Each child chose the name of a whale or shark "out of a hat."  They were given a sheet of 24" x 36" white bristol board, which was sectioned off into the following topics:

·       Appearance

·       Enemies

·       Habitat and migration

·       Babies

·       Food

·       Fun facts

·       Pictures.

 The children to given approximately one month to complete the project, and each were given the opportunity to share the information about their shark or whale with their peers.

Children were encouraged to use a variety of different mediums for gathering their research information (i.e.  encyclopedias, magazines, reference books and the internet.

This project was particularly beneficial to those children who found "public speaking"  difficult.  The excitement of presenting their project and sharing their information seemed to make them forget their anxiety.

Here are some of the comments expressed by the children:

·       "I sure learned a lot about my whale."

·       My Mom and Dad loved helping me do this."

·       I learned how to print pictures from the internet."

·       "I was so excited to share my presentation."

·       "My favorite part was finding the Fun Facts."

·       "My shark is the fastest swimming of all the sharks in the world."

·       "When can I do another research project?"

Submitted by Patti Fleger of St. Monica Catholic Elementary and Kelli Ewasiuk of Mary Hanley Catholic School

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