Kenneth Mallory

As a person who has a fear of sharks this book was very informational. The New England aquarium sends the narrator on a mission to help make an IMAX movie about scalloped hammerhead sharks. The narrator receives a lot of valuable information about hammerhead sharks from marine biologist Pete Klimley, who is most familiar with scalloped hammerhead sharks. I learned several very interesting facts about sharks from this book. The fact I found most interesting was that medical researches have interest in sharks because they have the ability to resist diseases, and they provide clues for curing AIDS. I was also surprised to find out that sharks aren't as dangerous as most people think. Out of the 390 species of sharks most don't even bother humans.… (más)

In this book of the Scientists in the Field Series, the main point of the book is hammerhead sharks. I learned many things from reading this book, like there are nine different types of hammerheads. This book was written in 2001, therefore I would probably check for a more recent book so that the information would be accurate. The pictures in the book were photographs taken by either the author or gotten from someone else. I love how at the end of the book they have a page dedicated to what we can do to help sharks and a suggestion for further reading.… (más)

There are many different hammer head sharks. I thought that there was just one, but their happens to be nine of them. They are all also very different. Pete Klimley has studied sharks since he worked at a zoo, and today he still does. He does his own research. He is now a marine biologist. He has been researching on hammerhead sharks being killers and dangerous. Actually, he found that they are quite harmless. He also learned that they have different behaviors than other sharks. They swim in schools, and most of them being females. They all stay in the same area, even if they split. Its like they have their own gps system. These sharks can also identify fear through waves of holes in their skin, which I thought is very interesting.… (más)

The book “Swimming with Hammerhead Sharks” is a fantastic transitional, nonfiction book. The main reason I thought it was such a great book was because of all the extra features that go along with the text. The book includes photographs, tables, captions, maps, labeled illustrations, an index, and suggestions for further reading. This keeps the book extremely organized and easy to follow. Another reason is because the book describes complicated topics such as magnetic attraction and tracking devices in ways that younger readers could understand. For instance, “The sensors also transmit information about heading, dive-depth, water temperature, and the like, so we can not only track movement but also learn about behavior and the environment that they’re orienting in.” Although this still seems fairly complicated, the accompanying features make it understandable, while likely teaching children new vocabulary at the same time. This book challenges readers to look further than the text to clarify information, which is a very important skill for children to learn. Lastly, the book attempts to fight the stereotype of sharks as primitive and vicious killers. The big idea of the book is to highlight the sophisticated social behaviors of hammerhead sharks.… (más)