Draw Your Own Conclusions

Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Detective ArtGet the Facts
You’re the detective, looking for clues, patterns, and relationships to help solve a problem or answer a question.
Thought ArtWhat You Know in Your "Knower"
List what you already know about this topic. Include your own thoughts and opinions.
Lightbulb ArtInference
Use facts and clues (Step 1) along with what you already know (Step 2) to draw your own conclusions.
  • 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.
On Target Art

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.
Weeks 19-24: Making Inferences