sharkactivities

Of the 10 different orders, use eight for the different suites: CARCHARHINIFORMES, CHLAMYDOSELACHIFORMES (use the one species here as a wild card ), ECHINORHINIFORMES (use the 2 species here as wild cards ), HETERODONTIFORMES, HEXANCHIFORMES, LAMNIFORMES, ORECTOLOBIFORMES, PRISTIOPHORIFORMES, SQUALIFORMES, and SQUATINIFORMES

In each of the eight suites, use five species (and pictures) - use eight different colored backgrounds to help separate the suites - on each card include the Order, Genus and Species information

Deal out five cards to each player (recommended for 4 players)
The person to the left of the dealer goes first – asking someone if they have a suite; if the person they ask does, that player gets to go again, if not, the person asked says “Conserve Sharks!) and the person asking draws a card from the deck; if they draw the card they asked for, they get to go again, if not, the turn then goes to the next player to the left
The asking and drawing continues until a player has all five cards of a suite; once a player has all five cards, this is called a set, they lay the set down in front of them
The player to run out of cards first, wins

Have students research the orders first and contribute in making the actual game
Add some other cards, for example “FINNING – LOSE A TURN” or “ELASMOBRACHOLOGIST – GO AGAIN” and so on

Play “Sharks & Sea Turtles (or Seals)” (freeze tag)

Have an open area in which to play
Make certain objects (desks, trees, caution cones, etc.) “safe zones” (base) which are: fishing regulations are enforced, sanctuaries, etc.
One person is “it” (the shark), they try to tag the others (sea turtles or seals)
The sea turtles try to make it to the save zones without getting tagged, if they do, they have to freeze (they've become prey, so there is no where for them to go)
This play continues until the shark has had his/her fill, time is up, or you are ready to play again with a different shark

Make Fossil Sharks Teeth

Research different kinds of shark teeth; print out pictures for the children to copy (this could be another good research activity for students)
Use clay, play dough, plaster, salt dough or any other types of material to form different types of shark's teeth
These can be made to take home as a craft project, or they can be used to make a display for the classroom
Another suggestion is to use this activity to learn more about sharks and why different species have different types of teeth (different types of teeth are used for different ways of feeding, i.e. feeding strategy”
This could also be used in teaching about how teeth and bones (as well as other objects) become fossilized
See the Fossils Collection chart

Become An Elasmobranchologist

After researching about various sharks, their habitats, ecology, and classifications, have students create their own shark species

With their new species, make sure they include: its biology, habitat, characteristics (and why it has those, i.e. strategies), ecology, etc.

With older children, they can plot its migratory or distribution patterns and even use latitude and longitude points

A Twist on Twister

On a twin sized sheet, tape, glue or used colored markers to create the same layout as the Twister game, but using shark species
Instead of red, blue, yellow and green, make each row a different shark order, then each dot a species within that order (there are six dots in a color/order for a total of 24 spaces)
In making the spinner wheel, use orders instead of color and then the regular left & right hands and feet
Another suggestion is to use characteristics – have the students research characteristics for each order and use them instead of species
If you don't remember what the layout for Twister as well as the spinning wheel, you can look it up in Wikipedia and search “Twister game”

Puzzles

Have children create their own puzzles by researching their favorite shark
Once they have learned something about their shark, have them print a picture of it, cut it up in odd shapes, then put the puzzle back together again
For older children, they have to put the puzzle back together upside down (not actually looking at the picture) – they will kind of act like scientists – conservationists have the right idea of trying to put back together what others have destroyed in the past, but no matter how hard they try, it doesn't come out exactly like it did if we would have left it alone (if they cut the pieces in even squares, while putting the puzzle together upside down it is likely that one or more pieces will not be in the proper place)

Classification Activity

Let each child pick his or hers favorite shark and research it
As a fun activity (or as a quiz or test), call off characteristics of the different orders, families &/or genus' and see if they can place their shark in the proper genus, family or order before you give too many characteristics – this is the same idea as using a dichotomous key
Another option is for them to work together as a class and create a dichotomous key of their favorite shark species
For younger children who do not know or understand how to use a dichotomous key, make one together as a class using characteristics of the students (i.e. 1. A. If you are a male, stand on the right side of the classroom; go to # 1. B. If you are a female, stand on the left side of the classroom; go to # 8. 2. A. If you have blonde hair, go towards the front of the classroom; go to #3. 2. B. If you have brown hair, go towards the back of the classroom; go to # 5. Etc… ) – Once they understand how a dichotomous key works, go through the motions using shark orders, families, genus, etc…
Click for a printable Shark Classification Chart. It is debatable if there are eight or 10 orders of sharks - research which is correct! Remember, scientists don't always agree with one another.

Click here for a printable version of activity ideas.

For more activities for grades 4-8 and secondary schools, based on Sharkwater, visit their website at www.sharkwater.com .