-1).
• The last level includes a middle school Stretch (MS-ETS1-2) that every student tries and advanced students can take further.
• Hands-on lab (Fish Pass Showdown: The Lab). Student materials list: Test station: river tray, 30 cm box dam, lake lid on top; 10 small pom-pom fish, 2 big pom-pom fish; Kit: 2 cups, 1 m string, 1 cardboard piece; Kit: paper towel tube, 4 craft sticks, pencil, tape; Safety scissors, goggles for everyone, a timer. Safety notes are on the slides and in the Teacher Guide.
• Support is built in: word banks, sentence starters and support notes on the slides, plus GT extensions.

Standards

• NGSS 3-5-ETS1-2: Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem. (Kentucky 3-5-ETS1-2 uses the same wording.)
• SEP: Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions · DCI: ETS1.B · CCC: Influence of Science, Engineering, and Technology on Society and the Natural World
• Stretch: MS-ETS1-2
• CCSS connections: MP.2, MP.4, RI.5.1, RI.5.9, SL.5.1, W.5.1

Try the digital activity first

• Not sure the self-grading activity will work in your LMS? Download the FREE HTML & SCORM Sample and test it with your students before you buy.

Save with a bundle

• Grades 3-5 Engineering (3 sets)
• Grade 4 Complete (17 sets)
• Grade 5 Complete (16 sets)
• Science Unlocked Mega Bundle (all 89 sets)

Teach next

• Lion Lights (3-5-ETS1-1)
• The Wobbly Bridge (3-5-ETS1-3)

More from Mystery Lab Learning

• See every Science Unlocked set, and follow to hear when new ones are added, at Mystery Lab Learning.

Good to know

• The illustrations in this resource were created with AI image tools, and AI tools helped draft the lesson text. Every slide, answer key and lab step was then fact-checked against the sources listed in the Teacher Guide and proofread.
• Kahoot!, Blooket, Jeopardy!, Google Slides and PowerPoint are trademarks of their owners. This resource is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.
• License: one teacher, for use with their own students. Please buy an additional license for each colleague who uses it.