Wonderful World of Whales
Swim into super-sized learning
with these giants of the deep
By Wendy K.
Cruikshank
To begin your study, draw a large whale on chart paper
and record some facts that children know about whales. Then
dive into the following activities
Illustrations by Patrick
Girouard |
Whales of the World
Many whales migrate each year between cold and warm climates.
Most spend the summer in cold-water feeding grounds, such
as the Arctic. Then they move to tropical waters to give
birth to their young. To learn about gray whales' migration,
share Whale Journey by Vivian French (Zero to Ten
Limited, 1998). After discussing the story, ask children
to research the route of other migrating whales, such as
the blue and humpback. Then invite them to cut out the Whales
of the World Reproducible, below,
and list the migration dates and routes on it. Then have
students mark the route on a large world map with tacks,
string, and their cut-outs.
Breaching Whale Masterpieces
A whale doesn't just swim—it performs amazing acrobatics
in the water, too. Have children research, describe, and
discuss reasons for the following whale behavior: breaching,
spyhopping, lobtailing, and logging. A whale "breaches,"
for example, when it leaps through the surface of the water.
Invite students to use a crayon-resist technique to create
a breaching whale masterpiece. Have them draw a realistic-looking
whale on tagboard and cut it out. Then have them draw waves
across the bottom of a large sheet of white construction
paper. Next, have them trace the tagboard whale three times
above the waves, overlapping the head and tail each time
to represent the motion of a breaching whale. Then they
can color the whales with crayons and paint two or three
layers of watercolor wash over the paper. Finally, have
them attach chunks of masking tape under their tagboard
whale, overlap it with the last of the traced whales, and
stick it so that it "swims" slightly above the construction
paper for a 3-D effect. This technique can also be used
to create masterpieces of spyhopping, lobtailing, or logging
whales.
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Benefits of Blubber
Help children understand
how blubber protects whales from cold water temperatures
with this exciting experiment. To make a blubber-insulated
glove, gather a pair of rubber gloves and a latex
surgical glove. Fill a zippered, quart-size freezer
bag with shortening, seal the bag, and cut off a lower
corner. Use this to squeeze shortening into each finger
of one rubber glove. Next, put on a latex surgical
glove and slip it into the shortening-filled glove
(the shortening will ooze between the gloves). Add
more shortening so the entire hand is insulated with
"blubber." Then fill a container with icy water. Have
children take turns putting the blubber-insulated
glove on one hand and a plain rubber glove on the
other, then submerging both hands in the icy water.
They should remove each hand when the temperature
becomes too uncomfortable. Record the length of time
each hand was held in the water. Afterward, compute
the average time in water for both the insulated and
the non-insulated hands. Have children compare and
discuss the results. Did the blubber keep them warmer?
A Whale of a Poem
Let students set their whale
knowledge to poetry. Introduce the phrase "A whale
of a tale" and explain that the phrase implies exaggeration.
Then have children select whale facts and transform
each one into an exaggeration. For example, "Whales
can swallow other whales whole." They then write the
poem by alternating the fact-based lines with the
statement "That sounds like a whale of a tale!" to
create a non-rhyming poem. To finish, have kids create
their own statement about a whale, such as "A whale
joined me for plankton pizza last night," and then
add the last line "Now, that is a whale of a tale!"
Students can display their poems on construction-paper
whale cutouts.
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Size Comparison Wall Graphs
Some whales are gigantic; others are small. By creating
wall graphs, students can easily compare the sizes of different
whales. Separate students into groups of four and have groups
research and list the sizes-rounded to the nearest five
feet-of a variety of whales. Write each whale name and length
on a long strip of paper. Invite student groups to select
a paper strip, then measure and cut yarn to equal the length
of their whales. In a large open area, have children extend
and sequence their yarn from shortest to longest to compare
the whale sizes, attaching their informational paper strips
above each yarn length. You can also include corresponding
whale facts next to each length of yarn, whale pictures,
and whale poems to share as part of a "whale information
center."
Whale Challenge
Download our Whale Challenge Reproducible, below, and invite
students to prove how much they've learned about whales.
For the answers, click
here.
