Sharks Lesson Plan: Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

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This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Sharks, and supports the standard of making observations of animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.

Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Ask students:

• What do you already know about sharks?
• What are you curious to know more about?

Step 2: BUILD KNOWLEDGE

• Read the description on the Sharks topic page.
• Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding. 
• Assign Related Reading articles. Have students read one of the following articles: “Did You Know?” or “Way Back When.” Partner them with someone who read a different article to share what they learned with each other.
  

Step 3: APPLY and ASSESS 

Assign Sharks Quiz, prompting students to apply essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.

Step 4: DEEPEN and EXTEND

Students express what they learned about sharks while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs.

• Make-a-Movie: Produce a science investigation about sharks that answers this question: What characteristics and behaviors help sharks survive?
• Make-a-Map: Create a concept map comparing and contrasting the physical characteristics of sharks and bony fish.
• Creative Coding: Code a digital museum exhibit featuring figures and artifacts to represent the diversity of shark species.
• Primary Source Activity: Examine artistic images of sharks, then cite details to answer accompanying questions.

More to Explore 

Sortify: Ocean Life: ​​Sort animal attributes, such as type of movement or defense mechanisms, in this learning game.

Related BrainPOP Topics: Deepen understanding of diverse sea life with these topics: Underwater World, Oceans, and Fish.

Teacher Support Resources:

• Pause Point Overview: Video tutorial showing how Pause Points actively engage students to stop, think, and express ideas.
• Learning Activities Modifications: Strategies to meet ELL and other instructional and student needs.
• Learning Activities Support: Resources for best practices using BrainPOP.