Marine Mammals

Title: Seals, Whales and Dolphins-ecology, classification and threats

Key Stage: 2 and 3

Summary: Seals, whales and dolphins are interesting marine mammals to study. This topic introduces how to classify marine mammals, their habitats, adaptions and threats. This class gives the children an opportunity to learn via teamwork and discussion activities.

Activity:

This activity is designed to be used in the classroom. Pupils will:

Learn how to classify marine mammals Describe the adaptation of marine mammals Become familiar with marine mammal survey techniques Discuss why conservation matters and how to mitigate human impacts.

First use the power point presentation to introduce the topic of marine mammals.

Slide 1 Get the children to discuss what they think a marine biologists do as a jobSlide 2 go through the aims of the classSlide 3 Ask children to identify the main marine habitats and then reveal answers.Slide 4- characteristic of mammals – ask children to name marine mammals after they learn the main

characteristics of mammalsSlide 5 Mysticete; explain the characteristics of a mysticete *see notes for more detailSlide 6 Odontocete; explain how to classify an Odontocete *see notes for more detailSlide 7 Pinnipeds, explain the characteristics of Pinnipeds *see notes for more detailSlide 8 Other examples of marine mammalsSlide 9-12 Now get the children to guess what classification the mammal is in the picture. Slide 9- answer

Mysticete- blue whaleSlide 10 answer Odontocete (dolphin)Slide 11 answer mysticete (grey whale)Slide 12 answer Odontoceti (sperm whale)Slide 13 Adaptations ask children how they think marine mammals are adapted to the marine

environment, and go through slide and see if answers match.Slide 14 Marine conservation issues. Ask children to get into groups of three and get them to think of

ideas to help combat and prevent the threats mentioned on the slide. After 2-3 minutes ask children in their groups to say answers back to the class.

Slide 15 Preventing threats- identify threats and see if they match up to what the groups have said.Slide 16 Ask children what marine mammals they think they would expect to find around North East

England. Reveal the answers.Slide 17 Pledge. Give an example pledge to the class e.g. I pledge to eat a more variety of fish to prevent

overfishing. Give the children post it notes and ask the children to think of a pledge they can make to help stop the threat towards marine mammals and write it down. Ask children to tell the rest of the class what their pledge is and stick them on to a poster.

Marine Mammals

Notes:Mysticete: refers to the baleen whales - whales that have a filtering system (made up of baleen plates) hanging from their upper jaw. The baleen filters the whale's food from the ocean waterOdontocete refers to toothed whales. Jaws are used to bite into food and prey and are useful for hunting specific prey. Include dolphins, sperm whales and beluga.Pinnipeds The word pinniped means fin or flipper-footed and refers to the marine mammals that have front and rear flippers. This group includes seals, sea lions, and walruses. These animals live in the ocean but are able to come on land for long periods of time.

Extension activities:

Activity 1: line drawings of marine mammals. Can be used to make a display or to help with Identification task.

Activity 2: Marine Mammal Species identification- activity sheets o Additional notes on how to run the activity

Create 12 large puppets using the marine mammal species identification catalogue worksheet. To run this activity divide the classroom into two, with a large sheet or tarpaulin acting as the ocean. Split the class into two groups, one group should hold the puppets and the second group should work as marine mammal identifiers by using the visual ID survey worksheet. This will include identification by fin shape, silhouette and size.Using the marine mammals photographs hold each photo up, children should guess what the marine mammal is by filling in the marine mammal photo ID sheet. Go through the answers together.

Marine Mammals

Examples:

example of Grey Seal puppet Example of White Beaked Dolphin puppet

An example of how to set up the activity on the beach or outdoors. Students holding up puppets

Behind the scenes: Students using the puppets

Students using binoculars, angle board and identification sheets, acting as marine mammal identifiers. This activity can also be ran in the classroom

Marine Mammals