2008 SMILE Summer Teacher Workshop High School Club Activities
A Whale of a Scale
A Whale of a Scale: Determining the Size of Megafauna
Material adapted from:
PBS Teachers “Creatures of the Deep: Whale Warning”
http://www.pbs.org/safarchive/4_class/45_pguides/pguide_604/4564_whale.html
Aquatic Project Wild, Council for Environmental Education 1992, p26-29
The Great Whales, Vicki Osis, Oregon State University 2005, p70-71
Factsheets taken from:
American Cetacean Society www.acsonline.org
Introduction:
One of the ways in which scientists are gaining more perspective in aquatic issues is
through the use of math and statistics. Some remarkable insights are gained if we look
at the world in numerical ways. Whales are creatures of extraordinary sizes, and are
often difficult to visualize such scale in relation to our own size. In this activity,
students will use math and scale to gain a greater appreciation of the variety of sizes
of megafauna, specifically the great whales.
Objectives:
Students will:
• Use computational, graphing and measuring techniques to draw or sculpture
life size replicas of whales on school grounds
• Be able to describe the sizes of different great whale species compared to both
their own body size and everyday objects
• Develop an appreciation for charismatic megafauna
Materials:
(Materials in bold are provided by SMILE)
Flipchart/butcher Paper
Markers/pencils
Sidewalk Chalk
Measuring devices (meter sticks/yardsticks/tape measures)
Twine, 200-300’(Optional)
Tent Stakes (Optional)
Carpenter’s Chalkline (Optional)
Materials provided are enough to support 20 students
Handouts/Overheads:
Student Grid Paper (One inch square)
American Cetacean Society Factsheets (6 different whale species)
Whale Diagrams
Construct-a-Whale Handout (taken from Aquatic Project Wild)
2008 SMILE Summer Teacher Workshop High School Club Activities
A Whale of a Scale
Procedure:
1. Explain the terms megafauna and cetacean. Brainstorm with the class megafauna
they are familiar with, this could include present types such rhinoceros, elephant and
buffalo or extinct species such as dodo, dinosaur and mammoth. Also include the
cetaceans (whales, dolphins, porpoise). Have the students estimate the size of these
creatures and play some short videos of cetaceans.
2. Divide the students into 6 teams and assign one whale species to each team using
the table below. Provide each team with a factsheet for their species.
Species
HUMPBACK WHALE
SPERM WHALE
FIN WHALE
GRAY WHALE
RIGHT WHALE
BLUE WHALE
Length (ft)
50
55
70
45
50
100
Weight (tons)
35
40
60
35
50
100
(1 ton = 2000 lb, approximately the weight of a small car)
NB: These typical lengths and weights for mature whales may be different from
information in reference books. This is a reflection of how knowledge of great whales
and other cetacea continues to grow through scientific investigation.
3. Provide the students with the one-inch grid paper. Using the whale diagrams, have
them cut out their species of whale. Ask them to draw an outline of this cut out on the
grid paper. This will be their master drawing.
4. Now have each team make a much larger grid on a sheet of flipchart/butcher
paper. The squares on this grid should be 4 inches on each side (so the new image will
become 4 times bigger than the master drawing). Ask the students to transfer their
smaller whale drawing to the larger grid, similarly to the hand picture in figure 1
below.
Fig 1 (taken from Aquatic Project Wild)
2008 SMILE Summer Teacher Workshop High School Club Activities
A Whale of a Scale
They can also use the numbers on the smaller grid to help transfer the individual
sections such as in figure 2.
Fig 2 (taken from Aquatic Project Wild)
5. Next, take the students outside to a playground, parking lot or sports field and have
the teams bring their master drawings. Inform the students they will use the same
method as before to draw the whales on school grounds. Here, the squares will be 10ft
on each side! To do this they can simply size up the master drawing, for example on
the master drawing the blue whale will measure 10 inches (10 squares) long, which
will equate to 100ft outdoors as 10 squares on the ground will measure 100ft (actual
size). Have plenty of measuring devices available for students to be able to achieve
this.
6. Transferring the whale image from the master drawing to the 10ft square grid may
be made easier by the following:
• Using 2-3 long pieces of twine/carpenters chalkline with marks every 10ft (such
as knots, ribbons tied on or marker spots at 10ft intervals)
• Making sure to use the numbers on the master and have the same marked on
the squares on the school ground, as per figure 3.
• The school ground grid does not have to be exactly square, so be sure to
prevent this part of the process from becoming to burdensome for the
students.
2008 SMILE Summer Teacher Workshop High School Club Activities
A Whale of a Scale
Figure 3 (taken from Aquatic Project Wild)
7. Once the drawings are finished, ask each team to prepare a quick presentation for
their whale species using the fact sheet. Have the students visit each drawing and
listen to each presentation. At each stop let the students investigate comparisons
between their own size and whale proportions, for example by determining how many
students can fit inside each whale, can encircle the drawing, etc. Use
objects/descriptions to create analogies for proportions of different whale parts.
Examples include:
•
Humpback Whale
o As long as a school bus
o Can blow bubbles as big as a pizza
•
Sperm Whale
o Eat giant squid, but not without the squid putting up a fight first.
Scientists have discovered this from finding sperm whales with sucker
mark scars as big as dinner plates on them.
o Have the largest brain of any animal on Earth, weighing 20 lb, 7 times
larger than the human brain
•
Fin Whale
o One of the fastest whales, known to swim up to 35 mph, 7 times faster
than the fastest human swimmer
•
Gray Whale
o Has the longest known migration route of any whale, a 12,000 mile
round trip between the Artic Ocean and Mexico, equivalent of Portland
to London and back!
•
Right Whale
o Eyes are the size of softballs!
•
Blue Whale
o Heart is the size of a VW Bug, but only beats about 6 times a minute
2008 SMILE Summer Teacher Workshop High School Club Activities
A Whale of a Scale
o
o
o
o
o
Most students could crawl through one of their major arteries
Most elephants weigh less than the tongue of a blue whale
A single breath could inflate 2000 balloons
Eats enough food in one day to fill 64,000 cereal bowls
Loudest as well as largest animal – can reach 188 dB, 3 times louder
than a human can shout
Extensions:
1. Draw the actual size outline of an African elephant or brachiosaurus among the
whales for more size comparison
2. Have the students research the current status of all the great whale species using
such websites as:
• Ocean Alliance: http://www.oceanalliance.org/
• Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society: http://www.wdcs.org/
• American Cetacean Society: http://www.acsonline.org/
3. Start a school project to construct a life-size whale out of heavyweight plastic,
inflated by fans. Use the construct-a-whale handout supplied with this activity for
help.
4. Play the Humpback Whale migration game from Vicki Osis’ Book: The Great Whales
(p70-77)
5. Use the TOPP (Tagging Of Pacific Predators) Website to help students discover how
feeding/breeding grounds and migration patterns of marine predators are monitored
http://topp.org/
Vocabulary:
Cetacean
An order of marine mammals that comprises whales, dolphins and porpoises. These
have a streamlined hairless body, no hind limbs, a horizontal tail fin, and a blowhole
on the top of the head for breathing.
Megafauna
The large mammals of a particular region, habitat or geological period.
Scale
2008 SMILE Summer Teacher Workshop High School Club Activities
A Whale of a Scale
A Whale of a Scale: Whale Diagrams
(NB Measurements on these diagrams are in metric)
Humpback Whale
Sperm Whale
Fin Whale
Gray Whale
Blue Whale
Right Whale
2008 SMILE Summer Teacher Workshop High School Club Activities
A Whale of a Scale