Where Have The Fish Gone ?
Short Story For Kids On Conservation
Gauri, Alex and Mani love to play hide and seek after school. After playing, they usually come to a little pond to dip their feet in water.
Alex loves it when the tiny fish bite his feet. Mani loves to show off his clean feet to all his other friends .
One day, Alex tells the other two, “ I feel like the fish in the pond are reducing, I don’t get enough bites!”
Mani says, “ Dei, it must be your imagination”
The next day even Gauri claims that the fish in the pond have reduced. Mani thinks to himself, “ If Gauri is saying , then it must be true”
Srini Sir their science teacher at school happened to over hear the kids talking. He calls out and says, “ Gauri you are right! The fish in the pond are indeed reducing”. He picks a stick lying nearby and points to the beautiful purple flowers floating on the pond and says, “ This is the reason!”
Mani, the most outspoken one among them says, “ But how sir?”
Srini Sir explains, “ These are Water Hyacinth, a floating weed. As you can see, they form almost a thick mat on the surface of the water. They cut out the sunlight to the pond below the surface, so the rest of the plants and animals suffer”
Gauri, out of habit, puts up her hand to ask her question. Srini Sir smiles and says, “ It is ok Gauri, you don’t have to raise your hand to ask questions outside the classroom”“ Sir, but how did they come?”
“ This plant was native to Brazil. The British first brought it to West Bengal as an ornamental plan. It soon spread to the rest of India. That is why it is sometimes called the Bengal Terror”. Alex loves to solve problems, he asks, “ Sir how do we make it go away”“ Well, there are chemical herbicides but they are not good for the eco –system of the pond. For small pond like this, the best way to do it would be to use spades and nets and remove them manually”
Srini Sir says, “ It is getting late, off you go now to your homes”Alex has made up his mind to solve this issue. The next day, at school during lunch break, he talks to his friends and gets 20 students to agree to help him.Mani and Gauri too talk to some of their friends and get some more of their classmates to help them clear the Pond.
Srini Sir is so happy when Alex tells him this. “ Good Children, I will also help you!”
So on that Friday evening, armed with spades and fishing nets Srini Sir leads the 40 students to clear the shallow pond.
Srini Sir’s friend Vasantha aunty has come with a few of her friends to collect the Water Hyacinth. These plants are great to feed chicken, ducks and even cows. Vasantha aunty and her friends will carry it in big baskets to the farm where they work, so that they dont get wasted
A few days later, at the pond, Gauri is exclaiming, “ Oh the fish are back again, I love it “. Alex and Mani smile happily. They are so happy that they helped in cleaning the pond
Moral of the Story
As a parent if you have wondered, how to teach teamwork to a child. This is short story is a great way. to show how team work can help in solving biggest of the problems. It is also a great story to talk about urban habitats and how teamwork from different sections of the society can help the habitats thrive
These Short Stories For Kids are put together by Team Ekdali to help parents build conversations on topics with kids. Please do check out our other conversation starter products
