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Below are some talking points and activities to pass the time, all relating to today’s story.

Talking points

Discuss the ideas presented in the video with your family—at home or over video conferencing. Find ways to involve as many people as possible, especially those who you know are isolated by the lock-down.

• What does the top picture of the egg remind you of? What do you find interesting or amazing in these photos?
• In the second photo, a fungus has infected the egg. What could this teach us about the abilities and habits of funghi? What other dangers might face the eggs that have been laid on the river bed?
• Can you see the egg sac in the middle of the newly hatched fish’s abdomen? Do you like the phrase “buttoning up,” which is used to describe the fish’s sides fusing together once the egg sac is no longer necessary?
• What can you see developing and changing in the chart showing the trout’s development?
• Nitrogen in rivers causes mats of algae and funghi to grow, smothering aquatic life such as baby trout. Do you know much about how nitrogen ends up in rivers, or how rivers can be protected from it? Have you ever seen rocks covered in a mat of algae or funghi in a river?

Task—Make a magnetic fishing game

1. Make about six fish. Use any thicker paper or cardboard for this—an old piece of your own art works well. Draw a basic fish shape and cut it out.
2. Attach a paper clip to each fish’s mouth.
3. Make a fishing rod with a stick (or knitting needle, pencil, dowel etc) and a length of string tied to one end. Secure where you have tied the string on by adding a dab of blu-tack.
4. Make a large fish-hook to attach to the other end of your fishing line. Draw the fish hook on paper or cardboard and cut it out. Find a small piece of magnet around your house (there may be magnets on your fridge you can use) and glue, or blu-tack it onto the hook. (If you can’t find any magnets or magnetic strip, you could bend a paper clip open and glue that onto the hook – it can hook through the paperclip on each fish.)
5. Dangle the hook over your fish to see how many you can catch.
6. Learning one of your times tables? Make 12 fish and write a times table on each one (such as 5×4). Each time you pick up a fish, you get to keep it if you can give the right answer. See if you can get better at it, until you get 12 out of 12!

Send us a picture of your magnetic fishing game!