Is it still ok to teach preschool kids to call the back part of a fish a tail instead of a caudal fin? Why?

Question

Is it still ok to teach preschool kids to call the back part of a fish a tail instead of a caudal fin? Why?

Answer 1

It's okay, as it's an easier term for them to understand and it is more widely used.

However, I've found that preschool children often LIKE to learn big new words for things, so why not teach them both?

Answer 2

I think it is fine to teach both, but don't expect them to remember caudal fin. They will probably only remember tail.

Answer 3

Yeah.  They're in preschool.  Are we going to start making them call a coin the obverse side and the reverse side.

Answer 4

Because it is PRESCHOOL.

Answer 5

Speaking as someone who knew what a caudal fin was in preschool, it's fine if kids don't know what a caudal fin is! I never used the term, since no one knew what I was talking about. Even my bio teacher called it a tail fin from time to time, and this was in college.

Answer 6

Yes, they're still young and it would be so much easier for them to understand that all animals have tails instead of some having caudal fins... Besides, they learn about fish in about fourth grade science... Its not like some1 would really correct them saying fish dont have tails, they have caudal fins...

Answer 7

Both are ok.

the hindmost part of an animal, esp. that forming a distinct, flexible appendage to the trunk. (Sounds like a tail to me)

I think it's important to teach children the proper names of things.  From experience, they tend to enjoy learning words they don't already know.  

One student of mine got a kick out of the fact that his doctor called the finger bones "finger bones."  The doctor probably got a kick out of him correcting him and calling them "phalanges."

I say teach caudal fin just because they're learning something new and that's what children enjoy most.  "His tail fin is called a caudal fin."

Matt

Answer 8

Teaching a kid some obscure term does not make them intelligent. Hardly anyone knows that term anyway. Remember these are kids! They would gain nothing by learning that that back fin is called a "caudal fin". Its no use.