SHARK!!!!!!!!!!!

My 8yo has been really into sharks lately. I have no idea what spurred this fascination but I think they are his favorite animal at the moment. 

For his birthday, he requested a shark cake. 

We went to Sea World last week and he LOVED the shark exhibit. All the way through the tunnel, he asked, "What kind of shark is that? What kind of shark is that?..." I admit I am a little disappointed with the direction Sea World has taken. The last time I was there was more than ten years ago but I seem to remember them giving more information on the animals. Now it seems to focus more on entertainment than education... but I digress.... AGAIN... sorry I do that a lot... 

ANYWAY... I decided to get some books from the library about sharks. Most of the books are just full of boring facts. Not that my 8 year old wouldn't LOVE them anyway. I finally found The Shark: Silent Hunter by  Renee Le Bloas and Jerome Julienne. If you click on the link and look inside the book you can read the first page. You will see that this is not just a book of facts. The story paints a beautiful picture. Also the pictures are amazing. I like that it is a fun book to read. 

I also got some of the boring fact books from the library. Actually, facts about sharks are not the least bit boring. Did you know that shark babies are born 3 different ways??? Some hatch from eggs, others hatch from eggs inside their mother, and others are born live. One breed of shark conceives more than one baby at a time but the strongest one eats it's siblings in order to survive until birth... a rather fascinating fact to a pregnant woman like myself. 

I knew it was a good little side unit when my husband checked on my son at 10 pm and my 8yo was still awake, he had sneaked his shark book into bed and was reading it. My son is the kind of person who falls asleep mid-sentence at 9pm on the dot. It was very out of character. Besides, I don't know many kids who sneak text books in to read at bedtime. 

I have been asking him to read a page or 2 out of The Shark: Silent Hunter and then write a sentence, something that he learned from the reading. 

You could also print off one of the ocean maps from this site and have your child color in the oceans where certain sharks are found. 

Lesson Pathways has some great links for a shark study. 

Homeschoolshare has a lapbook if you LOVE lapbooks. 

School Express has a unit study for only $2.00. 

There are lots of fun ways to explore sharks. You can even go top off your study with a trip to an aquarium.... if you are not afraid...