Whales

Whale Migration Patterns

We studied the migration patterns of the Grey Whale (north pole to the shores of Mexico) and the Humpback Whale (south pole to the equator.)

student completed notebook page

When we went on a trip to Washington's Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, we saw the skeleton of a Grey Whale and a life-sized model of a North Atlantic Right Whale.

Student notebook page on Baleen Whales

 We learned about the difference between baleen whales and toothed whales...

and that dolphins are a type of whale.

Student drawings of krill.

and how baleen whales eat small creatures like krill.
We made paper krill and pretended to be whales eating them.

We went outside on the sidewalk and began measuring in 10 foot increments.

 With a list of whale lengths in hand, James began marking the lengths and names of the whales on the sidewalk as we measured.

 This is the length of a Blue Whale...

100 feet from where Quentin is standing to where James is standing.

This is the length from a side view, but I wasn't able to get James in the picture...he is standing just to the left of the picture.

We learned about the different ways that whales move.

 One student was having a hard time sketching the whales in the right positions, so I cut out a small picture of a whale for him to move around into the right position and then trace. He was then able to color in the whales and the water around them.