Report Writing

Over the past little while, we have been learning how to write non-fiction reports in our language class. We started by reading a number of non-fiction pieces and finding the main ideas and details. We also learned to differentiate between fact and opinion. Finally, we read an article and broke it down into an outline the author might have used to plan his or her thinking.

Now we are working on developing our own outlines for a report. We began by using some facts about Great white sharks and identifying facts that could be grouped together into subtopics about great white sharks. Then we used those groupings to organise the facts into an outline. Finally, we began writing a short report about great white sharks, which some students are still working on. Here is an example of a report and an outline that was used to assist in planning.

It isn’t widely known that each year more people are killed by chairs and toasters than sharks. The great white shark is a very interesting animal. They have amazing adaptations and hunting skills, as well as a unique breeding cycle.

Sharks have an incredible breeding cycle. Sharks give birth to live young, after the gestation period of over 12 months. They have small litters of 2-10 baby sharks, which are called pups. The pups are 1.2-1.7m long at birth, but have no parental care. Once the pups are born, the mother leaves them to fend for themselves. Their breeding cycle is different than most of the other creatures from the sea.

Because great white sharks live deep in the water, they have to adapt to their habitat to survive. Lucky for them, they already adapted perfectly to their environment. They have six senses; sight, smell, taste, touch, hearing and electroreception. Electroreception can detect the electric field given off by any living thing. The rest of their senses are strong too, they can see in colour during the day and night, and can smell blood from really far away. They also have taste buds in their mouth and throat, so they can really taste that good fish flavour. They even don’t have any eyelids and can live more than 6 years long! You would have to be really committed to get a great white as a pet! Great whites are incredible creatures, with even cooler adaptations.

Now let’s get to the cool part, hunting. Sharks are some of the most successful predators in the world. They live on a diverse diet of many types of fish and other sea creatures and they can catch food in many different ways. One of those ways is called spyhopping, where the shark sticks it’s head out of the water to search for prey. Sharks are perfectly adapted to hunting in their habitat.

So that’s why great white sharks are perfect hunters, are amazingly adapted to their habitat and how they have a unique breeding cycle. Remember, sharks kill about 5 people per year, so the next time you watch the movie Jaws, don’t be scared because that’s not a real shark.

Here is the outline that the student used:

1. Introduction

2. Breeding

• Live young
• Gestation over 12 months
• Small litters - 2-10 baby sharks called pups
• Pups are 1.2 - 1.7 m long at birth
• No parental care

3. Adaptations

• Sharks have six senses: sight, smell, taste, touch, hearing and electroreception.
• Electrosense can detect the electric field given off by all living animals
• See in the day, night and see colour
• Strongest smell of all sharks can smell blood far away
• Taste buds in mouth and throat
• No eyelids
• More than 60 years

4. Hunting

• One of the most successful predators in the world
• Live on diverse diet
• Many different ways to catch food
• Stick head out of water called spyhopping

5. Conclusion