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
Endangered Species Origami
Make sea turtle or whale origami in a hands-on activity that provides instructions for folding and facts for learning about each.
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...
Poetry4kids
Simile and Metaphor Lesson Plan
Similes and metaphors are the focus of a poetry lesson complete with two exercises. Scholars read poetry excerpts, underline comparative phrases, then identify whether it contains a simile or metaphor. They then write five...
Curated OER
Compare Sets of Objects Guided Lesson
Practice math vocabulary terms fewer, more, and data using this visual-object-analysis guide. Learners observe three sets of objects and answer three questions, two of which compare numbers of objects, and the last which...
Curated OER
Whales
Students compare and contrast the two types of whales. In this biology lesson, students research the characteristics of their assigned whale. They compile their findings in a folder.
Curated OER
Whale Adaptations
Learners explore whales and how they have adapted to survive in the ocean. In this whale adaptations lesson students complete several activities that allow them to investigate animal adaptations.
Curated OER
How Does Whale Blubber Work?
Learners perform an experiment to find out how whale blubber keeps whales warm in cold temperatures. They use Ziploc bags lathered in shortening to simulate whale blubber. They put their hands in cold water, both with and without the bags.
Curated OER
Whale Watcher Game Lesson
Students study the gray whale migration and compare their populations to the increasing ocean temperature. In this whale watcher lesson students draw a food chain.
Curated OER
A Whale of a Tale
Learners read "A Very Hungry Caterpillar" and discuss factual information in the book. They research whales and use information to write a narrative story. They take their stories through the writing process.
Curated OER
Investigating Evolutionary Questions: Bats, Whales, Reptiles, Birds, Animal Classification
Students are guided through a process in which three questions are addressed by retrieving beta hemoglobin sequences from online databases, and using online tools to compare those sequences in student-selected animals.
Curated OER
On the Road Again
Students trace the migration route of a gray whale. They color and label a map of North America, and using photocopy pictures of a gray whale, they move the whale along the migration route over a ten week period.
Curated OER
Getting Together - a Groupings Crossword Puzzle
Introduce your class to words for groups of animals and people. This is a crossword puzzle that includes 25 clues for collective nouns. The puzzle is online interactive and learners can receive immediate online feedback. Answers are not...
Curated OER
Beans and Baleen
Predict whale populations using different beans as whales! Learners observe different types of beans in a dish knowing that each bean represents a different kind of whale. They then predict how many "whales" there are in a certain area....
University of California
Energy and Biomass Pyramids
Young scientists play tag as they act out the food pyramid in the ocean ecosystem. Energy circles pass from the smaller prey to the predators and at the end of the activity, a data chart and analysis questions allow pupils to apply their...
American Museum of Natural History
What do You Know About Marine Biology
Show me what you know about the sea. Learners answer 10 questions about marine biology. The questions range from what evidence points to the origin of life to the biggest threat to oceans.
Curated OER
Why Do Governments Exist? Locke, Hobbes, Montesquieu, and Rousseau
Here is a great secondary source reading that includes the primary ideas and philosophies of the famed Enlightenment philosophers: Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Charles Montesquieu, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In additional to discussing...
Curated OER
"Whales are Mammals" Idea Web
Third graders explore the characteristics of whales that defines them as mammals. Using the internet and Inspiration software, 3rd graders create and organize "idea bubbles" to organize facts about whales. They locate details to...
Curated OER
Whale Fast Food Conversions
Students calculate feeding rates of whales and compare this to the feeding rates of humans.
Curated OER
HOW BIG IS A BLUE?
Students compare the lengths of whales using different lengths of rope. They illustrate one whale in life-size proportion.
Curated OER
The Beluga Whale, Otters
In these internet activity worksheets, students complete research related to the Beluga Whale and otters. Student are able to answer questions by following directions to help them navigate around a website.
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...
Curated OER
A Prickle of Hedgehogs
Pupils, individually or in groups, conduct research to find information needed to complete a worksheet in which they must match an animal name with 1) the name of its offspring (dog-puppy) and 2) its animal group name (geese-gaggle.)
Community Social Studies Unit
Lesson 1 - Community Social Studies Unit
Some problems are so big it takes an entire community to solve them. So was the case in the children's book Humphrey the Lost Whale: A True Story by Wendy Tokuda and Richard Hall. This primary grade lesson uses a class read-aloud of...