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Table of Contents

Chapter 1: What is a Shark? Page 2Chapter 2: Types of Sharks Page 5Chapter 3: Shark’s Life-Cycle Page 8Chapter 4: Diet Page 11Chapter 5: Habitat Page 12Chapter 6: Shark Attacks Page 14

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Chapter OneWhat is a Shark?

Sharks have been around for over 400 million years. You may not know this, but sharks are a part of the fish family.

Sharks are good survivors. They

haven’t had to change their bodies in over 150 million years!

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Like other fish, sharks have a backbone (they are vertebrates) and they have fins to help them swim. Since sharks live in water, they have gills to help them breath.

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It appears that sharks have smooth skin, however, their bodies are covered with scales called dermal denticles. Sharks are cold blooded (just like reptiles). They can also be born alive or they can hatch from eggs.

Dermal denticles protect the shark from getting hurt.

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Chapter TwoTypes of Sharks

There are around 500 different kinds of sharks in the oceans and seas around the world.

Angel Shark• Angel Sharks have an unusual shape and they blend in with

the ocean floor.

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Blue Shark• The Blue Shark can leap out of the water.

Basking Shark• The Basking Shark is the second largest shark

in the world. It can be up to 30 feet long and it can weigh up to 8,000 pounds!

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Black-Tip Reef Shark• The Black-Tip Reef Shark is about six feet long.

This shark is gray and has a black-tipped fin.

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Chapter ThreeShark’s Life-Cycle

Sharks can be born in different ways. They can hatch inside their mother’s stomach and then be born alive. Sharks can also lay eggs and then the babies hatch. They can also be born alive (without an egg). When sharks are born, they are called pups. Sharks can have from one to one hundred babies at a time (depending on what kind it is).

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Adult sharks don’t take care of their pups. They do find a safe place to lay their eggs. The pups are able to hunt and take care of themselves right after birth. Depending on what kind of shark it is, they can live from 25 to 150 years.

Shark Pup

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Chapter FourDiet

Almost all sharks are carnivores. The teeth of carnivores are sharp and pointy. Sharks eat sea mammals, such as, dolphins and sea lions. They can even eat other sharks. Most of the time sharks eat alone.

Sharks have the most powerful

jaws on the planet!

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Chapter FiveHabitat

Did you know that sharks live in both freshwater and saltwater all around the World? Most all sharks live in saltwater, but the Bull Shark and the River Shark can both survive in freshwater. Sharks have been found in the Mississippi River and the Amazon River.

Bull Shark

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Sharks that live in the ocean can be found on the ocean floor, the surface, or in between. Different sharks like different water temperatures. The Bull Shark likes warm water, the Blue Shark likes temperate water and the Goblin Shark likes cool water.

Some sharks travel around to different oceans, while others stay in the same region their whole life.

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Chapter SixShark Attacks

Have you ever wondered how many shark attacks there are every year? There are usually less than one hundred shark attacks each year. More people are killed by bees and lightning than by sharks.

Scientists believe that sometimes sharks mistake people for sea

lions or dolphins.

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When sharks are getting ready to attack, they arch their back and throw back their head. This helps them to get a bigger bite. Before the attack, the shark swings its tail in short strokes so that they can swim faster.

Two –thirds of a shark’s

brain is dedicated to smell.

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There are twenty-five species of sharks that are known to attack people. The sharks that attack people live near the surface of the water where people swim. The Bull Shark is the shark that attacks people the most often. Other sharks that have been known to attack humans are the Great White Shark and the Tiger Shark.

Great White Shark

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Even though sharks can be aggressive, they are an important part of the oceans and seas of the world.

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Glossary

aggressive forceful energyarch to form into a curvecarnivores a flesh-eating animaldermal denticles rough skin coveringgills an organ that gets oxygen from waterregion a land area with similar featuressurface upper part of an objecttemperate moderate climatevertebrates having a back bone

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Index

vertebrates 1,fins 1gills 1dermal denticles 4cold blooded 4birth 4, 8, 9Angel Shark 5Blue Shark 6, 13Basking Shark 6Black-Tip Reef Shark 7pups 8, 9, 10life-cycle 8, 9, 10carnivores 11teeth 11saltwater 12, 13, 16freshwater 12Bull Shark 13Goblin Shark 13shark attacks 14, 15, 16

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Photo Credits

Page 2: http://wallpapers-xs.blogspot.com/2012/10/sharks-desktop-wallpapers.htmlPage 3: http://www.exploringnature.org/db/detail.php?dbID=43&detID=1177Page 4: http://www.sharkwatchsa.com/en/blog/category/482/post/1149/shark-skin-white-shark/Page 5: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%EC%A0%84%EC%9E%90%EB%A6%AC%EC%83%81%EC%96%B4_(Japanese_Angel_Shark,_Squatina_japonica).jpgPage 6: http://www.sharkguardian.org/august-september-2012-update/blue-shark-2/ http://www.itsnature.org/sea/fish/basking-shark/Page 7: http://www.pittsburghzoo.org/ppganimal.aspx?id=14Page 9: http://vimeo.com/52472718Page 10: http://larvalsubjects.wordpress.com/2012/06/09/the-question-of-flat-ethics/Page 11: www.sharkobsessed.comPage 12: http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/nmagrisso/breaking_illinois_stands_up_fo.htmlPage 13: http://fineartamerica.com/featured/sharks-circling-near-a-dive-boat-brian-j-skerry.htmlPage 14: http://news.discovery.com/animals/sharks/great-white-shark-bites.htmPage 15: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/photos/great-white-sharks/Page 16: http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/education/education.html