Welcome, Ocean Explorer! (5 minutes)
Let's talk about sharks! Sharks are amazing fish that live in the big, wide ocean. Have you ever heard of a shark with a funny-shaped head? It's called a Hammerhead shark! Imagine a shark whose head is wide, like the tool called a hammer, or the letter 'T'. This special shape is super useful!
Discovering Hammerheads (10 minutes)
Why do you think they have such a wide head? (Pause for guesses) It helps them see better! Their eyes are way out on the ends of the 'hammer', so they can see almost all the way around them. This helps them find yummy food like stingrays hiding on the sandy ocean floor. Hammerheads swim in warm ocean waters all around the world. Let's pretend to swim like a Hammerhead, looking side to side!
Craft Time: Make a Hammerhead Headband! (15-20 minutes)
Now, let's make our own Hammerhead shark heads!
- Take your strip of white paper. This will be your headband. You can draw ocean waves or little fish on it if you like!
- Help your grown-up measure it around your head and tape or glue it into a circle that fits.
- Now, take the gray or brown paper. Can you draw a shape like a wide rectangle or a hammer head? It doesn't have to be perfect! Your grown-up can help you draw or cut it out.
- Glue your hammer shape onto the front of your headband.
- Add eyes! You can draw eyes on the very ends of the hammer shape, or glue on googly eyes if you have them.
- Optional: Draw a shark mouth under the hammer shape on the headband part.
- Wear your awesome Hammerhead headband!
Ocean Habitat (Optional Extension, 5-10 minutes)
Where do Hammerheads live? In the ocean! You can draw an ocean home for your Hammerhead on blue paper, or if you have a sensory bin, pretend your hand (wearing the headband like a puppet) is a Hammerhead swimming and looking for food.
Wrap-up: What Did We Learn? (5 minutes)
Wow, look at your cool headbands! What kind of shark did we learn about today? (Hammerhead!) What's special about its head? (It's wide like a hammer!) Where does it live? (In the ocean!) You are now Hammerhead experts! Great job, ocean explorers!
Assessment Notes:
Observe the student's participation in discussion and the craft activity. Ask simple recall questions (e.g., 'Show me where the Hammerhead's eyes are on your craft', 'What shape is its head?', 'Does it live in a house or the ocean?'). Assess understanding based on their verbal responses and their ability to follow directions for the craft, noting their identification of the key features on their creation.
Differentiation:
Support: Pre-cut the hammer shape. Provide assistance with gluing or taping. Focus on identifying the shark and its habitat.
Challenge: Encourage the student to draw more details on the headband (gills, teeth) or draw the Hammerhead's full body in its ocean habitat, perhaps including animals it might eat.