We have been talking a lot about life cycles lately, and now that it's summer one of our favorite themes is SHARKS! So it only makes sense that we would start out our shark unit with a life cycle project!
I won't lie...my girls love making these things! You can expect to see a lot more coming because they are a favorite activity lately...also the fastener brads come in packages of like 150! It's like someone thinks that if we need one, we need 150!
Anyway, the brown banded bamboo shark is a fantastic animal! It eats at night, lives in the warm waters of coral reefs and tide pools, and can survive out of the water for 12 hours! That's particularly convenient if you get stuck in a tide pool when the tide goes out...
Sharks in general have a huge variety in their life cycles. I made this spinner to showcase a shark that uses a "mermaid's purse" to grow their babies, but I think it's important to point out that only about 40% of sharks develop this way. Others lay eggs like most fish and still others lay eggs inside the mother shark. This last group (including the great white shark) will actually hatch inside her body and seem like they are "born live" as she delivers independent "pups."
But, more about the brown banded bamboo shark: it grows to be about three feet long. When it is an adult, it lays an egg sac where the baby shark develops. When it is mature, the baby will swim out of the sac. It will have dark bands on its body that will lighten as it grows. The mature brown banded bamboo shark is almost a solid color.
Here is a real picture of a juvenile...you can easily see the bands! I adjusted the lighting on the image so you can see it more clearly - click here for more details about the source and author.
The brown banded bamboo shark also has "barbels" that look like whiskers, so this shark is often called a catshark.
I like to let my preschoolers cut out each step in the life cycle, so we print out two black and white circles and one colored. They cut and glue a colored shark (or egg sac) in the correct order on one of the black and white cycle circles. Then they cut out a "viewer" from the final black and white circle and connect them all with a fastener brad!
You can download the Shark Life Cycle Activity HERE!
Also be sure to try out my shark science experiments (lots of awesome science going on here!) and see if you're interested in any of my other free ocean printables!
This shark life cycle is also part of my SHARK Preschool Activity Packet! You can learn more about that by clicking here or you can purchase it below!
Happy Educating,
Carla
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