SeaWorld
Animal Migrations
Here is a fabulous set of activities for your young scientists. Each lesson contains map, hands-on, and game activities that will help the class understand why and how animals migrate from one place to another. First they'll examine the...
Curated OER
Keiko, Killer Whale
Middle schoolers will create a children's book on Keiko, the killer whale, that was rehabilitated and returned to the wild after living in an aquarium. In small groups, they conduct internet research to find out the history and current...
Mr. Nussbaum
Blue Whale
An interactive tests scholars' reading comprehension skills. After reading or listening to a brief informational text, learners answer five fill-in-the-blank questions. Results appear instantly.
American Museum of Natural History
A Whale of a Tale
What's the most interesting fact about a blue whale? Learners read an interview about the similarities between the Titanosaur and the blue whale displays at the American Museum of Natural History. Pupils learn not only about blue whales...
CK-12 Foundation
Large Decimal Rounding to Decimal Representations: Weighing a Whale
An interactive challenges mathematicians to round large numbers with help from a large scale that measures the weight of a blue whale. The practie's five questions include multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, true or false, and an open...
Teach Engineering
Machines and Tools (Part 2)
Which pulley system will give us a whale of a good time? Teams compare the theoretical and actual mechanical advantages of different pulley systems. They then form a recommendation for how to move a whale from an aquarium back to the ocean.
NOAA
Vertebrates II
Mammals of the ocean unite! Or not. The 20th installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program investigates how warm-blooded marine mammals survive in water. In the class activity, learners use...
Curated OER
Whales and Fish: Creatures of the Deep
Practice comparing and contrasting details in informational text with a reading passage about whales. It explains the ways that fish and whales are similar, as well as the ways they are different, and specific characteristics of various...
Ask a Biologist
It’s a Plankton Eat Plankton World
For as small as they are, plankton sure play an enormous role in maintaining marine ecosystems. Dive into an investigation of these tiny organisms with a hands-on life science activity in which children cut out pictures of sea animals...
Curated OER
Whale Song Acrostic
What do whales sing about? Invite your class to imagine the thoughts of whales before writing acrostic poems on the topic. The plan blends together a bit of life science with plenty of opportunities for creativity and writing.
Curated OER
My Mini Book About...
Elementary learners complete a mini book on polar bears. The resource contains four pages, each a quarter of a page, including one title page with a picture of a polar bear and a space for kids to write their names.
Teacher Printables
My Flip Book About . . .
Print these as two-sided handouts from which elementary entomologists can make a flip-style book about beetles (or a variety of other animals that are available as well). They research the habitat, food, and other interesting information...
Teacher Printables
My Mini Book About …
This is one of several printable pages on which little life scientists can write out their research on an assigned animal. The highlighted page is for alligator research, but several other animal pages are included as other materials....
National Geographic
People and Whales: A History
Whales and people have had a long and sordid history. To understand the impact that biological populations have had on each other, learners conduct research on specific topics related to the whale industry. They use their findings to...
Curated OER
Diving Whale Sculpture
Students identify two types of whales: toothed whales and baleen whales, and understand that whales come to the surface for air. Then they recognize that whales are mammals (they nurse their young and are warm-blooded). Students also...
Curated OER
Who am I?
A matching activity on some common marine mammals is here for you. In it, 12 animals such as polar bears and seals are found. Each of the animals has a colorful and accurate picture associated with it. The bonus question at the bottom...
Curated OER
Whose Point of View? The Journey of Three Generations
A reading of Whale Journey, a fact-filled picture book by Vivian French, launches a study of the life cycle and migration of three generations of gray whales. The interdisciplinary activity offers opportunities extensions into all...
Curated OER
Food Chain Checkers
Students model the food chain. In this instructional activity, students play a game resembling checkers that simulates the food chain within the ocean. Students make changes to the game to better represent how the food chain operates.
Curated OER
How Big Is a Blue?
Students sort and compare/contrast the lengths of various whales. They sort pictures of whales in order of smallest to largest, and given a rope marked with the lengths of the whales, they compare the actual lengths of the whales.
Learning to Give
Humphrey The Lost Whale
The children's book Humphrey the Lost Whale tells an amazing tale of a community joining together for a common cause. Read this book with your class, making connections between the events in the story and personal experiences of young...
Curated OER
Blubber Gloves
The ways that animals adapt to their environments is quite remarkable. In this life science lesson, fifth graders take a look at some of the ways that aquatic animals that live in Arctic or Antarctic waters survive. They perform an...
Curated OER
Let's Visit Hervey Bay
Students explore the concept of saving files on the computer. In this computer technology and science lesson, students download pictures, facts, and sounds of whales and save them to a disk. Students then discuss the information they...
Curated OER
Whale Watchers
Students research physical characteristics and ocean habitats of common species of whale. They create artwork illustrating characteristics of a particular species of whale using a crayon resist technique. Students identify different...
Curated OER
Marine Fisheries Management
Almost 200 slides make this a vast collection! It is a quirky collection, titled "Marine Fisheries Management," but having little to do with that occupation. What you will find are two-toned blue backgrounds with no pictures, but a few...