Teacher Activity Guide: Scholastic's The Magic School Bus Whales & Dolphins
Updated: April 8, 2004
Hint: To turn off the music while using the CD-ROM, go inside the bus, and click on the radio on the left side of the screen. To turn on closed captioning, click on the "CC" to the right of the Quit sign over the bus door. When it is green, the closed captioning is turned on. This helps some students focus on the content or understand the words better.
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Physical Characteristics of Whales and Dolphins
Materials
Pictures of whales and dolphins, blue cellophane, construction paper, paint or crayons, scissors, glue
Key Question
What do whales and dolphins look like?
Curriculum Links
Science, Art
Activities
Have students observe different types of whales and dolphins using the CDROM, books, magazines, or posters.
Discuss what the students observed, emphasizing the physical characteristics of whales and dolphins. Include characteristics such as the body shape, dorsal fin, flippers, fluke, blowhole(s), mouth, eyes, ears, and color patterns. Also discuss the purpose for each body part.
Have each student draw a whale or dolphin, illustrating the physical features that were discussed. Then have students paint or color their drawing, cut it out, and glue it to a sheet of blue cellophane (water). The completed projects can be hung in a window.
As an extension activity, have students draw and color other sea life and add it to their project.
Use the CD-ROM
Click the camera in the bus and create sea life pictures. Go outside and click the submarine to play "Spot That Whale." Observe different types of whales. Click Tim to learn how whales use different parts of their bodies.
Sizes of Whales and Dolphins
Materials
12-inch rulers, cord or string. Grid paper and pencils for extension activity.
Key Question
How big are whales and dolphins?
Curriculum Links
Science, Math
Activities
Discuss different types of whales and dolphins and how they vary in size. Emphasize the lengths of whales and dolphins and that the lengths range from a few feet to a hundred feet.
(Following are some types of whales and dolphins and the lengths they can reach: Boto-8 feet; White-sided dolphin-8 feet; Pygmy sperm whale-11 feet; Bottlenose dolphin-12 feet; Beluga-16 feet; Narwhal-16 feet; Pilot-20 feet; Killer whale (Orca)-30 feet; Minke-33 feet; Grey-42 feet; Humpback-56 feet; Right whale-56 feet; Sperm whale-60 feet; Bowhead-65 feet; Fin-88 feet; Blue-98 feet.)
Have students work in pairs or groups of three to illustrate the lengths of various whales and dolphins in graph form on the playground. Have each team choose a different whale or dolphin so that no two teams are graphing the same one.
Have the teams use a ruler to determine the length of cord or string they will need to represent the length of their whale or dolphin and to cut the appropriate length.
Have students assemble at a starting line on the playground with their cord or string. Have one member from each team stand on the line holding one end of the cord or string while the other(s) take the second end and walk forward until their cord or string is tight. Then have each team hold their cord or string in place to represent the length of their whale or dolphin. Have the students at the starting line take turns naming their whale or dolphin and telling its length.
As an extension activity, have students graph the lengths of the whales and dolphins on grid paper, figuring out how many feet each grid must represent to include both the shortest and longest whale and/or dolphin.
Use the CD-ROM
Click the school bus to go to Whale Scales and compare the length and weight of whales and dolphins with school buses, students, cats, and elephants.
Echolocation in Whales and Dolphins
Materials
Blindfold, whistle, round pan of water. Bags of water for extension activity
Key Question
Whales and dolphins can hear and echolocate. How do whales and dolphins echolocate?
Curriculum Links
Science, Language Arts
Activities
Have students sit in a circle or at their desks. Blindfold one student at a time and have him or her stand in the front of the circle or room. Have a student who is not blindfolded clap his or her hands. See if the blindfolded student can determine which student made the clapping sound. After several students take turns trying to determine who clapped, have students blow a whistle instead of clapping and see if the blindfolded students can figure out who has the whistle.
Discuss how students tried to determine who had clapped or blown the whistle. Ask the students why they think they hear sounds.
Use a round pan of water and touch the center so students can see the ripple effect of the waves. Compare what is observed with how sound waves travel through air and water. Explain that when whales and dolphins make sounds, the sound travels in all directions through the water. When the sound reaches an object, it bounces off the object and returns to the whale. The echo that bounces off the object and is heard by the whale allows the whale to know where the object is located, its size, and its speed. This is called Echolocation.
As an extension activity, have blindfolded students hold a bag of water over each ear while other students clap or blow a whistle to see if there is a difference when sound travels through water.
Food Sources of Whales and Dolphins
Materials
Bag of beans, small plastic bags, marking pens, colored scarves, and jump ropes. Poster board, paper, marking pens, scissors, and glue for extension activity
Key Question
What do whales and dolphins eat?
Curriculum Links
Science, PE
Activities
Discuss what whales and dolphins eat, emphasizing the food sources of toothed whales. Also discuss the defense mechanisms of the sea creatures which are eaten by whales and dolphins.
Have students play a game to illustrate the food chain of toothed whales. In this game, the beans represent plankton, the small plastic bags represent sea creatures that eat plankton, and the colored scarves represent whales. The jump ropes placed in circles represent defense mechanisms of the sea creatures that are eaten by whales and dolphins.
Scatter a bag of beans on the play field and place several jump ropes in circles throughout the field. Choose one student out of every eight or so to represent toothed whales and have each wear a colored scarf to indicate they are whales. Have the other students choose a sea creature that eats plankton and is a food source for toothed whales and write the name of that animal on a plastic bag. More than one student can represent the same animal but a variety of sea creatures should be included.
Begin the game by having the students with bags start to "feed" by gathering beans (plankton) and putting the beans in the bags. After these students have gathered several beans, allow the students who are whales to enter the game and "feed" while the others continue to gather beans. The students who are whales "feed" by tagging the students who have bags. The students who are tagged must give their bags to the "whales" and leave the game. To keep from being tagged and leaving the game, the students who are gathering beans may go inside a jump rope circle, signifying that they have employed successful defense mechanisms of the sea creatures they represent. After the "whales" have an opportunity to collect several bags, the game is over.
Discuss the results of the game with the students. Did they survive? If they did, were they able to obtain enough food to remain healthy? Discuss the kinds of food that the sea creatures and whales ate and the kinds of defense mechanisms that sea creatures used to remain alive.
As an extension activity, illustrate the food chain of toothed whales by drawing a large triangle on a poster board. Divide the triangle into three parts so there is a small section on top for the whales, a middle section for the sea creatures that are eaten by the whales, and a large section on the bottom for plankton. Put the word plankton in the bottom section. Have students draw a picture of the sea creature or whale that they represented in the game, cut it out, and glue it in the appropriate section of the triangle.
Use the CD-ROM
Visit the Whale-a-teria and find out what whales eat. Click the scroll in the upper corner of the Bus to learn what baleen whales eat. Click the giant squid in the ocean and find out how it defends itself.
Breathing of Whales and Dolphins
Materials
Clock. Measuring cups, plastic or glass jars with lids, marking pens, bowls, and plastic tubing for extension activity
Key Question
How do whales and dolphins breathe?
Curriculum Links
Science, Math
Activities
Have students use the clock to time how long they can hold their breath. Discuss why we need to breathe and compare the need of whales and dolphins to breathe oxygen from the air. (While the lungs of whales are a relatively smaller part of their body size than ours, they are able to almost fill their lungs with air when they breathe while we only fill a small part of our lungs with each breath. Most whales can hold their breath for ten minutes or more and the sperm whale can hold its breath for more than an hour.)
As an extension activity, have students test their lung capacity by making and using a spirometer. To make the spirometer, have students fill a measuring cup with water, pour it into an empty plastic or glass jar, and mark the water level. Have them continue adding cups of water and marking the level until the jar is full. Then have students put the lid on the jar and fill a bowl half full of water. Have them put the jar of water upside down in the bowl and remove the lid when it is under the water so the jar remains upside down in the bowl and full of water. Finally have students insert one end of a plastic tube into the jar, keeping the other end out of the water.
To test their lung capacity, have students take a deep breath, blow into the tubing, and observe how many units of water they displace with air when they blow.
Use the CD-ROM
Click the spouting whale (outside the Bus) to find out how whales breathe. Click Dorothy Ann to learn how whales breathe.
Survival of Whales and Dolphins
Materials
Cans of tuna
Key Question
How can we help whales and dolphins survive?
Curriculum Links
Science, Language Arts
Activities
Ask students to bring a can of tuna to class if possible. Compare the different brands and look for the "Dolphin Safe" seal on the cans. Discuss the significance of the seal. (Dolphins and tuna swim together so when tuna seiners catch tuna, they also trap dolphins. In spite of efforts to release the dolphins, many are caught in the nets and die because they cannot reach the surface of the water to breathe. The International Whaling Commission and other organizations work to regulate the catches of tuna so that whales, dolphins, and porpoises are not caught in nets. Tuna that is caught by the standards set by the US Congress to protect dolphins is labeled "Dolphin Safe".)
As an extension activity, check the web to find the latest status on laws protecting dolphins and whales. Also check the web site of the International Whaling Commission to see the current list of nations who have joined the effort to protect dolphins
