Worksheet: Sharks. Activity Sheet. Foundation Phase Grade 2-3 Learning area: Natural Sciences LO1 Scientific investigation AS2 AS3

Transcription

1 Worksheet: Sharks Foundation Phase Grade 2-3 Learning area: Natural Sciences LO1 Scientific investigation AS2 AS3 Activity Sheet Activity 1: omparing shark teeth Look at the pictures of shark teeth below. Match the teeth to the shark pictures. Draw the picture of the tooth next to each shark in the space provided. Why do you think these teeth are so different from each other? 1. Mako shark Diagram of tooth 2. Hammer head shark EDUATOR S RESOURE PAK West oast Fossil Park 1

2 3. Blue shark Diagram of tooth 4. Great white shark 5. Sand tiger shark Activity 2: Research the Megalodon Megalodon was an ancient, now extinct, shark. It was the biggest shark to cruise the seas millions of years ago. Megalodon was about 13 to 20 metres long and weighed kilograms. It was at least two or three times longer than the modern Great White Shark! EDUATOR S RESOURE PAK West oast Fossil Park 2

3 The word megalodon means giant tooth. Scientists think Megalodon s teeth were similar to the Great White Shark. Since the teeth of Megalodon and Great Whites are very similar, scientists have researched how the Great White lives in order to work out how Megalodon lived many, many years ago. Did you know that shark bones are made of cartilage and do not generally fossilize? As a result, the main proof we have of extinct shark species is their teeth, which fossilize relatively easily. Questions: 1. Find out as much as possible about Megalodon. Find out when it lived, what it ate, and how it hunted. 2. Draw a labelled diagram showing the different parts of its body. Make a poster showing what you found out about Megalodon. 3. How do the teeth of other sharks compare to that of the Megalodon? 4. Why do you think the Megalodon shark no longer swims in our seas? 5. What do you understand about the word extinction? When you visit the Fossil Park, be sure to look out for the tooth from a Megalodon! Activity 3: Shark puzzle: Put it together olour in the picture of the different sharks. ut the pieces of the pictures on the dotted lines. After you have cut out the pieces, put them back together again. You may want to glue your shark puzzle onto another sheet of paper. EDUATOR S RESOURE PAK West oast Fossil Park 3

4 EDUATOR S RESOURE PAK West oast Fossil Park 4

5 Teacher notes Activity 1: omparing shark teeth Learners are to study the shark teeth and match them to the specific shark shown in the pictures below. 1. Mako shark Diagram of tooth 2. Hammer 3. Blue shark 4. Great white shark 5. Sand tiger EDUATOR S RESOURE PAK West oast Fossil Park 5

6 Activity 2: Research the Megalodon Notes from EnchantedLearning.com, to assist learners with their research on the Megalodon. MEGALODON SHARK (meaning Giant Tooth ) Megalodon (archarodon megalodon) was an extinct meat-eating shark, that lived between million years ago during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs. Megalodon may have been 15 or 31m long, at least two or three times as long as the Great White Shark, but this is only an estimate made from many fossilized teeth and a few fossilized vertebrae that have been found. These giant teeth are the size of a person s hand! No other parts of this ancient shark have been found, so we can only guess what it looked like. Since Megalodon s teeth are very similar to the teeth of the Great White Shark (but bigger), it is thought that Megalodon may have looked like a huge version of the Great White Shark. Teeth: Megalodon s teeth were up to 17cm long. Like most sharks, its teeth were probably located in rows, which rotated into use, as they were needed. Most sharks have about five rows of teeth at any time. The front set does most of the work. The first two rows are used for obtaining prey; the other rows rotate into place, as they are needed. As teeth are lost, broken, or worn down, new teeth replace them. Megalodon may have had hundreds of teeth at one time. They did not chew their food as we do, but gulped it down whole in very large chunks. Diet: Megalodon s diet probably consisted mostly of whales. EDUATOR S RESOURE PAK West oast Fossil Park 6

7 Shark fossils are rare because sharks have no bones but only cartilage, which does not fossilize well. Fossilized shark teeth are very hard and fossilize well. Fossilized Megalodon teeth have been found in Europe, India, and in areas around Australia, New Zealand, New aledonia, North and South America, and Africa. Questions: 1. Use rubric to assess the poster. 2. The teeth are much smaller and some have a different shape. 3. It is extinct 4. Extinction of an animal or plant species happens when there are no more individuals of that species alive anywhere in the world. The entire species dies out. Activity 3: Shark Puzzle Get learners to colour in the picture of the different sharks before they cut the pieces on the dotted lines. EDUATOR S RESOURE PAK West oast Fossil Park 7