|
|
| Fish Math by Todo A few days ago I was teaching a lesson on volume and what happens to objects when they grow. I used an example of a koi in a pond. Perhaps you’d like to hear some of it. You get a new fish and introduce it to your pond. For argument and to make the math simple, let the fish be 5 inches long, 2 inches deep and ½ inch wide. (5x2x½). This fish takes up 5 cubic inches. It eats, breaths, evacuates waste and generally does fish stuff. Its impact on your pond’s system is rather small. Fast forward a year and after good care our koi is now twice its size (10x4x1). It now takes up 40 cubic inches. The ratio of its volume from one year to the next is 5 to 40, or 1:8. It is still doing fish stuff, but at 8 times the rate. Another year and it is 15 inches long (15x6x1½). The volume is now 135 cubic inches, a ratio of 1:27 from when it was introduced to the pond. If you have five or six of these fish growing and living in your pond, it doesn’t take a mathematician to see how these fish can quickly overcome a pond or its filter system’s ability to support a quality environment. So, when stocking a new pond or adding fish to an existing pond remember that fish don’t just grow in length, but in all directions. |
|