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.