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Science Sunday: How Big is a Whale?

August 21, 2011 By Ticia 11 Comments

How big is a whale

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?

How big is a whale, our baseline measurement

 

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.

 

How big is a whale?  A killer whale is about 30 feet

 

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.

How big is a whale?  A sperm whale is about 110 feet, that's how far away the kids are

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

Filed Under: math, science Tagged With: hands on learning, Science Sunday, swimming creatures, zoology

Comments

  1. Joyful Learner says

    August 21, 2011 at 11:25 am

    I need to do this activity with K who says she can't believe a whale is larger than the dinosaurs!

    Reply
  2. Elise says

    August 21, 2011 at 11:28 am

    That sure makes for one memorable lesson.

    Reply
  3. Beloved's Bride says

    August 21, 2011 at 1:45 pm

    This is a wonderful idea! We need to get some of our books out and do ths!

    Reply
  4. Kelly says

    August 21, 2011 at 3:28 pm

    I love the way you taught this lesson!
    Little Wonders' Days

    Reply
  5. Susan @ learning ALL the time!! says

    August 21, 2011 at 3:35 pm

    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 🙂

    Reply
  6. Raising a Happy Child says

    August 21, 2011 at 3:36 pm

    This is a great visual help. Need to do something like this here to get the point across.

    Reply
  7. MaryAnne says

    August 21, 2011 at 9:59 pm

    What a great way to visualize the different sizes!

    Reply
  8. Michelle says

    August 21, 2011 at 11:36 pm

    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!!

    Reply
  9. Rachel@I Heart Crafty Things says

    August 22, 2011 at 1:03 am

    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.

    Reply
  10. Jen says

    August 22, 2011 at 1:16 am

    re: Salmon burgers…I'm not a fish eater, and I thought they were alright… lol

    Reply
  11. Kim @ The Learning Hypothesis says

    August 26, 2011 at 1:35 pm

    Love this idea. Kids really struggle with size without some REAL frame of reference. I will definitely be using this one.

    Reply

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Ticia Adventures in Mommydom Hi, I'm Ticia! This is the adventures of my family in life and learning. Follow along with us as we share our adventures. We're having a lot of fun and learning as we go.

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