Education

General Questions

What is an Elasmobranch?

What is the difference between a skate and a ray?

The Origin of Sharks

Shark Taxonomy

Skate and Ray Taxonomy

Shark Education Tools

Florida's Museum of Natural History has several resources for shark education including:

• Shark Basics
• More in depth Shark Biology
• Visit the International Shark Attack File for interesting statistics on shark attacks.
• Megalodon: The Largest Shark That Ever Lived Educators Guide (includes biological information and lesson plans) and an accompanying PowerPoint presentation 

The National Aquarium has a shark fact sheet, middle school reading level.

The Shark Research Institute provides a variety of student worksheets on the anatomy and biology of sharks.

The Shark Trust has put together a Marine Educators Teaching Toolkit which is focused on improving both understanding and fascination of coastal and marine habitats along with the species found within them.

MOTE Marine Lab has a shark tracking lesson plan available HERE. It's target age range is for 5-9 grade, students will learn about the latest in shark tracking technology and explore juvenile shark ecology.

General Ocean Knowledge

MOTE Marine Lab rents classroom kits for free. The kit includes dolphin skeletons and corresponding curriculum for both middle school and high school. 

MOTE has also produced a series of short videos, with classroom guides and activities, for grades 5-8. DVDs of the videos can be purchased HERE for $15.