Sharks

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

You saw a picture of a shark!

All sharks are fish.

• Do you know where sharks live?

Sharks live in water. They have gills that allow them to breathe underwater. The gills are the slits on the side of their head.

• Can you see the gills on the shark below?

Point to where the gills are:

• Did you know there are over four hundred different kinds of sharks?

Not all sharks are dangerous to people.

Out of the four hundred different types of sharks, only thirty different types of sharks have been known to hurt people. Most sharks are not dangerous, but some are!

You always need to be careful when you are around an area where sharks might live. Even though not all sharks are dangerous, you don't want to have a run-in with a dangerous shark like a great white shark!

Remember, sharks are fish. This means they have gills that allow them to live underwater, and they spend their entire life underwater.

Most sharks live in the ocean, but there are also sharks that live in fresh water. A bull shark is a common freshwater shark.

• Do you know which sense is a shark's strongest sense?

Sharks have a very strong sense of smell. This helps them hunt for animals.

Even when the water is cloudy, dirty, or dark, a shark can sniff out its prey.

Sharks are carnivores. This means they only eat meat.

They eat fish, dolphins, seals, and many other sea animals.

• Did you know sharks have the most powerful jaws on the planet?

They bite with their lower jaw first, then their upper jaw. This is how they hunt their food.

Most sharks swallow their food whole. Sharks have teeth that grow back. If a shark loses a tooth, a new one will grow in its place.

Sharks have babies in different ways. Some sharks lay eggs, some sharks hatch inside their mother and then are born, and some sharks give birth to live babies that grew inside of them.

A baby shark is called a pup. After the babies are born, the mother leaves the baby shark behind, and it has to survive on its own.

• Aren't those interesting facts about sharks?

Say aloud two things you learned about sharks.

After sharing your two facts, move on to the Got It? section to read a story about a shark.