Gyotaku Fish Printing – Fish Form and Function

This toolkit allows you to explore concepts of structure and function through gyotaku (fish printing).

From the manufacturer:

Dive into learning and art with this Sax Gyotaku game fish model set for schools and classrooms. Dating back to the mid-1800s, “Gyotaku” was used as a practical technique used by Japanese fishermen who made prints of the sea catches they made as a way to record the size and species of fish they caught. Today, Gyotaku art is a very popular art technique used around the world using Japanese fish prints. This fish print models set has aquatic life models that can be embellished with paint or printing ink with a foam brayer. Create realistic fish printing on Sax print paper, rice paper, fabric, t-shirts, and beyond.

Be sure to check out the Starter Pack resources below!

The Basics

Step by Step Guide How to Make a Fish Print 
Video Overview Gyotaku Fish Printing with Silicone Replicas 
Gyotaku History Gyotaku: The ancient Japanese art of printing fish - K. Erica | TED-Ed 
Gyotaku in Hawai‘i

Lesson Ideas

Kennedy Center: Gyotaku Fish Printing 
Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College: Gyotaku
Sea Earth Atmosphere: Structure to Function
Exploring Our Fluid Earth: Structure and Function: Fish
Activity: Fish Printing for Form and Function | manoa.hawaii.edu/ExploringOurFluidEarth 
PRISM:  Fun with Fishes
PRISM: Hawaiian Fish Adaptations

Standards Connections

These resources can be used to support standards-based teaching and learning.  They are not intended to meet the full scope of any given standard.  Only some standards are highlighted; many more standards may be connected!  We encourage you to explore and to let us know if you have any questions!

3-LS4-3.  Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all. 
4-LS1-1.  Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction. 
MS-LS1-4.  Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively. 
HS-LS1-2.  Develop and use a model to illustrate the hierarchical organization of interacting systems that provide specific functions within multicellular organisms. 

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