Good narratives are driven by memorable characters, meaningful relationships and challenges that shape their journeys. The following activities guide your exploration of how Whale Shark Jack engages viewers through Sarah’s experiences, her relationships with others and her changing sense of belonging.

Reflect

Watch the scene where Sarah ‘catches’ the baby whale shark and names it. 

In pairs, discuss the following questions: 

• What do Sarah's actions reveal about her character?
• How has growing up on a boat shaped who Sarah is?
• How does this scene establish the relationship between Sarah and Jack?

Share your discoveries with the rest of the class.

Explore

Watch the next scene, where we see Sarah several years later working with her father to track Jack.

Discuss the following questions with your partner and then share your ideas as a class:

• What does this scene reveal about what matters to Sarah?
• What aspects of younger Sarah are still present in the older Sarah?
• How have these aspects developed as Sarah has grown older?
• What does this scene reveal about Sarah’s connection with her father and the work they share?

Create

A character is revealed through the choices they make and the relationships they build. Create a visual timeline of Sarah’s character journey, showing how her character is established and developed as the narrative unfolds. You can present your timeline as a series of storyboard panels, with images and annotations.

Reflect

Characters are often understood through the relationships they build.

As a class, make a list of the important connections in Sarah’s life. Divide into groups. Each group will be assigned one relationship to explore.

Discuss:

• How is this connection important to Sarah?
• What does it reveal about Sarah?
• Why is this relationship important to Sarah’s story?

Record your group’s ideas using this structure:

Sarah’s relationship with ________reveals ________.

We see this when ________.

This relationship is important because ________.

Share your ideas with the class. As each group reports back, record the key ideas in a class knowledge bank.

Create

Use your notes and the class knowledge bank to create a visual map showing the relationships that help us understand Sarah as a character.

Place Sarah at the centre. Around her, add the important relationships in her life, using words, images and symbols. Use different coloured connecting lines to show different types of connections.

For each relationship, include:

• who or what Sarah is connected to and the type of relationship they share;
• what this relationship reveals about Sarah;
• a key moment from the film that shows this connection.

Reflect

Narratives often challenge characters by taking them out of the world they know and placing them somewhere new.

Working in groups, compare Sarah’s life before and after she moves to Exmouth.

Discuss:

Before: Sarah’s life on the ocean

• How does the ocean provide a sense of belonging for Sarah?
• How has life on the ocean shaped Sarah's identity and values?

After: Sarah's life in Exmouth

• What is different about Sarah's new environment?
• How does life in Exmouth challenge Sarah's identity and sense of belonging?

As a class, collect your ideas under the headings Before and After. Add new insights as each group shares.

 Consider:

• What has changed?
• What has stayed the same?
• What role do these two worlds play in Sarah’s development as a character?

Explore

Sarah’s experience in Exmouth is an example of a “fish out of water” story, where a character is placed in an unfamiliar environment that challenges their identity and sense of belonging. This idea takes on a special meaning in Sarah’s story because the ocean is the place where she feels most at home.

In pairs, choose a scene that shows Sarah feeling like a “fish out of water”. Analyse how the scene reveals her struggle to belong in her new world.

Consider:

• What makes Sarah feel like a “fish out of water” in this scene?
• How does the scene show that Sarah feels different or disconnected?
• Why is this experience particularly challenging for Sarah?
• What does this reveal about the importance of the ocean in Sarah’s life?

Now choose a scene that shows Sarah beginning to connect the two worlds.

• How does this scene show that Sarah is finding a way to belong in both the ocean and her new community?

Share your choices with the rest of the class.

Create

Focus on the "fish out of water" scene you explored, and retell the scene from Sarah's point of view. Use details from the scene and your understanding of Sarah’s character in your writing.

You can choose to:

• write in the present tense, capturing Sarah’s thoughts and feelings as the scene unfolds.
• write a diary entry later that day, imagining she is writing to her father.
• write an imagined conversation between Sarah and Jack.

In your writing, use details from the scene to show:

• what is happening around Sarah.
• what makes this moment difficult for her.
• why she feels disconnected from her new world.
• what she misses about the ocean and the life she knows.