🐢 Leatherback sea turtle report template
Three versions, one page each. Print the one for your child’s grade. The facts come from the leatherback sea turtle page, every number with its source.
Grades 1–2
My report: the leatherback sea turtle
Dermochelys coriacea · Grades 1–2
| Length | 4.9 to 5.9 ft (1.5 to 1.8 m) |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | not checked yet: look it up! |
| Weight | 750 to 1,000 lb (340 to 454 kg) |
| Top speed | not checked yet: look it up! |
| How long it lives | 50 years |
Read about it
The leatherback is the biggest sea turtle. Its shell is soft and leathery, with ridges down its back. It eats jellyfish.
It lives in:
It eats:
The coolest thing I learned:
Where my facts came from
- NOAA Fisheries, fisheries.noaa.gov/species/leatherback-turtle, checked 2026-10-30
Grades 3–4
My report: the leatherback sea turtle
Dermochelys coriacea · Grades 3–4
| Length | 4.9 to 5.9 ft (1.5 to 1.8 m) |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | not checked yet: look it up! |
| Weight | 750 to 1,000 lb (340 to 454 kg) |
| Top speed | not checked yet: look it up! |
| How long it lives | 50 years |
Read about it
A leatherback's back is covered in tough, rubbery skin instead of hard plates. It dives deeper than any other turtle to find jellyfish, and soft spines in its throat point backward to help it swallow them. Thick fat helps it stay warm, so it can swim far into cold water.
Where it lives (its habitat):
What it eats:
How its body helps it live there:
My favorite fact:
A question I still have:
Where my facts came from
- NOAA Fisheries, fisheries.noaa.gov/species/leatherback-turtle, checked 2026-10-30
Grades 5–6
My report: the leatherback sea turtle
Dermochelys coriacea · Grades 5–6
| Length | 4.9 to 5.9 ft (1.5 to 1.8 m) |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | not checked yet: look it up! |
| Weight | 750 to 1,000 lb (340 to 454 kg) |
| Top speed | not checked yet: look it up! |
| How long it lives | 50 years |
Read about it
Leatherbacks belong to an old family of turtles that goes back to the time of the dinosaurs. They cross whole oceans, and their bodies stay warm enough for them to visit cold northern seas. Floating plastic bags can look like jellyfish to a hungry turtle, so keeping beaches and seas clean helps leatherbacks. People also change fishing nets and hooks so that turtles can get away safely.
Habitat and range: where on Earth, and what the place is like:
Diet: what it eats, and what might eat it:
Adaptations: two ways its body or habits help it survive:
Is it in danger? Why or why not?:
Compare it with another animal you know:
Bibliography: write each source below as site, page title, date checked:
Where my facts came from
- NOAA Fisheries, fisheries.noaa.gov/species/leatherback-turtle, checked 2026-10-30