The Blue Whale By Jenni Desmond printable pdf download

The Blue Whale By Jenni Desmond

The Blue Whale

By Jenni Desmond

1. As you read the book, use a web to sort the information you read about blue whales.

2. Information about whales:

• Gather 50 people together to experience the size of a blue whale’s mouth.

• Do children drink as much milk in a day as a baby blue whale? If you’re in a school, collect

lunchroom data to measure how much milk children drink and make the comparison. Present

that information at an all-school gathering.

• Listen to whale song.

2. The boy in the story uses a book to learn about whales. Where in your library can you find a

book to read about other animals? What about imaginary ones?

3. Use a map or globe to locate and name each of the world’s oceans. In which oceans do other

whales live? Develop a key to identify each whale species and plot the data on a simple world

map.

4. The blue whale is the largest creature in the sea. What is the largest land animal, reptile, fish,

etc.? Collaborate with an art teacher to graphically share information about these superlatives.

5. A blue whale can be 100 feet long. That’s the same length as…. ? Investigate possibilities

and illustrate the results. Graphically compare the size of the blue whale to the size of a

human. Do this for other animals and develop a comparison chart.

6. Learn about how scientists study, identify and track animals. How have these practices

changed over time? How do scientists measure age in living creatures?

Big idea

The blue whale has many adaptations that allow it to live in all oceans of the world.

Overarching question

What are some animal adaptations?

Target vocabulary

baleen, dorsal, diatoms, buoyancy, krill, navigations, streamlined, unreliable, unethical

CCSS

CCSS.ELA-Literacy CCSS. R.1 Read closely

W.4 Produce

SL.2 Integrate and evaluate

SL.5 Make strategic

W .7 Conduct

The Blue Whale By Jenni Desmond