Science
Objective:
1. To understand why whales are classified as mammals.
Activities:
1. Make a list of characteristics common to mammals (warm-blooded, bears
young alive, nurses young, has hair, breathes air). Lead a discussion on
what makes an animal a mammal. Direct the class in small groups to list
all the mammals they can name. Ask one member of each group to read their
list as you write them on the board. Put the mammals in one list. If other
animals are named, make a separate list (e.g. reptiles, fish, amphibians,
invertebrates, birds are not mammals). Have your students collect pictures
of all kinds of mammals and combine them into a collage.
2. Have the class make lists of all the animals they can name that are not
mammals. Make a collection of pictures of animals that are not mammals including
invertebrates (sponges, worms, snails, insects, crabs, starfishes) and members
of the other vertebrates (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds). Ask the class
to organize these pictures into groups showing the greatest similarities.
3. Ask students to study and label the illustration in this chapter comparing
toothed and baleen whales (Fig. 8).
Discussion Questions:
A. How are fish similar to whales? How are they different?
B. How are whales similar to humans? How are they different?
Math
Objective:
1. To measure people and whales and develop the concept of proportions.
Activities:
1. In small groups direct your students to use rulers, or meter sticks to
measure their height and the length of their walking pace. On the playground
have each team estimate the length of a 60-foot right whale by pacing off
the distance. Next, have them compare their estimates to a true measurement
using their rulers or a tape measure.
2. Have each team outline a team member with chalk on the playground. Using
a picture of a right whale as a guide, ask each team draw a full-size outline
of a right whale superimposed on the drawing of a person. Challenge the
team to estimate how many students it would take lying head to foot to match
the length of the whale. Test their estimates with real measurements. Approximately
how many times longer is the whale than a student?
Whale Length/Human Length=______________ times longer.
Geography
Objective:
1. To locate geographical landmarks along the migration route of the right
whale.
Activities:
1. On a map of North America (or a globe), locate the following places:
Newfoundland, Canada; Nova Scotia, Canada; the Gulf of Maine; Cape Cod,
Massachusetts; Cape Hatteras, North Carolina and Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Ask individual students to mark the location of each of these places in
the United States and Canada on a blank map of North America.
2. Locate on a map ten large cities of the east coast of the United States
which might have large ports with shipping activities. Mark these cities
on your blank maps. An almanac will help students discover how active each
coastal state is in ocean transport. Ask students to write a short story
of a whale migrating from Nova Scotia to Florida.
3. Order The Right Whale Program 1992 Activities Guide from the Ocean Society,
441 Ridgewater Drive, Marietta, Georgia 30068, for more about right whales.
4. Obtain a copy of one/or both of the following National Geographic videos:
Dolphins (#51052)
Portrait of a Whale (#51178)
Discussion Questions:
A. How might coastal shipping be a hazard to right whales on their migration?
B. What other human activities might be a problem for the right whale and
other whale species?
Comparative Anatomies of a Baleen and a Toothed Whale