🐟 Red-bellied piranha report template
Three versions, one page each. Print the one for your child’s grade. The facts come from the red-bellied piranha page, every number with its source.
Grades 1–2
My report: the red-bellied piranha
Pygocentrus nattereri · Grades 1–2
| Length | 12 in (31 cm) |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | not checked yet: look it up! |
| Weight | 4 lb (1.8 kg) |
| Top speed | not checked yet: look it up! |
| How long it lives | 10 years |
Read about it
Red-bellied piranhas have a red belly and sharp teeth. They live in rivers in South America. They eat insects, fish and seeds, and they are shy.
It lives in:
It eats:
The coolest thing I learned:
Where my facts came from
- Smithsonian's National Zoo, Red-bellied piranha, nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/red-bellied-piranha, checked 2026-10-30
Grades 3–4
My report: the red-bellied piranha
Pygocentrus nattereri · Grades 3–4
| Length | 12 in (31 cm) |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | not checked yet: look it up! |
| Weight | 4 lb (1.8 kg) |
| Top speed | not checked yet: look it up! |
| How long it lives | 10 years |
Read about it
A piranha's teeth are sharp and shaped like little triangles that fit together. The scary stories about piranhas are mostly made up. Most of the time they eat insects, small fish and seeds, and they swim in groups, which keeps each fish safer.
Where it lives (its habitat):
What it eats:
How its body helps it live there:
My favorite fact:
A question I still have:
Where my facts came from
- Smithsonian's National Zoo, Red-bellied piranha, nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/red-bellied-piranha, checked 2026-10-30
Grades 5–6
My report: the red-bellied piranha
Pygocentrus nattereri · Grades 5–6
| Length | 12 in (31 cm) |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | not checked yet: look it up! |
| Weight | 4 lb (1.8 kg) |
| Top speed | not checked yet: look it up! |
| How long it lives | 10 years |
Read about it
Red-bellied piranhas eat a mix of foods: fish, insects, seeds and fruit that fall into the water, and the leftovers of dead animals, which helps keep rivers clean. Scientists who study them say they are shy and far less dangerous than the stories claim. Piranhas talk to each other with barks, grunts and croaks, and they replace their teeth one whole side of the jaw at a time. They live in warm rivers and flooded forests in South America, where the water rises every rainy season.
Habitat and range: where on Earth, and what the place is like:
Diet: what it eats, and what might eat it:
Adaptations: two ways its body or habits help it survive:
Is it in danger? Why or why not?:
Compare it with another animal you know:
Bibliography: write each source below as site, page title, date checked:
Where my facts came from
- Smithsonian's National Zoo, Red-bellied piranha, nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/red-bellied-piranha, checked 2026-10-30