Mississippi Science ZOO.7.4
The Standard
- ZOO.7
- Students will understand the structure and function of phylum Chordata, classes Chondrichthyes and Osteichthyes, and how they demonstrate the characteristics of living things.
Describe how the body and jaw design of sharks make them adept predators.
2026 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science · Phylum Chordata, Classes Chondrichthyes and Osteichthyes
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify how a shark’s body helps it move toward prey. They explain how its jaw and teeth help it catch and eat prey.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can explain that a streamlined body reduces drag and a powerful tail provides thrust. They can show how a jaw that moves forward helps grab prey, while teeth grip or cut it.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think the side fins push sharks forward, rather than the tail. They may also think shark jaws stay fixed in place or that every shark has the same kind of teeth.
How to Assess It
- Give students a shark outline. Ask them to label the tail, body shape, and jaw, then write one sentence explaining how each helps the shark catch prey.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Make a sliding paper jaw on a shark cutout, then test whether it can reach a paper fish placed just beyond its snout.
Ask students to write: How might a hunt change if a shark’s jaw could not move forward?
Give pairs cards showing tails, body shapes, jaws, and teeth, and have them match each feature to a prey-catching advantage.
Pause a shark-feeding video before the bite and ask students to predict what the tail and jaw will do next.
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Printable ZOO.7.4 Worksheet
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Related Standards
- ZOO.9.5
Explain how birds of prey use their keen sense of sight to locate and attack prey.
- ZOO.3.6
Examine how the unique characteristics of cephalopods lead to survival.
- ZOO.7.3
Identify specific fish species and characteristics that differentiate class Chondrichthyes (e.g., sharks, skates, and rays).
- MAQ.7.5
Dissect representative taxa (e.g., shark, fish); collect data; compare their internal and external anatomy; and analyze, explain, and communicate results.
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