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Home , Ambergris, Baleen, Cetacea, Porpoise, Spermaceti, Sperm whale

Educator’s Guide

WHALES Giants of the Deep

Inside: • Suggestions to Help You Come Prepared • Essential Questions for Student Inquiry • Strategies for Teaching in the Exhibition • Map of the Exhibition • Online Resources • Standards Correlation • Glossary

The Museum gratefully acknowledges amnh.org/whales/educators the Richard and Karen LeFrak Exhibition and Education Fund. ESSENTIAL Questions

What is a ? Many populations remain endangered. National and intergovernmental organizations collaborate to establish Whales are ; they breathe air and live their and enforce regulations that protect whale populations, whole in . People often use the word “whale” to and some are showing recovery from . The most refer to large like sperm and humpback whales, effective whale protection programs involve the whole but and are also whales since they’re cycle, from monitoring migration routes to conserving all members of the . Cetaceans evolved important breeding habitats and feeding grounds. from hoofed that walked on four legs, and their closest living relatives are hippos. Living whales are divided into two groups: whales (Mysticeti, or How do scientists study whales? filter feeders) and toothed whales (Odontoceti, which Many kinds of scientists — conservation biologists, hunt larger prey). Whales inhabit all of the world’s major paleontologists, taxonomists, anatomists, ecologists, , and even some of its rivers. Some species are geneticists — work together to learn more about these widespread, while others are localized. Many migrate magnificent creatures. specimens provide a long distances, with some species feeding in polar glimpse back some 50 million , to whales’ and mating in warmer ones during the winter land-dwelling ancestors. New fossil whale species, and months. All must come to the surface to breathe, but even new living ones, are still being discovered. Scientists some dive to great depths to feed. Highly intelligent, use many methods to monitor these mysterious animals: whales have very strong social ties and often hunt and beach, boat, and plane surveys to count and identify migrate together. To communicate they make sounds individual whales and monitor their life histories; tissue that range from a ’s series of clicks to the male sampling for genetic analysis; and satellite tracking to humpback’s complex song. understand habitat use and long-range migrations. Some living whale species are How are whales adapted to life in water? known only from strandings, which provide Whales can be vastly larger than land mammals because a unique opportunity to water supports their weight. Other specialized features study the and for living in water include: genetics of these marine • a streamlined shape, and layer of that mammals. Scientists insulates against the cold analyze both physical fea- tures and DNA (extracted • plates of baleen that enable Mysticeti like right and from living animals and Bryde’s whales to filter huge amounts of and other historic specimens) to small prey from resolve important issues • echolocation — most or all Odontoceti (toothed whales such as conservation like killer whales and porpoises) use sound to navigate, Photos help identify individual priorities and the whales. Each humpback has its own communicate, and find prey. placement of whales individual tail fluke, like fingerprints. • nostrils, or blowholes, on the top of the so whales on the tree of life. can breathe without raising their heads out of water. How are whales an important part of (See insert for more about specialized adaptations.) many cultures? These massive and awe-inspiring creatures have played a How can people protect whales? vital role in the lives of coastal peoples around the world, For millennia whales faced only dangers like disease and as both a crucial natural resource and a source of ritual predators, but over the last few centuries, commercial and legend. They are sacred to ’s indigenous hunting for oil, meat, baleen, , and drove Mäori people, whose culture is rich with whale-riding some species to near-extinction. For example, 200,000 stories and traditions. Whale imagery is incorporated southern right whales were hunted down to fewer than into architecture and body art, and whale bone weapons 100 females. Chronic and acute from and ornaments are prized. In the Americas, native people engines, seismic surveys, and can interfere with also have long utilized and honored whales, relying upon essential whale communication. Water pollution, coastal their meat for food, bone for tools and building material, development, entanglement in fishing nets, collisions and oil for fuel — and upon the majestic animals with ships, and also put whales at risk. themselves as source of spiritual inspiration. GLOSSARY COME PREPARED ambergris: a solid, waxy substance formed in the Plan your visit. For information about reservations, intestines of sperm whales that floats and occasionally transportation, and lunchrooms, visit washes ashore. Ambergris was once valued as an amnh.org/plan-your-visit. ingredient in . Read the Essential Questions in this guide to see how baleen: flexible plates that hang themes in Whales: Giants of the Deep connect to your from the upper jaws of baleen curriculum. Identify the key points that you’d like your whales with hairy fringes that strain students to learn. small animals from -water. Although it’s made of , like Review the Teaching in the Exhibition section of this your fingernails, baleen was once guide for an advance look at the , models, artifacts, called “whalebone.” It was used for and interactives that you and your class will be many products that required encountering. strength and flexibility, like Download activities and student worksheets at stays and buggy whips, until amnh.org/whales/educators. Designed for use before, were invented in the 20th century. during, and after your visit, these activities focus on blubber: a thick layer of under the outermost part themes that correlate to the New York State Science of the of marine mammals Core Curriculum.

cetaceans: a common name for members of the order Decide how your students will explore the Whales: Giants to which all whales belong. The order Cetacea contains of the Deep exhibition. almost 80 species, and can be divided into Mysticeti • You and your chaperones can facilitate the visit using (baleen whales) and Odontoceti (toothed whales, includ- the Teaching in the Exhibition section of this guide. ing dolphins and porpoises). Cetaceans are carnivorous, and except for four species of freshwater dolphins, • Your students can use the student worksheets to all live in the . explore the exhibition on their own or in small groups.

echolocation: the process of emitting sound waves and • Students, individually or in groups, can use copies of listening to the echoes to locate food and avoid obsta- the map to choose their own paths. cles. Sometimes referred to as “biosonar,” echolocation evolved independently in , cetaceans (dolphins and CORRELATIONS TO NATIONAL STANDARDS other toothed whales), shrews and some other mammals. Your visit to the Whales: Giants of the Deep exhibition can be correlated to the following standards. krill: small, -like that are the main food for hundreds of animals, from to to A Framework for K-12 Science Education Science Practices • Asking Questions and Defining Problems many baleen whales • Analyzing and Interpreting Data • Constructing Explanations : a member of the class Mammalia, and Designing Solutions • Engaging in Argument from Evidence • Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information animals descended from the common ancestor of the living placentals, , and monotremes. Almost Crosscutting Concepts • Patterns • Cause and Effect: Mechanism all mammals share certain physical characteristics: they and Explanation • Scale, Proportion, and Quantity • Systems and have ; they’re warm-blooded; and they produce milk System Models • Function • Stability and Change to nurse their young. Core Ideas • LS1.A: Structure and Function • LS1.B: Growth sonar: the use of sound waves to detect submerged and Development of Organisms • LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms • LS1.D: Information Processing objects or calculate distances underwater • LS3.A: Inheritance of Traits • LS3.B: Variation of Traits • LS4.A: stranding: swimming or drifting onto land. Once Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity • LS4.B: Natural Selection • LS4.C: Adaptation • LS4.D: and stranded, whales suffer internal organ damage, overheat, rapidly deteriorate, and usually die. National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies Thematic Strands • 1. Culture • 3. People, Places, and tree of life: a branching diagram that shows how forms Environments • 8. Science, Technology, and Society of life, both living and extinct, are related to each other • 9. Global Connections Teaching in the EXHIBITION

Whales have long captured the imagina- Carving of Whale Rider tions of people around the world, who have Upon entering the exhibition you’ll see the representation of a young hunted, revered, and passionately protected man riding a whale. He is Paikea, an ancestral figure for New Zealand’s them. This exhibition uses fossils, models, Mäori people. Whales feature prominently in Mäori traditions and are specimens, and artifacts to explore the carved on structures like this gateway. cultural significance, evolutionary history, and amazing biological adaptations of these highly intelligent marine mammals. The Whale People Guided Explorations below are organized Students can watch perspectives on whale biology, whaling, conserva- around five themes. Refer to the map tion, research, and cultural tradition in videos throughout the exhibition. for locations.

1. EVOLUTION & DIVERSITY anatomical characters: things as simple as the shape and position of their tusk-like teeth. Also ask them OVERVIEW: The ancestors of whales lived on land. Once to consider the differences between a dolphin and a whales adapted to the water about 50 million years ago, . (dolphin teeth are conical and porpoise teeth they diversified and came to inhabit the world’s oceans. spade-shaped; porpoises have ) Almost 80 species are alive today. Scientists study both living and fossil species, using anatomy and genetic evidence to understand how whales evolved and where 2. SOUND they fit in the tree of life. OVERVIEW: In addition to sight, whales rely on the ability to GUIDED EXPLORATIONS produce and perceive different sounds in order to navigate, a.  skull: This fossil skull from the AMNH find food, and communicate. collection belongs to an extinct relative of whales that GUIDED EXPLORATIONS walked on land. Ask: What have scientists learned a. “Search and Destroy” theater: In this five-minute about this by studying the skull? (its deeply immersive experience students will explore hunting from worn teeth were used to crush bone, suggesting that it a ’s point of view. Ask: What is the whale ate meat) By comparing the skull to those of other hunting? (giant ) How does the whale find its prey? animals? (it comes from a four-footed mammal that likely (echolocation) had hoofs; closely related to whales and hippos) b. Sound chamber: Different whale species make a variety b. Casts of fossils: These skeletons belong to early of sounds, ranging from throaty rumbles and melodious relatives of modern whales. Have students find out phrases to squeaks, whistles, clicks, and buzzes. Invite when they lived, then compare land-dwelling students to turn the dial to tune in to the voices of and to the water-dwelling . eight different whale species and to explore more via Ask: How do skeletons of the whales that lived on land graphics and animations. They can also compare the compare to those that were fully aquatic? (in aquatic low-frequency sounds of the baleen whales to the higher whales, hind limbs are smaller or absent, nostrils move frequency ones produced by odontocetes. towards top of head, forelimbs evolve into flippers, vertebrae in tail flatten) 3. ANATOMY c. Diversity wall & : There are two OVERVIEW: Whales share many anatomical features with main living whale groups: baleen, or Mysticeti, and land mammals, but also evolved unique adaptations that toothed or Odontoceti. At the diversity wall, have enabled them to become fully aquatic. students identify them. Ask: What is the main differ- ence between these two groups? (Mysticeti have baleen, GUIDED EXPLORATIONS Odontoceti have teeth) What other differences do they a. Blue whale’s heart: Invite students to crawl inside observe? (Mysticeti tend to be larger, have two blowholes this life-size model of a ’s heart. Inside they instead of one). Have them explore the diversity wall can see colorful graphics about its enormous size and to see where the beaked whales fit in, then examine weight, and hear the heartbeat. Ask: Why does the whale the case on the left to see how scientists classify heart need to be so big? (to pump through a members of the beaked whale family using massive animal) b. Anatomy interactive & touchable : Students can GUIDED EXPLORATION use the interactive display to investigate and compare a. Strandings section: Students can watch a video, sniff a dolphin’s external features, internal organs, and ambergris, and read about strandings. Ask: What are skeletal structure to those of a sperm whale and a some causes of whale strandings? (parasites, pollution, human. Then have students touch some of the bones disease, disorientation, accidents with boats, entangle- they just explored, including a , rib, and . ments with fishing gear. Weakened whales may swim into shallow water where it is easier to breathe.) How have c.  X-rays and bones: Even though a whale flipper humans responded? (tried to rescue whales, collected and a human arm and hand look very different, they meat and bones, taken samples for scientific research) contain the same kinds and basic arrangement of bones. Ask students to look at the X-rays of the flippers of a dolphin and a and 5. WHALE PEOPLE compare them to the human arm and hand. How are OVERVIEW: The lives of many people around the world they used differently? How do the skeletons reflect have been inextricably linked with whales. this? (hands are highly flexible, have mobile joints; flippers are stiff paddles without movable joints) GUIDED EXPLORATIONS d. Models of dolphin mother and calf: Use the a. Mäori storehouse, artifacts, and animation: Have models and information on the text panels to guide students watch the video about the varied role of an exploration of how whales mate, give , and whales in Mäori culture, then examine the ceremonial care for their young. and everyday objects in the storehouse. Ask: Why are these objects so important to the Mäori? (whales are e. Scale model case: Have students observe the models central to Mäori traditions; the material these objects are of different whale species, and compare their sizes made of is rare) relative to humans. b. Whaling history wall and whaling artifacts: f. Sperm whale skeletons: Invite students to observe Have students explore this timeline of the history the male and female skeletons and compare them of and examine whaling to images of the fleshed-out whale on the panel. Ask traditions in America through artifacts such as a whale students to point out features such as the presence of oil lamp, a log book from the whaling teeth, fused neck vertebrae, bones in flippers, and the ship William Rotch, and an early edition of Moby contrast between the shape of upper jawbone and the Dick. Ask: How have bulbous head. behaviors and attitudes g. Feeding: Have students observe the skulls and towards hunting whales compare the feeding strategies of the two types of changed over time? whale. Ask students to identify how the structure of (beached whales were each skull reflects that animal’s feeding strategy. passively gathered; (Mysticetes use baleen to efficiently filter large quantities development of com- of small animals from seawater; odontocetes have mercial whaling reduced structures for echolocation, which allows them to seek some populations to This logbook from the Museum’s larger prey, and some use teeth to grab it. Odontocetes brink of extinction; global collection describes two whaling voyages in the 1830s, one across without erupted teeth feed by creating suction.) the Pacific Ocean and another to movement has emerged) the South Atlantic. 4. STRANDINGS c. Whale Riders Theater: Students can watch whale-riding stories from three different Mäori tribes OVERVIEW: Sometimes whales come ashore accidentally, of New Zealand. alone or in groups. Strandings often mobilize communal rescue efforts. Whales that can’t be saved present a rare d. “A Global Vision: The Power of Whales”: Invite opportunity to collect material for scientific or cultural students to examine these sacred objects and everyday purposes. items from Alaska, Canada, and , and consider how they represent the importance of whales to these Native peoples. ONLINE Resources

Whales: Giants of the Deep CONSERVATION amnh.org/whales Information about whale conservation and manage- Learn about exhibition highlights, whale evolution and ment around the world, including biology, whale people, and related Museum programs. and how humans can work to protect cetaceans. Whales Topics Page WWF: Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises amnh.org/explore/science-topics/whales wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/ Links to all the Museum’s whale-related resources, from cetaceans activities for kids to stories about whale behavior and their evolutionary transition from land to ocean. Whale Research whaleresearch.org amnh.org/explore/ology/marinebiology International Whaling Commission OLogy is the Museum’s science website for kids ages iwc.int seven and up. Check out A Whale of a Tale, Humpback Whale Journal, and Rubber Blubber Gloves. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Whales | Tohora iucnredlist.org collections.tepapa.govt.nz/exhibitions/whales The Whales exhibition website of the Te Papa Museum in Wellington, New Zealand. WHOPPING WHALE FACTS Even the smallest whale — the , which Cetaceans: Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises weighs 30-45 kg (65-100 lbs) — is huge compared to nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/mammals/cetaceans the “average” land mammal, which weighs less than Detailed information about every cetacean species from one pound. NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service. Sperm whales were hunted for the oil found in the Whales: The Kids’ Times chamber at the top of their heads. Their nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/education/whales.htm oil lit city streets and lubricated machines all over Eight PDFs compiled by NOAA, each focused on a the world. different species. Gray whales migrate farther than any whale — or any Discovery of Sound in the Sea mammal. Their 18,000-kilometer round trip (11,200 dosits.org miles) takes them from the down the The physical science of how mammals (including Pacific Coast of North America to Baja California, humans) use underwater sound to navigate and Mexico, and back to the . communicate.

CREDITS Photo Credits Whales: Giants of the Deep was developed and presented by Cover: Juvenile humpback whale playing, © Dr Ingrid Visser, Orca Research Trust; Andrewsarchus skull, the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. © AMNH/R.Mickens; Common dolphins, © Dr Ingrid This exhibition was made possible through the support of Visser, Orca Research Trust; Heru (ornamental comb), the New Zealand Government. © Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, 2007; engraved tusk, © AMNH/D.Finnin. Essential Questions: Orca whale fluke, © Dr Ingrid Visser, Orca Research Trust. Glossary: Whale feeding case, © Museum of New The Museum gratefully acknowledges the Richard and Karen LeFrak Exhibition and Education Fund. Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, 2008. Come Prepared: Hunter’s helmet, © AMNH/D.Finnin. Teaching in the Exhibition: Whaling log book, © AMNH/D.Finnin. Generous support for Whales has been provided by the Eileen P. Bernard Exhibition Fund. Insert: blue whale and illustrations, © Pieter Folkens. The Whales Educator’s Guide is proudly sponsored by the Paul and Irma Milstein Family.

© 2013 American Museum of . All rights reserved.

Whaling historyWhaling artifacts* wall and whaling Casts of fossils Sound chamber bones & touchable interactive Anatomy Feeding Andrewsarchus skull* Maori storehouse, artifacts, and animation Maori storehouse, “Search and Destroy” theater and Destroy” “Search heart Blue whale’s section Strandings Scale model case Whale Riders Theater Whale Diversity wall & beaked whale skulls whale wall & beaked Diversity and bones X-rays Flipper Sperm skeletons whale “A Global Vision: The Power of Power The Whales”* Global Vision: d. “A a. b. c. a. b. c. a. b. a. b. c. d. Models of dolphin mother and calf e. f. g. a. the AMNH collection * From 5. WHALE PEOPLE 5. WHALE 1. EVOLUTION & DIVERSITY EVOLUTION 1. SOUND 2. 3. ANATOMY STRANDINGS 4. Whales have long captured the imaginations captured long have Whales of hunted, have around the world, who people protected them. This and passionately revered, artifactsand models, fossils, uses to exhibition evolutionary significance, the cultural explore amazing biological and of adaptations history, marine mammals. these highly intelligent section in the Exhibition the Teaching to Refer stops listed below, Guided Exploration for themes: five organized around are which Giants of the Deep Giants of WHALES 3c 3d 3a 3b interactive film/video touchable case/model KEY 4a © 2013 American Museum of All rights reserved. History. Natural

3e

5c

3f 5d 2b 1c 1a 5a of the Exhibition the of

3g

2a 1b

5b MAP Whale ADAPTATIONS

Adaptations Baleen Unique to Instead of teeth, these whales have flexible plates that hang from Baleen Whales their upper jaws, with hairy fringes that strain small animals like (Mysticeti) krill from seawater. Baleen is made of keratin, like your fingernails.

blue whale

Common Adaptations Hearing Flippers Flukes A whale’s external A whale’s front Most of a whale’s swim- ear is the size limbs, or flippers, ming power comes from Whales breathe Unlike humans, of a pinhole and have the same moving its body and these air like other whales can see plays little role in kinds and basic horizontal lobes at the end mammals. They very well both in hearing. Instead, arrangement of of its tail up and down. must come to the and out of water. whales hear bones as human surface to take in But studies sug- through “acoustic” arms. These air through their gest that whales fat in their lower rudder-like paddles Streamlined nasal openings, don’t have color jaws, which trans- provide both Teardrop Shape the blowholes on vision. mits sound along stability and great This reduces resis- top of the head. a channel leading maneuverability in tance, so whales to the inner ear. the water. can move through water faster.

common Adaptations dolphin Unique to Toothed Whales (Odontoceti)

Teeth Echolocation Odontocetes retain the teeth of their mammal ancestors. But Toothed whales use this “biosonar” to locate some are highly specialized, as in beaked whales and , prey and navigate with remarkable accuracy. while dolphins, for example, have lots of the same kinds of teeth. They produce a series of sounds, and Toothed whales hunt their prey — fish, squid, and other whales interpret the echoes for information about and marine mammals — one by one. They either grab it with the seafloor, underwater obstacles, and the their teeth or suck the food directly into their mouths. presence of other animals in the water.

© 2013 American Museum of Natural History. All rights reserved.