Philadelphia Writing Project
Supporting Civically Engaged Argument Writing with Primary Sources
Text Set
Tropical Fish in Aquariums
Dive deep into questions about the sale and showcasing of tropical fish. Do tropical fish make good pets? Where do pet stores get their tropical fish? Students decide whether or not tropical fish should be allowed for sale. They also can develop arguments about whether public aquariums should still exist and in what forms.
FEATURED PRIMARY SOURCES
TEXT SET
Introduce the Issue
Teachers may introduce one or both of the featured historical primary sources above alongside more current news articles to introduce the issue and jumpstart inquiry.
Why fish make great pets for kids by Tim Kerrigan. Blog post about caring for tropical fish at home. (Pet Perrenials, 2021).
Is it cruel to keep fish in tanks? Here are the startling facts. Informational text from advocacy group on how to care for tropical fish. (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, 2024).
Beta fish: The best pet fish? Clip from informational video about Beta fish as pets. (1 Minute Animals, 2024).
Walmart commended for ending sale of live fish as pets; Petco urged to follow suit. Press release from advocacy group about a company choosing to no longer sell live fish. (For the Fishes, 2019).
10 Reasons Fish Are the Best Pets Clip from informational video about owning fish as pets. (Fluval Aquatics, 2022)
Go Deeper
Students may use these texts—or excerpts from these texts—to identify additional perspectives on the issue.
Selecting a pet fish. Informational text about buying tropical fish for the home. (American Veterinary Medicine Association, n.d.).
Don’t buy this: Why tropical fish can make terrible pets. News article explaining some of the issues with keeping tropical fish as pets. (Vice, 2018).
The therapeutic benefits of having a pet fish. Blog post about positive impacts on human mental health of caring for pets. (Mental Health Association in Delaware, 2022).
Why you can walk into a store and buy a nearly extinct animal. Magazine article about the buying and selling of exotic fish. (Smithsonian Magazine, 2018).
Go Even Deeper
Students may also consider whether or not we need public aquariums.
Why zoos and aquariums are beneficial. Informational webpage arguing for the importances of aquariums and zoos. (Association of Zoos and Aquariums, 2020).
Do aquariums really help with conservation? Blog post arguing that aquariums are harmful to fish and other marine life. (Northwest Animal Rights Network, 2023).
Humans take out more wild species than any other predator on Earth. Magazine article on human's effects on other organisms. (Smithsonian Magazine, 2023).
Equity and Planning Insights
In Cultivating Genius (2020) and Unearthing Joy (2023), Gholdy Muhammad introduced a Culturally and Historically Relevant Literacies framework. The framework encourages teachers to plan units using five pursuits that were central to the work and learning of Black literary societies.
A unit on tropical fish in aquariums may address each pursuit in these ways:
Identities: Students consider the role that humankind has had on tropical fish through the keeping of aquariums. Students consider what can be done to solve this problem.
Skills: Students read and analyze texts to build background knowledge to support their understanding of tropical fish as pets and the tropical fish selling market.
Intellectualism: Students learned about topics including tropical fish capture, tropical fish captivity, coral reef impact, environmental concerns, pet store norms, and the mental health benefits of maintaining tropical fish as pets.
Criticality: Students had opportunities to determine their stance on the topic and make an argument with a peer. Students had the opportunity to listen to others and change their stance throughout the partner and small group discussion. Students were tasked with supporting their argument with quotes from various articles.
Joy: Students work collaboratively to create an argument for and/or against having tropical fish as a pet and present their writing to their classmates in small groups. Students were able to engage with each other through discussion before and after their presentations.
TEACHER INQUIRY
Finding Arguments in 1st Grade
Lisa (1st grade teacher) & Javaha (school librarian) collaborated on the creation of this mini unit focused on high interest content for first grade writers that were very new to argument writing. They believed this topic would generate discussion and debate among their young writers, so they designed a mini-unit that tapped into connected science content in the first grade curriculum.
In order to meet the needs of younger learners, planning for this unit was supported by the lesson sequence provided by the National Writing Project for writing and revising claims. To get started with planning, Lisa & Javaha used the Routine Argument Writing Lesson Planning Template from the National Writing Project to create an argument writing unit for first graders focused on the idea of tropical fish as pets. Students were asked to think critically about their claim throughout this mini-unit. With small groups of writers, Lisa and Javaha utilized this template to help students move from an initial claim to a more nuanced claim. This resource was adapted from the National Writing Project Argument Writing Course: Crafting Claims.
Lisa and Javaha utilized primary sources to open each lesson of the mini unit. At the start of each lesson, students analyzed a series of primary sources using a noticing and wondering routine. The teachers would chart student responses for consideration throughout the unit. Early on, students might recognize that the issue is complex because many feel that tropical fish can bring calm, relaxing environments to businesses, homes, and schools, while more than one environmental issue can also be considered: destruction of coral reefs, overfishing, habitat destruction, pollution, decline of fish populations due to overfishing, fish mortality, and illegal fishing practices.
Additional Planning Resources
Primary Sources
Mrs. Herbster's main hobby is breeding tropical fish. Photograph. (Library of Congress, c1941).
Woman looking at piranha fish tank inside a store. Photograph. (Library of Congress, between 1949 and 1967).
Guide to the New York aquarium. Book. (Library of Congress, 1877).
The Fairmount Park Aquarium. In A Guide to Philadelphia. Book. (Library of Congress, c1935).
Informational Texts and Videos
Real rainbow fish! (Scholastic, 2019).
Welcome to the Coral Reef (2017)
Getting a Pet (2017)
Picture Books
My best friend is a goldfish. (2018).
Welcome to the coral reef. (2017).
Getting a pet. (2017).
This website features resources created by educators affiliated with the Philadelphia Writing Project (PhilWP), supported by a Teaching with Primary Sources grant from the Library of Congress.
The following Philadelphia Writing Project teacher consultants contributed to this page: L. Lapina, J. Ross, and J. F. Smith. Additionally, teacher consultant T. Anderson, helped with editing this page.
Some of the resources and approaches referenced on this page were developed by the National Writing Project's (NWP) College, Career, and Community Writers Program.
Teacher Consultants in the NWP Write Now Teacher Studio and members of the Teaching with Primary Sources Teachers Network have provided feedback on and suggestions for this page.
This page was updated 22 March 2025.