Lesson Plan – Whales: Measuring Whales and Graphing Results · Lesson Plan – Whales: Measuring...

LessonPlan–Whales:MeasuringWhalesandGraphingResults

SummaryThislessonintroducesstudentstoanumberofwhalesintheorderCetacea.Studentscanlearnbasicfactsaboutthebiologyandbehaviorofwhalesandperformahandsonactivitytolearnaboutthevarioussizesofdifferentspeciesofwhales.ContentAreaMarineBiology,ZoologyGradeLevel1-4KeyConcept(s)•  AllwhalesarepartoftheorderCetaceawhichisthegroupofanimalsthat

includeswhales,dolphins,andporpoises.•  Whalesexhibitavarietyofbodysizes,andfeatures.

LessonPlan–Whales:MeasuringWhalesandGraphingResults

Objectives•  Studentswillunderstandthatallwhales,dolphins,andporpoisesbelongtothe

orderCetacea.•  Studentswilllearnthatwhalesintheordercetaceavaryinsize,wheretheylive,

andfoodtheyeat.•  Studentswillmeasureouttruesizesofwhalestocompareandgraphresults.

ResourcesCetaceans(whales,dolphins,porpoises)http://marinelife.about.com/od/cetaceans/p/Order-Cetacea.htmBottlenosedolphininformationandconservationhttp://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/protected_resources/bottlenose_dolphins/index.htmlNorthernrightwhaleinformationandconservationhttp://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/protected_resources/brydes_whale/index.html

LessonPlan–Whales:MeasuringWhalesandGraphingResults

NationalScienceEducationStandardorOceanLiteracyEssentialPrinciple

LearningGoals

UnifyingConceptsandProcesses1.Systems,order,andorganization

Typesoforganizationprovideusefulwaysofthinkingabouttheworld.

UnifyingConceptsandProcesses5.FormandFunction

Formandfunctionarecomplementaryaspectsoforganismsinthenaturalworld.Functionfrequentlyreliesonform.

ScienceasInquiryA.1:Abilitiesnecessarytodoscientificinquiry

Askaquestionaboutobjects,organisms,andeventsintheenvironment.

ScienceasInquiryA.2:Understandingsaboutscientificinquiry

Simpleinstruments,suchasmagnifiers,thermometers,andrulers,providemoreinformationthanscientistsobtainusingonlytheirsenses.

LessonPlan–Whales:MeasuringWhalesandGraphingResults

NationalScienceEducationStandardorOceanLiteracyEssentialPrinciple

LearningGoals

LifeScienceC.1:Characteristicsoforganisms

Eachplantoranimalhasdifferentstructuresthatservedifferentfunctionsingrowth,survival,andreproduction.

Principle5(3-5:B.,B.1.,B.3.)Theoceansupportsagreatdiversityoflifeandecosystems.

B.:TheoceanprovidesmostofEarth’slivingspaceandsupportsagreatdiversityoflifefromthesurfacetotheseafloor.B.1.:Thegreatdiversityofecosystemsintheoceanprovidesopportunitiesfororganismstodevelopagreatdiversityofadaptations,manyofwhichareuniquetoorganismslingintheocean.B.3.:Adaptationsthathelpsomeorganismssurviveintheoceaninclude:blubbertoretainheat,finsforswimming,collapsiblelungsfordeepdivingandacutehearingunderwater.

LessonPlan–Whales:MeasuringWhalesandGraphingResults

NationalScienceEducationStandardorOceanLiteracyEssentialPrinciple

LearningGoals

Principle5(3-5:B.7.)Theoceansupportsagreatdiversityoflifeandecosystems.

Theoceansupportsatremendousvarietyofsizesoforganisms,fromextremelysmalltothelargestanimalevertoliveonearth.

HarborPorpoise

Phocoenaphocoena

BottlenoseDolphin

Tursiopstruncatus

Cuvier’sBeakedWhale

Ziphiuscavirostris

OrcaorKillerWhale

Orcinusorca

GrayWhale

Eschrichtiusrobustus

HumpbackWhale

Megapteranovaeangliae

SpermWhale

Physetermacrocephalus

NorthernRightWhale

Eubalaenaglacialis

BlueWhale

Balaenopteramusculus

Wearegoingtomeasurethelengthsofcetaceans.•  Wewillrecord(writedown)dataonourdatasheets.

WritethelengthinFEETinthiscolumn.

WritethelengthinMETERSinthiscolumn.

Outside(weatherpermitting)

•  EachpersonwillhavetheirOWNdatasheet.•  Eachteamoftwowillreceiveacardwiththenameofamarinemammal.Onthebackisa

problemtosolve.Theanswerwillbethelengthofyourmarinemammalinunitsoffeet.•  Enterthisnumberinthecorrectplaceonyourdatasheet.•  Onceoutside,beginmeasuringatthe‘startline’(zerofeet)andpullthetapemeasureto

markthelengthyoucalculated.Thetapemeasuresareonly14feetlong.Whatshouldyoudoforanimalslongerthan14feet?Stickthemarkerinthegroundwhenyougettothecorrectlength.

•  Switchplaceswithyourpartner.Thistime,thepersonwalkingawayfromthestartline

holdingthetapemeasurewillmeasureinunitsofmeters.Onceyouknowthelengthinfeet,youcaneitherfigureoutmetersusingthetapemeasureormultiplylengthinfeetby3.3.Writethelengthinmetersinthecorrectrowandcolumnofyourdatasheet.

Inches

Centimeters30Centimeters 34Centimeters

Feet 1ft1inchor13inches

Onthetoppartofthetapemeasure,thereare16linesbetweeneachinchsoeachspaceisequaltoonesixteenthor1/16ofaninch.

3Feetor12x3=36inches

100centimeters3.3Feetor1meter

Ifthetapemeasuregoestoabout15feet,andthereareabout3feetinonemeter,approximatelyhowmanymeterscanwemeasurewiththetapemeasurefullyextended?

Backintheclassroom…

•  Fillintherestofyourdatatablewithinformationfromtheother8teams.•  Youwillneedthisinformationtomakeyourgraph.

Let’sGraph!

Let’sGraph!

DrawourY-axisandX-axis

Let’sGraph!

LabelourAxes

Length,infeet

Weight,in

tons

Let’sGraph!

NumberourLengthaxis

Length,infeet

Weight,into

ns

Ourlengthsrangefrom5ftto85ft.Ifweleteachboxrepresent10ft,wecanlabelourgraphfrom0to100ft.

Let’sGraph!

NumberourLengthaxis

Length,infeet

Weight,into

ns

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Let’sGraph!

Nownumberourweightaxis

Length,infeet

Weight,into

ns

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Let’sGraph!

Nownumberourweightaxis

Length,infeet

Weight,into

ns

010 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Ourweightsrangefrom0.05to100tons.Ifweleteachboxrepresent10tons,wecanlabelourgraphfrom0to100tons.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Let’sGraph!

Length,infeet

Weight,into

ns

010 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Harborporpoise5ftlong0.05tons

Let’sGraph!

Length,infeet

Weight,into

ns

010 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Bottlenosedolphin12ftlong0.5tons

Let’sGraph!

Length,infeet

Weight,into

ns

010 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Cuviersbeakedwhale21ftlong5tons

GraphingOurResults

Length,measuredinFeet

Weight,measuredinTon

s

How$Big$Are$Whales?Scientific$Name How$long? How$Long? Average

Order%Cetacea Genus species Length$in$Feet Length$in$Meters Weight,$tonsCommon$NameHarbor$Porpose Phocoena -phocoena 5 1.5 0.05Bottlenose$Dolphin Tursiops truncatus 12 3.9 0.5Cuvier's$Beaked$Whale Ziphius -cavirostris 21 6.6 5Orca$or$Killer$Whale Orcinus orca 26 8 8Gray$Whale Eschrichtius -robustus 46 14 33Humpback$Whale Megaptera -novaeangliae 49 15 35Sperm$Whale Physeter -macrocephalus 50 15.25 40Norther$Right$Whale Eubalaena -glacialis 56 17 60Blue$Whale Balaenoptera -musculus 85 26 100

How$Big$Are$Whales?Scientific$Name How$long? How$Long? Average

Order%Cetacea Genus species Length$in$Feet Length$in$Meters Weight,$tonsCommon$NameHarbor$Porpose Phocoena -phocoena 0.05Bottlenose$Dolphin Tursiops truncatus 0.5Cuvier's$Beaked$Whale Ziphius -cavirostris 5Orca$or$Killer$Whale Orcinus orca 8Gray$Whale Eschrichtius -robustus 33Humpback$Whale Megaptera -novaeangliae 35Sperm$Whale Physeter -macrocephalus 40Norther$Right$Whale Eubalaena -glacialis 60Blue$Whale Balaenoptera -musculus 100

V20$

0$

20$

40$

60$

80$

100$

120$

0$ 20$ 40$ 60$ 80$ 100$

Weight,%tons%

Weight,$tons$

MeasuringWhalesDataSheet

Canyousolve?

•  Oneton=2,000pounds•  Onekilogram(kg)=2.2pounds

•  Howmanykilogramsarein1ton?

Canyousolve?

•  Oneton=2,000pounds•  Onekilogram(kg)=2.2pounds

•  Howmanykilogramsarein1ton?

2,0002.2=909Thereare909kilogramsin1ton!

AcknowledgementsLessondevelopedbyDr.ChrisSimonielloforBayPointElementary3rdGrade(adaptableforusewithgrades1-4).Standards-cross-referencingandformattingbyGrantCraig.