Watson and the Shark
A mini inquiry project by room 123
September 2013
How Our Research Began
Weeks ago, our class saw a painting
called Watson and the Shark by John
Singleton Copley. At first, we focused on
the naked person flouting in the water. We
had lots of questions: Why was the person
naked? What happened? What kind of
shark is it? Where are they? Who are
they? We began our first inquiry project
and divided into research teams. Click
here to learn what we discovered.
Questions we asked:
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What is the story behind the painting?
Who is Watson?
Who painted the painting?
What kind of shark is in the painting?
Can sharks live in fresh water?
How can we protect ourselves from
sharks?
About the artist
Are you wondering about the artist of
Watson and the Shark? Well if you are,
read on! His name was John Singleton
Copley. He was born on July 3, in
Boston, Massachusetts. He painted
Watson and the Shark in 1778, when he
was 40 years old. You would think he
painted most of his paintings in
America, where he was born, actually
he painted most in the United Kingdom.
Sadly, he died there on September 9,
1815.
You might be wondering if he had a
family, well he did. He had a mother and
father, Richard and Mary Singleton
Copley. John also had a brother,
Henry Pelham. He had a wife,
Susanna Farnham Clarke, and a
son, John Copley Jr. That’s it, but
thanks for reading about John
Singleton Copley!
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Brook Watson
Do you see the boy in the water
this close to becoming shark food?
That person is Brook Watson. This
painting is based on the shark attack
in Havana Cuba. He survived, but
however he lost the lower part of his
right leg.
Brook was born on February
7th 1735. He was orphaned at age 6
and started living with his uncle. Then
his uncle tragically went bankrupt.
Witch caused him to start working in
the military in the revolutionary war.
Later ,he married Hellen Campbell .
They had no children. In his later years
he became the mayor of London
England. He became friends with John
Singleton Copley when he asked him
to paint the scene. He died October 2
1807 Watson.at age 72.We hope you
enjoyed learning
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The Story Behind it All
Have you ever seen the painting
Watson and the shark? If you have did you
wonder about the story behind it or did you
think it was just some painting a guy
created about a horrible event? Imagine
being a 14 year old boy about to be eaten by
a shark in Havana, Cuba. Well, that’s how
Brook Watson felt on the day of the
attack. He survived the shark attack. Isn’t
that surprising , because it happened in the
1700’s! But I guess he’s not playing soccer
ever again because, he lost the lower part of
his right leg! Now I know your probably
thinking what! That’s weird! Or he lost
some of his leg! We thought that too. If
you never want to read this again that’s
fine, because some of this is really weird.
But It’s a true story
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We wondered what type of shark was in the painting, Watson and the Shark.
We got a total of 9 different types of sharks in Havana Cuban waters.
We got the great white, gray nurse shark, bull shark, Hammer head,
whale shark, Caribbean reef shark, Oceanic white tip shark, basking shark,
And the tiger shark. The whale shark, and the tiger shark eat shrimp and
plankton. The bull shark, Hammer head, great white shark are endangered,
that means there are not a lot of their species. Thanks for reading our project.
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Can sharks live in freshwater
Do you think that sharks can live
in freshwater? Well they can,
there are also other dangerous
sharks that live an freshwater
like the pig eye and the
Ganges shark. And the most
aggressive that can live in
freshwater the bull shark! I
know what your thinking a
bull! Well the bull shark is
even more aggressive! People
have found bull sharks in
freshwater and salt water. Now
do you change your mind
about if they can live in
freshwater?
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Protect Yourself from Sharks!
You’re probably wondering
how to protect yourself from
sharks. Our first advice is,
don’t act like a fish. If you
wear shiny jewelry, a shark may
think you’re a fish and bite you.
Don’t splash! A shark will come
see what’s doing the splashing.
If a shark is curious, it will
bite. If you see a shark, leave
the water slowly. Another piece
of advice is don’t swim in murky
water. Sharks are more likely to
attack in water where it is
difficult to see. Also, if it’s
murky because of garbage or
animal waste, it might be there
looking for food.
There are inventions to
help protect us from sharks. One
is a shark cage, which is made of
steel and protects you. Another
invention is the Shark shield
Freedom 7. It is something you
wear that puts electric signals
in the water. Because sharks
sense the current, they go away.