In this lesson students look at some of the adaptations of sharks and plan their own practical based around diffusion to investigate how sharks hunt and whether, in terms of shark attacks, it is safer to surf in warm or cold waters. This activity can be covered in one lesson or extended to provide students with an opportunity to look at the scientific method from planning to evaluation depending on class ability and/or time available.
You will need:
- Lesson plan
- Teacher presentation (Parts A and B)
- Shark card sort starter
- Equipment for class investigation
- Beakers (100 mL or 500 mL)
- Stopwatches
- Red food colouring (this is best to give to the students in small quantities in test tubes)
- Plastic pipettes
- Ice
- Kettles
- Thermometers
- Method handout
- Investigation helpsheets (Main or Higher)
- Diffusion and Keywords helpsheets (depending on ability of class)
- Plenary presentation slides
- Smithsonian shark hunt video (found below)
- Circle of life video (found below)
All of the presentations and files can be downloaded here. The student area of this website contains more information about shark adaptations, an amazing 360° video about great white sharks, and a quiz to test their knowledge from this lesson and independent learning.