Whales

AS PART OF OUR ONGOING SUPPORT for classroom teachers across Canada the CCGE is pleased to provide members of the National Teacher Network with a complementary copy of this poster map. This is part of an ongoing series produced and included in issues of Canadian Geographic. Network members will realize that this is the third poster map and accompanying lesson ideas included for Network members. We are anxious to hear back from you as to whether you are finding these posters and accompanying ideas of any value/use in your classroom program, PLEASE contact us with your reactions. Your feedback is significant in helping us continue this series as part of the CCGE mailings.

Poster: Whales of Canada
Articles: on whales and whaling in Canadian Geographic, Vol. 118 #1 - Jan./Feb. 1998

The following represents a 'brainstorming' of classroom activities using the poster Whales of Canada. This is simply a starting point and we are sure that elementary and secondary school teachers across Canada will be able to come up with many more strategies. These are included to simply 'jump start' the process and get people thinking about the possibilities on how to use this resource.

• Develop a bulletin board display featuring a large map of Canada as well as the whale poster - locate the habitat of the various species of whales explained.
• Develop symbols or some other method to determine the relative size of the particular whale population in the various oceans.
• Develop a visual means to illustrate the 'trend' in population for the various whale species.
• Have students read the intro. information on one or more of the whales featured on the map. Have them research this species of whale in more detail and report on it as part of a class research project.
• Develop a graphing exercise comparing the 'statistics' (length, weight, life span) of the various species of whale highlighted.
• Find an open area on the school grounds or in a school hallway - have students measure out the actual length of the various whales to give them a real sense of the size of these creatures.
• Check with a local automobile dealer to obtain the weight of a typical car or truck that most students would be familiar with. Based on that information, determine how many of the cars or trucks would equal the weight of a particular whale - again to give the students a sense of the weight of these creatures in relation to something that they are familiar with.
• Discuss and develop a chart to explain how whales have 'evolved' over time (see yellow side-bar on the poster 'When hooves became flukes' as a starting point).
• Explore the economic uses made of whales by modern society (see articles in Canadian Geographic Jan./Feb. 1998 pages 24-34, and 37-38 as a starting point).
• Debate the PROS and CONS of the whaling industry (see articles in Canadian Geographic Jan./Feb. 1998 pages 24-34, and 37-38 as a starting point).
• Research which nations are currently engaged in the whaling industry.
• See if you can find an example of 'whale music' (recording of whale sounds) (see side-bar on poster 'A Sense of Sound').
• Discuss the PROS and CONS of having whales held in captivity so more people can see them.
• Write a paragraph as if you were a diver and as you descended into the water you came face to face with the whales featured in the poster. Describe your feelings - excitement, fears, etc.
• Research to find out more about Dr. Joe MacInnis, a famous Canadian oceanographer and researcher who has extensive research on our oceans (see green side-bar and quote on poster).
• Find out what whales eat (see side-bar 'Dining at Sea' as a starting point).
• Rank order the whales who live in Canadian waters (19) in terms of average length as well as weight.
• Research the 1998 'United Nations International Year of the Ocean'. Why do you think that the UN might feel that it was important to designate a special year to draw peoples' attention to the oceans?
• Underneath the common name for each whale identified there is another name in brackets. This is the LATIN name of the species. Why do you think that such names are still being used even though the Latin language is not?
• Check out the Canada Trust - Friends of the Environment web site for more information - see green side-bar on poster.