S H A R K S
It’s here….SHARK WEEK!!!
But don’t be afraid, just stay out of the water…
Let’s begin by learning about sharks.
Watch the video.
__________________________________________________
10 Fun Sharky Facts
#1 Sharks have been around for 4 million years, long before dinosaurs. A shark dinosaur was called a Megalodon.
#2 There are over 400 kinds of sharks!
#3 The shortest shark is about 7 inches and the longest is about 45 feet! The shortest shark is a Spined Pygmy. The Whale Shark is the longest. A Great White Shark is in-between. Most are the size of a human adult, 5-7 feet!
#4 Sharks have rows and rows of teeth. When one falls out a new one comes forward. They can have more than 20,000 teeth in their lifetime!
#5 The most harmless shark is the biggest shark, the whale shark.
#6 Some sharks have babies called pups. Some sharks have eggs that are either laid or are hatched inside mom before they are born.
#7 Sharks have a super nose and can smell their prey from far away. Two thirds of a shark’s brain is dedicated to its sense of smell.
#8 Sharks have no bones. They are made of cartilage.
#9 Sharks have eyes on the sides of their heads allowing them to see in front and in back of them easily.
#10 Sharks are at the top of the ocean food chain.
Different kinds of sharks.
Photos of the different kinds of Sharks.
Information about the different kinds of Sharks.
__________________________________________________
Shark Academy: Great White Sharks
Time to go to Shark Academy and learn more about the Great White:
Activity for you to do:
Reading & Questions
Read the passage about Great White sharks and answer the questions. Take a look at the physical parts of the Great White.
__________________________________________________
Shark Academy: Megalodon Sharks
Back to Shark Academy again. This time to learn about a prehistoric shark called Megalodon.
Activity for you to do:
Build a Megalodon Shark from Lego
You will Need: Basic Lego Bricks: 2×2, 2×4, round 1×1 for teeth, 1×1 for eyes (add eye balls) with marker.
How to Build: Use the photos to make a copy of the design. You should be able to count the brick pieces needed or you can configure your own pieces out of different combinations of the basic bricks.
__________________________________________________
Shark Academy: How do sharks float?
Shark Academy again! This time to look at how do sharks float and not sink in the water.
Activity for you to do:
Shark Buoyancy Experiment
Sharks are buoyant, in other words, they don’t sink, but they really could. Buoyancy is the ability to float in water or other fluids. Sharks need to put effort into remaining buoyant. In fact, if they stop swimming, they will sink.
There are three ways that sharks use their bodies to float. This shark science activity covers one of them, the oily liver! Sharks rely on a pretty big, oil-filled liver to help them stay buoyant in water.
Materials:
2 Small Water Bottles
Cooking Oil
Water
Large Container filled with Water
Sharpies {optional but fun to draw shark faces}
Toy Shark
Directions:
Step 1 Fill one bottle with oil and the other bottle with water. Set out another bin filled with water that is big enough to hold both the bottles and possibly a shark toy.
Step 2 The bottles represent the sharks so you might want to draw shark faces on them.
Step 3 The oil in the one bottle represents the oil that is in the sharks liver. Will the shark with the oil float? Will the shark without the oil float? Will they both float? What are your predictions?
Results: As you can see, the oil filled bottle floats! Which is exactly what the large, oil-filled liver of the shark does. It’s not the only way a shark remains buoyant, but it is one of the ways we can explore with a density science activity. Oil is lighter than water, which is why the other bottle sunk on us.
__________________________________________________
Shark Academy: Hammerhead Sharks
Back to Shark Academy to check out one of the most unusual looking sharks, the Hammerhead.
Activity for you to do:
Shark Attack! Math Game
Hammerhead sharks may not attack people in real life, but the game you are going to play next is called Shark Attack!
Materials:
Game board.
Dice.
Small objects to use to mark your places on the game boards.
Directions:
#1 Print off the game board. There are four to choose from. Three have addition questions and one has subtraction questions.
#2 Each of the players should choose a game board. Take turns rolling the dice and moving. Add/Subtract the numbers on the space you land on. Cover the fish in the pool with that number. Your goal is to hide your fish from the sharks. Play until someone reaches Start again or until you have hidden all your fish from the sharks!
__________________________________________________
Sharks Story & Art
Story: Shark Trouble!
Listen to the story Shark Trouble! written by Sam Lloyd and illustrated by Jack Tickle.
Art: Draw a Shark
How to draw a shark, version #1.
How to draw a shark, version #2.
Art: Make a Big Mouth Shark
Materials: template, colouring supplies, paper.
Step 1: Print off the shark template.
Step 2: Colour in your shark.
Step 3: Fold along the upper lip line (see the dashed line to help with folding) – the fold needs to run across the whole width of the paper. Make sure the fold is crisp, your fingers across the fold.
Step 4: Bring the fold down to the bottom lip line and press the paper down to flatten it. This will create another fold inside the shark’s mouth.
Step 5: Now you can add your own designs to this paper craft – add sea animals or even a secret message inside the shark’s mouth.
Watch the video for more information.
__________________________________________________
Little Paws Learning Centre 