edHelper.com Animal Themes Fish Freshwater

Archerfish

---

Archerfish
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 4 to 7
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	8.65

Vocabulary

challenging words:

archerfish, silver-colored, assault, minimize, spans, definitely, vegetation, mangrove, species, directly, actually, backs, shots, gill, shooters, pressing

---

Print Archerfish

Print Archerfish  (font options, pick words for additional puzzles, and more)

Quickly Print - PDF format

	Quickly Print: PDF (2 columns per page)
	Quickly Print: PDF (full page)

Quickly Print - HTML format

Quickly Print: HTML

Proofreading Activity

Print a proofreading activity

---

Feedback on Archerfish

Leave your feedback on Archerfish  (use this link if you found an error in the story)

---

Archerfish

---

¹     Archerfish are the best shooters of all fishes! Yet, they don't have holsters wrapped around their small body frames from which they can draw pistols. So, we are bound to wonder: what do archerfish shoot with? Well, it turns out that they hide their assault weapon in their mouths. They train it at insects or other small animals on overhanging vegetation.
 
²     When archerfish spot a potential meal resting on a tree branch near the riverbank, they prepare to shoot. They first make a tube by pressing their tongues firmly against a groove on the roof of their mouths. Then they force water through the tube by contracting their gill covers. With just these two steps, archerfish are able to pump a powerful jet of water that can reach four feet high.
 
³     Though archerfish can "fire shots" with their mouths, they still need acute vision to help them aim and knock down prey. Fortunately, they have just that! Archerfish's large, keen eyes are positioned very close to their mouths. They practice their shot repeatedly until they perfect their skill. They must learn to overcome refraction. Refraction happens when light enters water. When archerfish look up at prey at an angle, refraction distorts the image of their target. It makes the animal appear elsewhere than it actually is. Only with experience will archerfish know that they can avoid or minimize refraction by shooting from directly under the doomed victim.

Paragraphs 4 to 5:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

---

Weekly Reading Books

Create Weekly Reading Books Prepare for an entire week at once!

---

Animal Themes

Animal Themes

---

Fish

Fish

---

Freshwater

Freshwater

---

Animals

Amphibians         Birds         Deserts         Fish         Freshwater         Grasslands         Insects

Invertebrates         Mammals         Oceans         Polar Regions         Rain Forest         Reptiles

---

More Activities, Lesson Plans, and Worksheets

Back to School Graphic Organizers Alphabet Worksheets Sight Words Math Worksheets Mazes 50 States Education Teaching Monthly Themes January February March April May June July August September October November December

Fractions Place Value Time and Calendar Money Earth Day Solar System Analogies Nouns Following Directions Listening Capitalization Cursive Writing Patterns and Sequencing Dinosaurs All About Me Kindergarten First Grade Second Grade Third Grade Fourth Grade Fifth Grade Sixth Grade

Multiplication Division Main Idea Cause and Effect Measurement Decimals Rounding Order of Operations Verbs Community Helpers Adjectives Plants Grammar Addition and Subtraction Contractions Bulletin Board Ideas Word Searches Crossword Puzzles Printable Puzzles Reading Comprehension Reading Skills English Language Arts

Copyright © 2013 edHelper