The Great Whales

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The Great Whales TheThe GreatGreat WhalesWhales AA CurriculumCurriculum forfor GradesGrades 6–96–9 VICKI OSIS AND SUSAN LEACH SNYDER, RACHEL GROSS, BILL HASTIE, BETH BROADHURST OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY MARINE MAMMAL PROGRAM The Great Whales This curriculum was produced for the Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute Dr. Bruce Mate, Project Director Acknowledgments Contributions and assistance from the following people and organizations made production of this curriculum possible. Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute Funded by a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Ocean Explorer Program Artists Reviewers Assistance with Pieter Folkens Barbara Lagerquist scientific data Laura Hauck David Mellinger Dr. Douglas Biggs Tai Kreimeyer Sharon Nieukirk Dr. John Chapman Craig Toll Dr. William Kessler Reviewers/writers Dr. Bruce Mate Photography/illustrations Beth Broadhurst International fund for Animal Bill Hastie Field testers/reviewers Welfare Susan Leach Snyder Jesica Haxel San Diego Natural History Rachel Gross John King Museum Tracie Sempier Design, layout, Christian Tigges Cover photo and editing Eugene Williamson Pieter Folkens Cooper Publishing Theda Hastie Contents 1. Purpose of the Curriculum ...................................................................................... 3 2. Introduction to Whales ............................................................................................. 5 Activity 1: Whale Facts ............................................................................................. 5 Activity 2: Are Whales Mammals? .......................................................................... 7 Activity 3: Whale Families and Scientific Names................................................. 9 Activity 4: Whale Adaptations ..............................................................................15 Activity 5: Suckers, Skimmers, and Gulpers ......................................................18 Activity 6: Baleen Types .........................................................................................18 Activity 7: How Much Do Whales Eat? ................................................................21 3. Whale Habitats .........................................................................................................23 Activity 8: Identifying Whale Habitats ................................................................25 4. Exploitation of Whales ............................................................................................28 Activity 9: Whale Populations Then and Now ...................................................32 Activity 10: What’s Your Opinion? .......................................................................34 Activity 11: Early Whale Management ................................................................35 Activity 12: Lessons Learned from the Whaling Experience ..........................37 5. Current Threats to Whales ....................................................................................40 Activity 13: People and Whales .............................................................................44 Activity 14: Whale Conservation Issues ..............................................................51 Activity 15: Bioaccumulation of Toxic Chemicals ............................................53 6. Whale Investigations ...............................................................................................55 Activity 16: Sperm Whales in the Gulf of Mexico .............................................58 Activity 17: Whale Tails ..........................................................................................64 Activity 18: Humpback Whale Migration Game ................................................70 Activity 19: Recovery or Loss ................................................................................81 Activity 20: Baby Blues ...........................................................................................87 Activity 21: Build a Costa Rica Dome ..................................................................90 Activity 22: Whales: the Inside Story ...................................................................98 Activity 23: Whaling Debate ............................................................................... 103 Activity 24: Design a Research Project ............................................................ 110 7. Whale Research ..................................................................................................... 111 Activity 25: The SoFar Channel (a demonstration) ........................................ 116 Activity 26: What’s that Sound? ........................................................................ 116 Activity 27: Mapping Hidden Objects .............................................................. 117 8. National Standards, Science Process, and Learning Skills ........................... 118 THE GREAT WHALES 2 COPYRIGHT © 2008 OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY MARINE MAMMAL INSTITUTE 1. Purpose of the Curriculum he protection of whales has moved well beyond ending Curriculum Design T commercial whaling. Current This curriculum is intended for whale conservation issues are com- teachers interested in a whale unit plex and directly related to human for their 6th- to 9th-grade classes. activities that impact ocean habitats Teachers can select individual activi- on which the whales depend. ties and materials for instruction or work through them sequentially from The aim of this curriculum is to focus beginning to end. on research efforts to expand human knowledge about marine mammals. The content of the material provides We can’t save whales unless we under- an introduction to marine mammals stand what whales need to live—their with a focus only on the great whales. life habits and habitat needs. Through It is divided into eight main sections: a variety of activities, this curriculum explores whale biology and ecology ■ Introduction and Purpose of Cur- topics and discusses methods being riculum used to study whales. Also covered ■ Introduction to Whales are current conservation issues and concerns, as well as other topics such ■ Whale Habitats as exploitation and general informa- ■ Exploitation of Whales tion about whales. Charts matching curricula contents to National Science ■ Current Threats and Hazards Content Standards and science pro- cess and essential learning skills are ■ Whale Investigations also included. ■ Current Whale Research Whales are the largest mammals on ■ National Standards, Science Pro- Earth, yet we know very little about cess, and Learning Skills them. They are totally aquatic and therefore difficult to observe and Concepts, study. The most accessible are those that come close to land, such as gray understandings, We know very whales. For most whales, we do not and skills little about have basic biological information, This curriculum utilizes science such as where they go to birth their process skills including recalling, most species calves or where their favorite feeding observing, comparing, classifying, and of the great areas are located. We know that many estimating. Most of the activities de- whales. whales make long migrations from velop thinking skills such as inferring, summer feeding ground to winter predicting, analyzing, and applying calving areas, but for most whales, information to other issues. Basic sci- we do not know the routes traveled. ence concepts are included through- Accurate counts to determine whether out the curriculum. These include: whale populations are recovering or ■ Ocean habitats (how they are dif- shrinking are difficult to gather. These ferent from land habitats) questions and many others are the focus of whale studies today. THE GREAT WHALES COPYRIGHT © 2008 OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY MARINE MAMMAL INSTITUTE 3 PURPOSE OF THE CURRICULUM ■ Taxonomic structure and divi- ■ How scientific studies are con- sions for whales ducted ■ Adaptations of whales, both ana- ■ Technology used to study whales tomical and behavioral ■ Exploitation of natural resources Interdisciplinary ■ Human impact on marine habitats To understand the world around them, students need a wide range of ■ Challenges for marine conserva- skills and knowledge. Understanding tion organisms and natural systems is not ■ Energy flow through ecosystems a single-discipline effort. The les- sons in this curriculum are delivered ■ Bioaccumulation of toxic chemi- through the use of biology, geogra- cals in marine animals phy, geology, math, and physics. The lessons in this cur- riculum are delivered through the use of biol- ogy, geogra- phy, geology, math, and physics. THE GREAT WHALES 4 COPYRIGHT © 2008 OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY MARINE MAMMAL INSTITUTE 2. Introduction to Whales hales! They are the largest Materials mammals on Earth—even W larger than the largest dino- c Paper and pencil saur. Whales live their entire lives in c Computers water. Their weight would crush them without the water to support their c Reference books bodies. They have a fishlike shape, but c Bulletin board with craft paper or their tail fins—called flukes—are hori- large notebook zontal rather than vertical, and they have paddle-like front limbs, called flippers. Their skin is smooth and Subjects glossy and, depending on the species, ■ Biology may be black, white, gray, and bluish. Some are marked with a variety of ■ Communications colors, from cream to yellow. Beneath the skin is a thick layer of fat, called Time blubber,
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