Swimming With Sharks

🎓 Audience

Education: Grade(s) K, 1, 2, 3, 4, Homeschool/Family, Learning Pod, Library Patrons

 🐾 Topics

Language Arts/English, Literacy, Reading, Science, STEM

🗂️ Format

• Introduction and Prior Knowledge: Learners are invited to share what they know about sharks, what they’ve observed in nature, and what they are curious to learn about ocean life and women in science.

• Segment 1 - Story Time: We read Swimming With Sharks: The Daring Discoveries of Eugenie Clark together. As the story unfolds, learners practice comprehension skills through guided discussion, explore biography as a genre, and connect to themes of curiosity, perseverance, and discovery.

• Segment 2 - Shark Science: After the story, we explore shark adaptations and diversity. Learners complete hands-on activities such as the Shark Parts activity sheet.

• Segment 3 - Q&A Session: We conclude with a live, educator-led Q&A about sharks, Dr. Eugenie Clark’s legacy, and how Mote scientists study and care for marine life today.

🎯 Objectives

1. Observe and describe the physical features, adaptations, and behaviors of sharks.

2. Compare shark species and their adaptations to other marine animals, highlighting similarities and differences.

3. Engage in a dialogue about ocean habitats, shark diversity, and the role of women in science, with a focus on Dr. Eugenie Clark’s pioneering career.

4. Develop literacy, reading comprehension, and confidence in asking science-related questions through journaling, interactive discussion, and activities such as the Shark Parts anatomy exercise.

✏️ Standards this program supports

Common Core

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.K.RI.1 – With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.1.RI.1 – Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.1.RL.5 – Explain major differences between books that tell stories and books that give information, drawing on a wide reading of a range of text types.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.2.RI.1 – Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.3.RF.3b – Decode words with common Latin suffixes.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.3.RL.1 – Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.3.RL.4 – Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.4.RI.1 – Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

Next Generation Science Standards

• 3-LS2- Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, Dynamics.

• 3-LS3- Heredity: Inheritance & Variation of Traits

• 3-LS4- Biological Evolution: Unity & Diversity

• 4-LS1- From Molecule to Organism: Structures and Processes

• 5-LS2- Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, Dynamics.

• 5-ESS3- Earth and Human Activity

Ocean Literacy Principles

• • Ocean Literacy Principle #5 – The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems.

  • Ocean Literacy Principle #6 – The ocean and humans are inextricably interconnected.

UN SDGs

• • 14 - Life Below Water

Florida Next Generation Sunshine State Standards (NGSSS)

• SC.K.L.14.3 – Observe plants and animals, describe how they are alike and how they are different in the way they look and in the things they do. Application: Learners compare sharks to other ocean animals by observing fins, gills, teeth, and behaviors.

• SC.1.L.14.1 – Make observations of living things and their environment using the five senses. Application: Learners explore shark body parts and senses (e.g., smell, sight, electroreception) and how they help sharks survive.

• SC.2.L.17.1 – Compare and contrast the basic needs that all living things, including humans, have for survival. Application: Learners compare shark needs (oxygen from water, sleep, food, habitat) with those of humans.

• SC.3.L.15.1 – Classify animals into major groups according to their physical characteristics and behaviors. Application: Learners classify sharks as fish and compare their traits to other fish or marine animals.

• SC.4.L.17.4 – Recognize ways plants and animals, including humans, can impact the environment. Application: Learners explore how humans have historically misunderstood sharks, how research like Eugenie Clark’s helped shift perceptions, and how people today can protect sharks and ocean habitats.

• SC.5.L.17.1 – Compare and contrast adaptations displayed by animals and plants that enable them to survive in different environments. Application: Learners identify specific shark adaptations and relate them to survival in different ocean habitats.

☑️ Evaluation Link

When answering these questions, please focus on the quality of the content and not the technology. You can answer anonymously. After clicking Did the program take place?, choose if you are you an Educator or Parent.

• cilc.org/ContentProvider/Evaluation

• biography: A true story about someone’s life

• biologist: A scientist who studies living things, like animals and plants

• clever: Quick to learn or figure things out; smart and creative 

• discover: To find or learn something for the first time 

• dissected: Cut apart carefully to study how something is made

• diverse: Showing a lot of variety or differences 

• environment: The surroundings where a person, animal, or plant lives 

• frenzy: Wild, fast, and often excited or out-of-control activity

• gills: Body parts fish and sharks use to breathe underwater

• hatchery: A place where animals are born or hatched and cared for

• ichthyologist: A scientist who studies fish

• kelp: A large type of seaweed that grows in the ocean

• magnificent: Very beautiful or impressive

• mesmerized: So amazed or fascinated that you can’t look away

• oceanography: The study of the ocean and everything in it

• parasite: Tiny creature that live on or inside another animal and gets food from it

• remora: A fish that attaches to sharks and other animals to get free rides and leftover food

• requiem: A kind of shark that includes many fast-swimming species like the tiger shark

• scientist: A person who studies and learns about the natural world

• sophisticated: Smart or advanced in design or thinking

• timid: Shy or not very brave

• voracious: Very hungry or eating a lot of food quickly

• zoologist: A scientist who studies animals and how they live

Play Genie Bingo

Play virtual bingo using a computer, smartphone or tablet during your program to focus on key concepts and vocabulary.

• Online

• On paper/PDF

🌐 Websites

• Explore our online Shark Research Exhibit

• Explore our online Shark Lady Exhibit

• Author Heather Lang's book site

  • 📑 Activity Guide

📚 Books & Publications

• Swimming with Sharks, The Daring Discoveries of Eugenie Clark by Heather Lang and illustrated by Jordi Solano

• Gills Club interview with Dr. Eugenie Clark

📰 Mote News

• Read Mote News: Eugenie Clark

🖥️ Videos

• Interview with Dr. Eugenie Clark

• Shark Deterrent - Stripes Tested By Cousteau & Dr Eugenie Clark

• Half a Mile Down featuring Dr Eugenie Clark and Glen Loates 720p

• Shark Emoji guessing game