HyperHomeschool

Want to go whale watching? In this fun activity students will go on a virtual whale watching expedition where they explore surface behaviors of these gentle giants.

Activity

• As a class, view the introduction to surface behaviors online at Maui Whale Watching Tours.
• Discuss what behviors students think are the most common.
• Pass out the tally sheets to each student.
• View the video together and have class tally surface behaviors. 

• Upon completion, graph results online at Create-a-Graph sponsored by NCES Kids.

Marine mammals spend all or most of their time in ocean water.  What keeps them warm?  If you were swimming in the warm waters off the coast of the Bahamas, it might seem a crazy question to ask.  However, at some point, your body would get cold!  What if you were to dive into the icy waters of the Arctic Ocean?  The cold waters would be almost unbearable for most humans.  So how do whales, dolphins, seals and other marine mammals keep from being cold?  One simple word: BLUBBER!

For these mammals, body temperature must remain between 95-100.4 degrees Fahrenheit (35-38 degrees Celsius).  Blubber is a thick layer of fat cells beneath the surface of the skin that preserves heat and keeps body temperatures in the ideal range.  It's the perfect insulator!  This layer of fat is very thick!  For example, a dolphin has a layer of blubber around .7” and the fat layer for sperm whales is between 1-2ft thick.  In addition to serving as an insulator, blubber is also used to store fat, as an energy source and for buoyancy. 

Scientists have recently discovered a downside to this layer of insulation.  Blubber also stores and/or absorbs harmful chemicals and toxins that are polluting the earth's waters.  These toxic chemicals are feared to be passed from parents to offspring.  Whale blubber is documented to have higher levels of mercury, PCB’s and pesticides! 

Activity

Materials: white model magic, buckets, and ice water

Procedure:

• Brainstorm ways humans stay warm.  Now, lead a discussion about how they think marine mammals survive in their ocean habitats. 
• Discuss with students what they think will happen if they plunge their finger into a bucket of ice water.  Record results.
• If you have a brave student, you can let them test the frigid water before continuing on with the activity.
• Now discuss with students what they think will happen if a finger covered in"blubber" is plunged into a bucket of ice water.  Record your results.
• Distribute balls of model magic to each student.  Ask them to flatten each ball using the heel of their hand.  Now, have them wrap their index finger completely.
• Once covered, students will take turns plunging their "blubber finger" into the icy water.  
• Ask students to form an opinion about how blubber works and add to a class wallwisher.  Each student should form a response.

Conclusions: All marine mammmals, like other mammals, are warm-blooded.  Their body temperature remains constant and does not adjust to changes in the surrounding temperature.  Blubber provides the perfect layer of insulation to keep them warm.  It's their built in "snuggy"!

To make this super fun, you could record the demonstratin with a Flip camera and post on a class wiki or create a slideshow using Google Docs.  In addition, you could easily post student responses there.  Be creative have fun learning!

During this activity, students will explore the unique nature of a whale's fluke.  They are, in essence, a whale's fingerprint. Each fluke varies in shape, size and pigmentation. The image below shows the main parts used when referencing the fluke.

Throughout a whale's lifetime, scarring occurs as a result of daily life and encounters with predators. Interestingly, white flukes tend to scar black and blacker flukes tend to scar white. Nevertheless, this serves as an additional feature that adds to each fluke's unique appearance.

During the 1960's, researchers Chuck Jurasz and Virginia Palmer developed the method of photo identification still in use today. While the equipment as become more sophisticated, the technique remains the same.  Scientists capture images of the ventral side of the whale's fluke as they descend on dives. These images are taking back to research labs and cataloged and tracked over time. The idea is simple, but the process can serve to be tricky. The Alaska Fisheries Science Center in conjunction with Auke Bay Laboratories have developed a wonderful online catalog.

This team of researchers hope to study the interactions between the populations of humpback whales around the Lynn Canal area and their favorite food source, herring. Due to their efforts, we have been provided with the opportunity to view years of research via their online database. For educators, this is a valuable resource to use with students as we strive to increase knowledge and awareness of one of this planet's largest mammals.

Now, it's your turn to try your luck at matching images of flukes. The task seems simple enough, but beware: Nothing is ever as easy as it seems!

Activity:

• Task: A group of your colleagues recently returned from a research expedition. You have been given the task of  matching the images just taken with those in your database.  As a result, you will be able to determine if their were any potential new sightings as well as update the log on those previously seen.

• Preparation: Make 2 copies of tail flukes taken from the online database at the Whale Center of New England.  Laminate and cut out the images omitting the names.  To make it easier to check if students are correct, I suggest numbering the backs of each image.