Fishing in a Pond

Name ______Date ______Pd ______Fishing in a Pond Introduction: We often find that public property is abused by society if there isn’t a single person or group responsible for it. In this activity, we will understand the difficulties of caring for resources that are shared.

Materials: Goldfish Fishing Pond Forceps

Procedures: 1. A pond will be given to each table. DISREGARD THE SECTIONS TO START. To find the number of fish you will begin with, solve this equation: Number of Fish = 4X + 2 where X = the number of students at your table

Answer: ______

2. Each of you is a fisherman (or woman) that must catch fish to feed your family. You must catch at least two fish with your fishing forceps or your family will starve. The one with the most fish wins! 3. Each year the fishing season lasts 10 seconds. You Cannot Talk During Fishing Season… You’ll Scare Away The Fish!!! You’ll have 10 seconds in which to catch your fish during the season and you can eat all the fish that you catch! At the end of each season, the fish will reproduce.

# of Fish at the # of Fish # of Fish at the 1st Trial Start of the Season that You’ve Caught End of the Season

Year One

Year Two

Year Three

Year Four

Year Five 4. Directions for part 2: Each person in your group now owns one segment of the lake(Assign each person ONE segment). You’ll have 10 seconds in which to catch your fish during the season and you can eat all the fish that you catch! At the end of each season, the fish will reproduce.

# of Fish at the # of Fish # of Fish at the 2nd Trial Start of the Season that You’ve Caught End of the Season

Year One

Year Two

Year Three

Year Four

Year Five

Totals

Questions (answered in full sentences): 1. What did people at your table do during the first trial?

2. Why did they act this way?

3. What were the results of the first trial? How many goldfish were left year 5?

4. What is “The Tragedy of the Commons?” Did your tables fishing methods reflect the Tragedy of the Commons? Why or why not?

5. How was Trial 2 different from Trial 1? 6. What were the results of the second trial? How many goldfish were left year 5?

7. What does sustainable mean? Which trial was more sustainable and why?

8. What is supply and demand? Relate fishing in a pond with the idea of supply and demand by stating which trial and year your fish would be in the greatest demand and which trial and year your fish would be in the least demand.