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Lots of fish stay in school year-round. Here are some FUN facts about these fishy schools.

• Fish hang out in schools because it helps them stay safe. It's harder for a predator to zero in on any one fish when many of them are all bunched together. Some mammals on land, such as elephants, zebras, and antelope, stay in groups for the same reason.
• Schools of tuna can cross thousands of miles of ocean in just a few months. Their bodies are streamlined in shape--perfect for long-distance swimming. Tuna feed on squid and shrimp and on smaller schools of fish, such as herring. Some schools of tuna get a meal by circling a large school of little fish and then driving them up to the surface of the ocean. Then the hungry tuna move in and chow down.
• Fish stay with their own species in schools. You hardly ever see different species mingling in a fish school.

Fishy Quiz

See if you can pick the three reasons that fish stay in schools from the following list. The prize? All winners . . . (drum roll please) . . .get to stay in school! But then, so do all of you who didn't guess correctly too!

a. keep from getting lost
b. escape being eaten
c. learn readin' and writin'
d. grow bigger
e. discover a place to live
f. get a meal
g. find a mate
h. stay warm
i. try out for swim team

(scroll down for the correct answers)

(Correct answers are b., f., and g.)

 

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