Sharks: Predators of the Deep Guess the Covered Word Lesson Created by: Morgan Blanton

Guess the Covered Word Reading Strategy Start Where is the word? Beginning, middle, or end of the sentence? What about grammatical cues? Think What makes sense? Look How long is the word? Listen Letters, suffixes, prefixes, syllables known “little words”

Think Guess the Covered Word Strategy Start Look Listen

According to scientists, sharks have been around for 400 million years According to scientists, sharks have been around for 400 million years! They are such good predators and so good at surviving, that they haven’t had to evolve, or change, in over 150 million years. They were even around before the dinosaurs! This prehistoric shark was called the megalodon.

Megalodon and the Great White If you were to compare the megalodon and the great white shark, the white shark would look tiny next to the megalodon.

Teeth A shark may go through 20,000 teeth in its lifetime. It will never run out of teeth! It is constantly growing new ones, so if it loses one, another slides up in its place. As you can see in the picture, sharks have rows and rows of backup teeth.

Carnivores Sharks are carnivores, which means that they are meat eaters. They feed on other sea animals and sometimes even other sharks. You can tell that they are carnivores because of their sharp teeth. Plant eating animals have dull teeth for grinding their food, but meat eaters need sharp teeth to help them tear it.

Gentle Giants The largest sharks are not the most ferocious, though. The basking shark, the whale shark, and megamouth sharks are not aggressive carnivores, although they do eat other animals. They feed on plankton, which are tiny shrimp-like creatures. They swim through the water with their mouths open, letting “gill rakers” in the back of their throats strain the plankton from the water.

Shark Babies Sharks have babies in three different ways, depending on which type of shark it is. Some lay eggs like a bird does. Others hatch eggs inside the mother shark. There are others that give birth to live “pups” like humans give birth to live babies. Some sharks have only one baby in their lifetime, but others can have up to 100. Sharks do not care for their babies after they are born.

Swell Shark Egg Horn Shark Egg Zebra Shark Pup Black Tip Pup

Shark Senses A shark’s most keen sense is its ability to smell. Two thirds of its brain is dedicated to this sense. Sharks have two senses that humans do not have. They have a “lateral line” that help them detect movement in the water. They also have an organ that can feel electrical currents given off by other animals.

References Kids Zone http://www.kidzone.ws/sharks/facts.htm