Brook trout

High school (ages 12+)
Animals & Nature

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/brook-trout

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the scientific name?Salvelinus fontinalis
2. What is the native habitat?Cool, clear freshwater rivers, streams, and lakes of Eastern North America
3. What does a brook trout look like?Brook trout have olive green bodies with bright red spots, each spot surrounded by a blue ring. Their fins have a white front edge and a black back edge, sometimes orange or red. Their back also shows wavy, worm‑like markings called vermiculation.
4. Where do brook trout live?Brook trout live in cool, clear freshwater streams, rivers, and lakes in the eastern United States and Canada, from the Appalachian Mountains up into Canada. They also live in large lakes like Superior and in coastal rivers.

Potamodromous: Fish that migrate within freshwater systems (rivers, lakes) to spawn or feed.
Phenotypic Plasticity: The ability of an organism to change its phenotype in response to environmental changes.
Trophic Niche: The position an organism occupies in a food web, including what it eats and what eats it.