We finished up the chapter on whales and dolphins, but I didn’t think they were quite grasping how big these animals were. If I read to you a whale is 100 feet long would you know how long that is? So we started to investigate, how big is a whale?
First we measured the kids to get a baseline of how far a distance is.
We also tried to measure Mac, but he wasn’t so cooperative.
Then we measured out the different whales and dolphins using 10 feet measurements with our tape. This picture is the length of a Killer Whale, 30 feet.
The kids were fairly impressed, but then we measured the Sperm Whale.
That is a distance of 110 feet. The kids were very impressed that I was almost all the way across the street to be that far away.
I did this for about 8 different whales and dolphins, but you get the idea, and some of these just aren’t as impressive. I mean being 8 feet away when you take a picture is just a normal picture.
But, they do now remember, how big is a whale? Answer: Very big.
* photo by Tony Hisgett, used as part of creative commons
I need to do this activity with K who says she can't believe a whale is larger than the dinosaurs!
That sure makes for one memorable lesson.
This is a wonderful idea! We need to get some of our books out and do ths!
I love the way you taught this lesson!
Little Wonders' Days
Great idea to illustrate the point! Kids need a concrete way to conceptualize that huge size…I could even benefit from that kind of concrete demonstration 🙂
This is a great visual help. Need to do something like this here to get the point across.
What a great way to visualize the different sizes!
That is awesome…what a great way for them to really see how big something is. I can't wait to join in this year. I think the girls are going to have so much fun with it!!
What a great idea! We are always talking about the size of things like dinosaurs but I've never actually measured it out for them. We will definitely have to try this.
Thanks for stopping by my blog. I'm following now and can't wait to read more of your blog. I will have to start doing more science stuff so I can link up.
re: Salmon burgers…I'm not a fish eater, and I thought they were alright… lol
Love this idea. Kids really struggle with size without some REAL frame of reference. I will definitely be using this one.