TJ's Example

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Get the Facts
You’re the detective, looking for clues, patterns, and relationships to help solve a problem or answer a question.

What You Know in Your "Knower"
List what you already know about this topic. Include your own thoughts and opinions.

Inference
Use facts and clues (Step 1) along with what you already know (Step 2) to draw your own conclusions.

Shark Attack Database- NC
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/
Sharks/Statistics/statsnc.htm

There were only 2 shark attacks in 19 years, between 1957 and 1976.
5 attacks in the 1980s
5 attacks in the 1990s
5 attacks in the year 2000 alone!!!
only 2 attacks in 2001
only 2 people, since 1957, have died after being attacked off coast of NC

Why were there so many shark attacks in the year 2000?

Get the facts straight.

I know

that blood attracts sharks.
splashing in water attracts sharks
I’ve never seen a shark at the beach I visit.
the weather was different because of El Nino
there are strong underwater currents at the beach
Great Whites attack people

Show what you know.

I think there were more shark attacks in 2000 because:

there must be more sharks in the water now than before?
Sharks think people are other fish and bite them
El Nino? Maybe?Strange weather makes the sharks behave strangely?
Maybe strong underwater currents are brining more sharks to the beaches??

Look beyond the obvious.
Create new ideas.

Step 4: Check yourself!

I found this in NC WiseOwl, Reference Zone, Kids Edition: SHARK ATTACK! (what causes some sharks to attack people) Weekly Reader, Edition 3 (including Science Spin) Oct 5, 2001 v71 i5 p1 -I need to look for more information on sharks and why they attack. This article was very short. There are more attacks because there are more people living on the coast and more people swimming and participating in water sports.

Another Web site: Sharks! http://www.infoplease.com/spot/sharks1.html
Books I found: Hungry, Hungry Sharks, by Joanna Cole and Terror Below!, by Dana del Prado

(I was wrong about El Nino!!!) Sharks mistake shiny jewelry for fish scales. They feed in early morning and evening. Sharks that attack people are the great white, the tiger shark and the bull shark. Humans are more dangerous to sharks. Humans hunted or accidentally killed 100 million sharks in 2000! Most shark attacks were in Florida. Sharks mistake surfers, boogie boarders, and windsurfers for seals. Sharks really like to eat seals. Any shark 6 feet or more long is powerful enough to kill a person.