May 22, 2008 Fishy science project grabs top honors Play video

(NECN/ABC) - Can fish learn and can fish communicate this learning to other fish? Kaleigh Eichel not only answered those questions, but saw how a fish survives environmental changes.

"I didn't know if it would communicate or not, but it did communicate to the other fish."

Kaleigh's a senior at Strongville High School in Ohio. She trained a goldfish to live in a new environment by putting a maze in its tank. That it would have to learn to navigate in order to eat. By the eighth day, the fish had aced the test. Now, she put another fish into the tank -- one that didn't know how to get through the maze to the food.

"The trained fish is trying to get in between the back wall of the aquarium to get the untrained fish closer to the maze."

The trained fish helped the newbie survive by herding it to the food.

Her idea has landed her the trip of a lifetime to the Nobel Ceremonies in Sweden.

"It's the closest you can get to winning the Nobel Prize without winning the Nobel Prize."

Reporter Debora Lee of WEWS has the story.