1

ORCA’s Whale Education Month

Lesson Pack 1: Whales

Whales are the largest animals on our planet!

Learn more about these incredible creatures with

ORCA’s Whale Education Month materials, games

and activities.

Registered Charity Number: 1141728

2

ORCA’s Whale Education Month

Welcome!

This teacher’s pack aims to educate and inspire students (aged 7-11) around the UK about the wonderful world of

whales, dolphins and porpoises. Included in this pack are all the resources needed to deliver a fun, scientific class

about these animals, with the hope of raising awareness of the importance of their conservation. ORCA’s Whale

Education Month is running from the 1st – 31st October 2017, to coincide with World Animal Day on the 4th October.

About ORCA:

ORCA are a UK based whale and dolphin conservation charity, dedicated to the protection of whales, dolphins and

porpoises (collectively known as cetaceans) and their habitats in UK & European waters. We and our volunteers help

protect these inspirational animals in a number of ways; by educating the general public through our Your Seas

programmes onshore and our Wildlife Officer programmes offshore, through our Marine Mammal Surveyor Training

Courses across the country, and, once trained, through our volunteer surveyors working on ferry and cruise ship

routes monitoring vulnerable whale and dolphin populations. We freely share our data with governments and other

research institutions. Our work is all about creating safer places for whales and dolphins, ultimately promoting the

health of the wider marine ecosystem.

ORCA provides whale and dolphin workshops for schools, as part of the ‘Your Seas’ educational programme. Being

based in Portsmouth, there is never enough time to visit as many schools as we’d like. This teacher’s pack will

provide the same engaging presentation and educational activities to students, whilst allowing teachers to be

trained and able to deliver the content themselves.

For more information, please visit our website www.orcaweb.org.uk

There are three lesson packs;

1. Whales

2. Dolphins

3. Porpoises

The below information is for the Whales Pack.

Keep in touch!

We hope you enjoy taking part in ORCA’s Whale Education Month, and if you have any questions, please do not

hesitate to contact us;

info@orcaweb.org.uk

02392 832565

ORCA, Brittany Centre, Wharf Road, Portsmouth, PO2 8RU

If you or your school uses social media, the hashtag is #WhaleEducationMonth

and our Twitter handle is @ORCA_web

3

ORCA’s Whale Education Month There are a wide range of different materials, activities and games provided for ORCA’s Whale Education Month.

These resources link in with the National Curriculum;

Science

Years 2 – 6: Living things and their habitats

Years 2 – 4: Animals, including humans

Maths

Years 1 – 3: Number – number and place value

Years 1 – 3: Number – multiplication and division

Years 1 – 3: – Measurement

English

Years 1 – 6: Spoken Language

Years 1 – 6: Reading - comprehension

Geography

KS1 – Locational knowledge

How does the pack work?

We have provided a PowerPoint presentation about whales for you to deliver to your class. Notes for the

presentation are below. Integrated into the presentation are slides with suggested activities.

The individual activities are in this document. We have also provided you with separate documents with the activity

sheets on (for ease of printing). It is up to you as to how many activities to integrate into the lesson.

Once you have delivered the presentation and activities, you can print off the certificate to proudly display in your

classroom!

Contents:

Activity Page Number Teacher’s notes for the PowerPoint Presentation: Whales 4 Activity: Measuring Giants 9 Activity Sheet 1: Compare & Contrast (Answers) 10 Activity Sheet 2: Whale Words 11 Activity: Krill Sieve 12 Activity Sheet 3: Make One Small Change 13 Activity Sheet 4: Whale Research 14 Activity Sheet 5: Design your own whale tail! 15

4

Teacher’s Notes: Presentation 1 – Whales

1 Introduction: Today, we will be learning about some of the largest animals on our planet – whales! This presentation has been provided by ORCA, who are a UK-based whale and dolphin conservation charity. The charity’s aim is to have oceans alive with whales and dolphins!

2 First of all, let’s start off with a quiz to see if you know any names of the whales that live in our oceans. Ask the class: Does anyone know the name of this huge whale? [click to reveal answer] Blue whale!

3 Ask the class: Does anyone know the name of this acrobatic animal? [click to reveal answer] Humpback whale!

4 Ask the class: Does anyone know the name of this deep diving whale? [click to reveal answer] Sperm whale!

5 This picture here shows the 90 species of whale, dolphin and porpoise in the world. The collective term for all of these animals is cetaceans [pronounced sih-tay-shuns] As you can see, they come in a wide range of shapes, sizes, colours and even patterns. The number 90 species does go up and down. More species of whales are still being discovered today, and also unfortunately some species become extinct. The Yangtze River Dolphin became extinct in 2007. Whales and dolphins live in oceans all around the world, and some species of dolphin even live in the world’s largest rivers. Ask the class: Which whales and dolphins do you recognise?

6 Ask the class: Which whale is the largest? You can either reveal the answer or carry on to the activity (Measuring Giants) to find out!

5

Answer; the blue whale is the largest animal that has ever lived on our planet. It is longer and heavier than any of the sharks and dinosaurs!

7 Activity: Measuring Giants! [takes approximately 15 minutes]

8 The blue whale is the largest animal that has ever lived on our planet. It is longer and heavier than any of the sharks and dinosaurs! FAQ: If you get asked, the Megalodon shark was only 18m long! Ask the class: Can you see the person in this picture?

9 The blue whale is 33m long when it is fully grown. That’s the same size as not one [click], not two [click], but three [click] double decker buses! The blue whale weighs up to 180 tonnes. For reference, a polar bear weighs about one ton.

10 The blue whale’s tongue is the same size and weight as an African elephant. So technically, you would be able to balance an elephant on the end of a blue whale’s tongue.

11 Ask the class: But how big do you think a blue whale’s heart is? If each student clenches their fist, this is the same size as their own heart. There are four options, read them all out and get the students to put their hands up for whichever they think is the correct answer [click to reveal] – it’s the same size as a small car! You can hear a blue whale’s heart beat from over 2 miles away!

12 But what do you think blue whales eat? [click 5 times for different options] There are five options, read them all out and get the students to put their hands up for whichever they think is the correct answer [click to reveal] Blue whale’s favourite food is krill! Small, shrimp like creatures that live in huge groups. Blue whales will eat millions of krill in one mouthful. We will talk about how blue whales feed a little later on.

13 Activity Sheet 1: Compare & Contrast [takes approximately 15 minutes] The main aim of this activity is for children to learn that although whales and fish both live in the sea, whales are mammals and not fish!

14 Activity Sheet 2: Whale Words [takes approximately 15 minutes]

15 This slide follows on from activity 3. [Click to reveal first word] – Ask students to either describe where the whale body part is, or they could come up to the front of the class and point to where it is.

6

There are 7 body parts to label on the humpback whale. Mouth – The humpback whale uses this to feed on lots of small fish and krill Dorsal fin – The fin on the whale’s back. On whales this is located two thirds of the way along the body. On dolphins, the dorsal fin is right in the middle of the animal’s back. Blowhole – A whale’s nostrils, located on top of the animals head. A humpback whale has 2 blowholes. Ask the class: Why is their nose on the top of their head? Answer: To make it nice and easy for the whale to breathe as it comes up to the surface of the water to breathe. Eye – Whales have very good eyesight Pectoral fin – Whales have 2 pectoral fins, located on the side of their body. They use these mainly for steering. Tail fluke – A whale’s tail is called a fluke, and it moves its tail fluke up and down to propel the animal through the water Blubber – A thick layer of fat around a whale which helps to keep it warm in the cold water. It’s its own personal insulation.

16 There are two types of whale: Toothed whales Baleen whales (pronounced bay-lean) [click] Some whales have teeth, like this sperm whale. Toothed whales use their teeth to feed on large prey one by one.

17 How big are sperm whales teeth? There are five options, read them all out and get the students to put their hands up for whichever they think is the correct answer [click to reveal] A sperm whale’s tooth is the same size and weight as a brick! They only have teeth on their bottom jaw, with huge holes in their gums in their top jaws which the teeth slot into when the whale has its mouth closed.

18 Sperm whales are incredible animals. They can hold their breath for 2 hours and dive to depths of 2,000m. They do this to find their favourite food, which is giant squid [click], which live in the deep dark depths of the ocean. Remember! Whales are mammals which means they have to come up to the surface of the ocean to breathe. It takes the sperm whale 2 hours to dive very deep, find its prey, battle it, eat it and then come back up to the surface!

19 To put how deep they dive into context. Big Ben is 96m tall. Discuss with the class how to work out how many Big Ben’s would be as deep as 2,000m. [click to reveal equation] [click to reveal answer] [click to reveal picture]

7

Advanced activity: Find a local landmark and research how high it is and do the same as above with Big Ben. Advanced activity: The Cuvier’s beaked whale is the deepest diving marine mammal, which can hold its breath for 138 minutes and dive to 2,992 metres deep. Find out how deep this is in comparison to local landmarks.

20 But most whales do not have any teeth at all! Instead, they have baleen (pronounced bay-lean). Baleen is a thick bristly brush which hangs from a whale’s top jaw. It is made out of keratin – the same as a human’s hair and fingernails. They use this to feed on hundreds of small prey (krill and small fish) in one go.

21 Baleen whales have a strange way of feeding. However, it’s an extremely effective way for these huge animals to feed on lots of tiny prey all in one go. Baleen whales have thick strips of muscle that run from their jaw all the way down to their bellybutton. These can expand and contract. When a whale is swimming along, its mouth is closed. But when the whale sees a big group of small fish or krill, it opens up its mouth. The whale’s mouth opens up and just like a parachute opening up in the wind, the muscles relax and expand, allowing the whale to scoop up millions of small fish and krill in one mouthful. Then the whale closes its mouth. Now the whale has huge amounts of sea water and lots of prey inside its mouth. But the whale does not want to swallow all that salty seawater, so it uses its tongue to push all of the water back out of its mouth. The baleen acts like a giant sieve. The sea water flows through the small gaps in the bristly baleen brush, back out into the ocean. However, the small prey gets stuck in the baleen brush inside the whale’s mouth. Once the whale has pushed all of the sea water back out of its mouth, it then swallows all of the food. FAQ: Can the whale swallow a human? No, in fact, a whale’s throat is only about the width of a grapefruit, so it would certainly not be able to swallow a human. They can only swallow small prey. Fun Fact: A blue whale can filter 100 tonnes of krill filled water in less than 10 seconds! Examples of baleen whales are; humpback whale, blue whale, fin whale.

22 We recommend viewing these videos in class, to really show how the baleen whales feed. (Please note that these videos are not affiliated with ORCA)

23 Activity: Krill sieve [takes approximately 5 minutes]

24 Despite whales being beautiful and fascinating, there are lots of threats facing whales, dolphins and porpoises in our oceans. Unfortunately, many of these are due to humans Ask the class: What threats can you think of?

8

All activity sheets are below, but they are also provided as separate documents for ease of printing.

25

Ask the class: What in this picture do no whales and dolphins eat? [click] Answer: Seaweed. All whales and dolphins are carnivores - which means they eat other animals. Everything else on this slide is eaten by a species of whale or dolphin except seaweed because it isn’t an animal. Game: I am going to swap one of these pictures over, close your eyes and see if you can spot the difference. Okay eyes closed [click] Now open them. What has changed? Answer: Jellyfish, click to show image of plastic bags in their place. Whales and dolphins accidently eat plastic thinking they are jellyfish/squid. 100,000 marine mammals die every year from marine litter!

26 Ask the class: Where do you think this rubbish was found? All of this plastic was found in an orca/killer whale’s stomach. Many whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, turtles, sharks and fish eat plastic thinking its food. Plastic is a man-made material, which means it never biodegrades (like an apple core would, for example). So when an animal swallows it, it stays in its stomach. Over time, the animal eats more and more plastic, which fills up its stomach. Now the animal feels like it’s full up, so it stops feeding. As you can see, this orca has eaten a yoghurt pot, shoe, crisp wrappers and sweet wrappers. Ask the class: Where do you think this came from? Answer; Humans 80% of rubbish in the sea comes from land – humans dropping rubbish on the floor (even if you’re not by the seaside, the wind can blow it into streams and river and the rain washes all rubbish into streams and rivers, too, which end up in the sea), landfills eroding into the sea, rubbish washing into the sea by the tide. 20% of marine litter comes from the sea – people throwing rubbish off ships, fishermen accidentally losing their nets out at sea.

27 Activity Sheet 3: Make one small change [takes approximately 1 – 2 hours] – this could be incorporated into homework.

28 Thank you for taking part! We hope that you now know lots about whales and dolphins and that students are encouraged to do their own research about these fascinating animals! Additional activities: Activity Sheet 4: Whale research [takes approximately 1 – 2 hours] – this could be incorporated into homework. Activity Sheet 5: Design your own whale tail [takes approximately 1 hour] – this could be incorporated into homework.

9

Activity: Measuring Giants Cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) come in a great range of different shapes and sizes, from the largest

animal on Planet Earth, the blue whale, to the smallest cetacean, the vaquita porpoise.

Learning outcomes: In this exercise, students will get a feel for how large whales actually are. We have included

some species of porpoise and dolphin also for comparison.

What you will need: Either a measuring tape, rope and/or eager students! You will also need a large area, such as

the school hall or playground/field.

Instructions: If you are using a measuring tape, measure out the lengths of the different species below whilst

conducting the activity. If you are using a rope, you will need to measure out the lengths before delivering this

session to the class. If you do not have either a measuring tape or rope, you can use your students! Below we have

provided you with the length of each species, plus how many children this would measure out to (based on the

average height for students aged 7-8, 1.24m).

Teachers should measure out the lengths listed below and if conditions allow, ask students to lie down next to the

measuring tape, in order to compare cetacean and human body lengths. Students and teachers alike will be shocked

to see just how big whales and dolphins can grow.

Advanced activity: To make this a more complicated task, ask each student to measure their height. As a class, work

out which students need to lie head-to-toe together to make the exact lengths below (or the closest to it!).

Species:

Vaquita porpoise = 1.2m (the smallest of all cetaceans)

(Less than 1 student age 7-8)

Bottlenose dolphin = 4m

(Approximately 3 students age 7-8)

Orca (killer whale) = 9m (the largest species of dolphin)

(Approximately 7 students age 7-8)

Minke whale = 11m

(Approximately 9 students age 7-8)

Humpback whale = 17m

(Approximately 13 students age 7-8)

Sperm whale = 18m

(Approximately 14/15 students age 7-8)

Blue whale = 33m (the largest animal that has ever lived on the planet!)

(Equivalent to 3 double-decker buses or approximately 26 students age 7-8)

Blue whale

10

Activity Sheet 1: Compare and Contrast - Answers This activity will help you to understand how whales and fish are different.

Although both whales and fish live in the sea, there are many differences between them. Whales are

different than fish, but they do have some similar characteristics. Complete the chart below, known as a

Venn Diagram, to compare how whales are similar to fish and how they are different (you can either write

in the diagram below or carefully cut the words out and stick them into the diagram). An example is

written in to start you off. All of the answers are filled in below.

A fish Warm blooded Lives in the sea

Tail moves up and down Can swim A mammal

Lays eggs Tail moves side-to-side Has to come to the water’s

surface to breathe air

Gives birth to live young Cold blooded Has lungs

Has hair Has gills and breathes

underwater Has backbone

Has scales Can be found alone Can be found in groups

Fish Whale

Both fish

and

whales

Lives in the sea

Has gills and breathes

underwater

Can be found alone

Can be found in groups

11

Activity Sheet 2: Whale Words: Answers Carefully cut out the green words and blue sentences. Then, match the green words below with the

descriptions (the blue sentences).

Students will learn a wide range of whale-themed words. Students can do this alone or in small groups.

Baleen

This hangs from the whale’s top jaw, and uses it to filter feed

small animals from the water

Pectoral fin The fins on the animal’s

side, which it uses to steer

Blubber A thick layer of fat all

around the body which helps to keep the whale

warm

Dorsal fin

The fin on a whale’s back

Lunge feeding

When a whale is feeding on the water surface

and it takes a huge gulp of food filled water

Tail fluke

The whale moves this up and down to help it move quickly through

the water Rorqual pleats

Baleen whales have these groves that run from the chin to the

bellybutton. They allow the whale’s throat to expand during filter

feeding

Blowhole The whale’s nostrils,

which are on top of its head

Logging

A behaviour where the whale rests on the

surface of the water

Breaching

When the whale jumps out of the water and

creates a huge splash!

Rostrum

The upper jaw of a whale

Calf

The name for a baby whale

Carnivore

Whales only eat other animals. What is the

name for this?

Spyhopping

A behaviour where the whale sticks its head

out of the water and has a look around

Pod

A group of whales is called a…

12

Activity: Krill sieve! Background – Baleen whales, like blue whales, do not have teeth. Instead they have big bristles called

baleen (which are made from keratin, the same material as our hair and finger nails) which hang down

from their top jaw and are used to filter feed krill (small shrimp like creatures) and small fish. Baleen

whales open their mouths and lunge towards bait balls of krill, expanding their mouths in doing so. After

taking a large mouthful of krill and water, they squeeze all the water out of their mouths, back out into the

ocean, but the baleen traps the food, just like a sieve. Once the whale has filtered all of the water out of

its mouth, the whale then uses its huge tongue to scrape the krill from the inside of the baleen, and then

the whale is able swallow all of the food, without swallowing all of the salty sea water.

Aim – To teach students about the feeding methods that baleen whales use to catch krill.

Equipment - A large bowl, 2 litre milk carton, scissors, marker pen, sieve and dry rice

Preparation for activity – Cut the milk carton into the shape of a whale (make sure this is done by an

adult/teacher first) and use the pen to draw a face onto the whale.

Delivering the activity in class - Fill the large bowl with water and put a handful of rice into the water.

During this activity the rice will represent the krill. Pour the contents of the bowl carefully into the whale’s

mouth (milk carton). As can be seen, the whale now has a mouthful of ‘food’ and water. In order to filter

out the water, pour the contents of the whale’s mouth through a sieve and into the bowl. The sieve will

retain the rice/krill, just like the whale’s baleen would, for the whale to swallow.

This activity mimics how baleen whales take huge mouthfuls of food and water, push out all of the water

(retaining the food within the baleen sieve), then use their large tongue to scrape out all of the food from

the baleen to swallow.

13

Activity Sheet 3: Make one small change Do some research into one of these threats that whales, dolphins and porpoises face;

o Marine Litter

o Noise Pollution

o Chemical Pollution

o Overfishing

o Bycatch

Think about;

Why does this threat happen?

How is it harmful to marine animals?

Who is at risk? Which species does the threat affect the most?

Where in the world is this threat?

What can humans do to stop this threat happening in the future? Think about one

small thing that everyone could do in their everyday lives to help save our oceans.

Once you have completed your research, do one of the following;

o Make a poster to display at school, which raises awareness of the threats facing whales and your suggestions of how people can help stop this happening.

o Write a story about a whale in danger, and end it with a solution to the problem. A good example of this is ‘The Snail and the Whale’ book by Julia Donaldson.

o Write a poem about threats in our oceans and how we can help.

o Create an advert to be shown on a bus stop about how people can save the oceans.

o Create a t-shirt to raise awareness of the threats in our oceans.

You can also make your pledge to help save whales and dolphins on the ORCA website:

http://www.orcaweb.org.uk/get-involved/make-a-small-change

14

Activity Sheet 4: Whale Research Student Name_________________________________________________________________________________

Creature name_________________________________________________________________________________

What do they look like?

Size_____________

Colour___________

What do they feed on?

______________________

______________________

______________________

Is this whale a toothed or baleen whale? Circle the answer

Toothed Baleen

Fun Facts: Find out three fun facts about this species of whale.

Threats: What threats does this animal face?

Where do they live? Circle on the map and colour in where this animal can be found. This is called a species

distribution map.

Draw the whale here: Label the key body parts

15

Activity Sheet 5: Design your own whale tail! Humpback whales can be individually recognised by the underside of their tail fluke. There are many

humpback whale ‘catalogues’ around the world. By taking photographs of humpback whales seen, we can

look at where this individual has come from, its family, friends and migration patterns.

Humpback whales have white and yellow patterns and marks, cuts, grazes and even algae and barnacles on

their tails.

Using the template, ask students to design their own whale tail fluke that would distinguish them from the

rest of the class!

Students can think about;

- Their favourite colour/s

- Hobbies

- Favourite words

- The town where they live

- Where they like to go on holiday

- Favourite film/TV show

- Favourite animal

- Their friends

Advanced activity: Draw a huge whale tail and each student can put a handprint on it! You can then

display your own class tail fluke.

16

_______________’s whale tail fluke

17

Thank you for taking part in

ORCA’s Whale Education Month!

If your school would like to fundraise or donate to help us

continue our vital research and education work, please visit

our website www.orcaweb.org.uk

Thank you for your support.