🦈 Whale shark report template
Three versions, one page each. Print the one for your child’s grade. The facts come from the whale shark page, every number with its source.
Grades 1–2
My report: the whale shark
Rhincodon typus · Grades 1–2
| Length | 40 ft (12 m) |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | not checked yet: look it up! |
| Weight | 40 tons (36 tonnes) |
| Top speed | not checked yet: look it up! |
| How long it lives | 60 to 100 years |
Read about it
The whale shark is the biggest fish in the sea. It is a shark, not a whale. It swims along with its mouth open to catch tiny food.
It lives in:
It eats:
The coolest thing I learned:
Where my facts came from
- NOAA National Ocean Service, oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/bigfish.html, checked 2026-10-30
Grades 3–4
My report: the whale shark
Rhincodon typus · Grades 3–4
| Length | 40 ft (12 m) |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | not checked yet: look it up! |
| Weight | 40 tons (36 tonnes) |
| Top speed | not checked yet: look it up! |
| How long it lives | 60 to 100 years |
Read about it
A whale shark is a fish, so it breathes with gills, not lungs like a whale. It swims slowly with its huge mouth open and sieves tiny plankton out of the water. Every whale shark has its own pattern of pale spots and lines.
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 National Ocean Service, oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/bigfish.html, checked 2026-10-30
Grades 5–6
My report: the whale shark
Rhincodon typus · Grades 5–6
| Length | 40 ft (12 m) |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | not checked yet: look it up! |
| Weight | 40 tons (36 tonnes) |
| Top speed | not checked yet: look it up! |
| How long it lives | 60 to 100 years |
Read about it
Whale sharks are the largest fish alive, yet they live on some of the smallest food: plankton, krill and tiny fish. Their wide mouths are lined with filters that sieve the food from big gulps of water. Scientists tell one whale shark from another by its spot pattern, and photos from divers help them follow where each one travels. Whale sharks are endangered, partly because they are caught in fishing nets by accident, so many countries now protect them.
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 National Ocean Service, oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/bigfish.html, checked 2026-10-30