Dear E-Mail Pal,

Question:

What are the characteristics of your animal that makes it interesting to you?

 

Tasks:

I feel like we're really doing a great job on our project.  How about you?  For this section we need to:

1. Let's use the links that I have sent to explore our animal

   • How big is it? 

   • How fast is it?

   • What does it eat?

   • How does it get it's food?

   • How does it defend itself?

   • How does it treat it's young?

   • Are the actions of humans harming this animal?

   • What can we do to help?
     
     

2. We'll then have to each draw a picture of our animal in action.
   
   

3. We can then work together to choose by consensus the best one to model our life-size animal after.
   
   

4. We can then create our life-size animal.
   
   

5. Finally, we'll combine our animal with our background. 

 

Scenario:

Here are some great sites about several ocean animals that the Virtual Museum has provided us with.  We can use these resources to explore our animal and learn about environmental problems that our animals may be facing.

Remember, to ask yourself about your animal:

• How big is it? 

• How fast is it?

• What does it eat?

• How does it get it's food?

• How does it defend itself?

• How does it treat it's young?

• Are the actions of humans harming this animal?

• What can we do to help?

 

Great Ocean Books:

Use these great books to explore the wonders of the ocean. For a complete list of Great Ocean Books see our Great Ocean Books and Annotated Bibliography.

Dorris, Ellen  Marine Biology (Real Kids, Real Science Books) 1993.
MacQuitty, Miranda  Eyewitness: Ocean (Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness Books) 2000.
Taylor, Leighton The Atlantic Ocean (Life in the Sea) 1999.
Taylor, J. David  Endangered Ocean Animals (The Endangered Animals) 1992.
Time Life  Ocean Life (Time-Life Student Library) 1999.

Online Resources:

 

Harbor Porpoises (A.K.A. Common Dolphin)

Harbor porpoise     Detailed Information with great graphics.
Harbor porpoise   Good basic description
Harbor Porpoise Program    Current scientific research.  Can be difficult reading but great info..
Marine Biology- Dolphins    Evolution, Distribution, Physiology, Sensory Biology, Behavior, and Training (Follow Dolphin Link)
Dolphin Safe Tuna  Learn about a simple step that you can take to help dolphins.
Meaning of Dolphin-Safe Tuna Label Changed    great information presented in a precise way.
The Ultimate Guide: Dolphins    Are dolphins as intelligent and friendly as we've always believed?
Dolphin Communication Great dolphin site.

Harbor Seals (A.K.A. Common Seal)

Sea World- Harbor Seal    This is a fun site with great information
WWF Virtual Wildlife - Seals   Great Information about seals accompanied by animated graphics and super pictures.
Harbor Seal (Common Seal)    Scottish Page but the same seals live in New England waters.
Harbor Seals    Great basic harbor seal facts and figures from the Smithsonian.
Harbor Seals    Great pictures and info for harbor seals.

Lobsters

All About Lobsters- Great Lobster site
Lobstah Cam    Check out the Lobstah (Lobster) Camera
THE LOBSTER CONSERVANCY learn about protecting and preserving the American lobster
Lobstering History    The history of catching and eating lobsters.

Sea Otters

From the Cradle to the Wave Discovery brings you a great story of a real baby sea otter.
WildCam Otters @ nationalgeographic.com  I just love these wild cams.  There are great images plus super information.  
King of the Kelp    Great otter information from the New England Aquarium
Otternet.com    Great Source for Otter Fun, Facts, and Faces
International Otter Survival Fund     Get information on otter conservation projects and programs from this group dedicated to protecting the species.
Paddlefoot Productions     See the Ottercam, read the story of Paddlefoot, their first adopted otter, and find otter facts, otter products, and more.
Friends of the Sea Otter    Great otter information, graphics, and  sounds.
Saving the Sea Otters     Hear the experts talk (real audio) about proposed solutions to slow the decline of these creatures.
Sea Otters    Come along to see how the Monterey Bay Aquarium rehabilitates wayward otters and be on hand as the otters are returned to the wild.

Sea Turtles

Sea World - Sea Turtles  Great site with many facts and the story of Corrigan, the first sea turtle to be tracked.
Turtle Time  Florida organization dedicated to the preservation of loggerhead turtles. Site includes facts and photos of different marine turtle species.
Turtle Trax  learn about sea turtles and how you can help save them.
All About Turtles   The Gulf of Maine Aquarium presents some useful sea turtle info.
National Marine Fisheries Service- Sea Turtles   Very Good Information on all 6 types of sea turtles.
Sea Turtle Facts  Facts on Turtles

Green Sea Turtle

Endangered Species: Green Sea Turtle  Student report detailing the characteristics, behavior, and habitat for these endangered reptiles.
Green Sea Turtle  Info on the biology, habitat, and life cycle of these turtles.
Green Turtle  Brief info and drawing of this endangered turtle from the Canadian Museum of Nature.

Leatherback Sea Turtle

Leatherback Sea Turtle - from Bagheera. General facts and information about the status of this endangered animal.
Leatherback Turtle - brief info and drawing of the world's largest living turtle from the Canadian Museum of Nature.
The Endangered Leatherback Turtle    Not a pretty page but the info regarding sea turtles in the Atlantic is good.

Loggerhead Sea Turtle

Loggerhead Sea Turtle - general information about the biology, habitat, and life cycle of these turtles.
Loggerhead Turtle - brief info and drawing of this turtle from the Canadian Museum of Nature.
Turtle Time - Florida organization dedicated to the preservation of loggerhead turtles. Site includes facts and photos of different marine turtle species.

Atlantic Ridley Sea Turtle

Atlantic Ridley    Brief introduction to the smallest sea turtle.
Atlantic Ridley  Great facts about this turtle.
Atlantic Ridley  Yahooligans puts out this good site.

Sharks

Sharkweek     You can't get much better than this Discover site.
Shark Surfari @ nationalgeographic.com    The first quiz that you'll ever love 
Sharks    A great virtual tour of a shark tank.
Dr. Hammerhead  Swim with the sharks.
Shark Tank     Dive in and explore our virtual shark tank, and don't forget to experience our 3-D shark encounter.
You're a Shark  A great interactive site.
Secrets of the Ocean Realm - Sharks    great information and hands-on activities
Zoom Sharks    Great information written at a level kids can understand
Introduction to Sharks    Great info in a kid friendly page

 

Swordfish:

Project Swordfish Education and Awareness - Aimed at helping to protect and restore Atlantic swordfish
Swordfish - short page of facts about this fish.
Year of the Ocean - Multimedia  Learn about all kinds of salt-water-related topics like swordfish.

. 

Whales

WWF Virtual Wildlife - Whales    This site has some great whale info with super graphics.
Atlantic Right Whale    Super information.  No graphics.
Secrets of the Ocean Realm - Great Whales    PBS has put out this great ssite on whales.
The Recovery of J.J. the Gray Whale    It's a whale of a tale!
Welcome to WhaleNet    This is a supe site for whales
The Neverending WhaleTale- Kids from all over the world are helping us write the neverending whale tale.  You can read other kid's contributions or add your own paragraph.
ZOOM WHALES      Answer the question, "What is a whale?"

Right Whale

The Northern Atlanic Right Whale Page  New England Aquarium brings some great info.
Research Right Whales    Great upper-level right whale information
Northern Right Whales     learn about an exciting research program that gives biologists a rare opportunity to study the Northern Atlantic right whale (.pdf file)
Is Northern Right Whale On Path To Extinction?    Take a close look at environmental concerns of the Right Whale.

Activity:

Now that we know more about our animal, we need to create a life-size animal to place onto the background that we have created. Here are some great examples of student work.

Working on the Fish for the Background	Working on the ocean background	Working on the bottom of the ocean	Working on the salt marsh background
	The finished Tiger Shark	The finished Great White	The finished Green Turtle

These are Thumbnails.  For a larger view Click on the image!

 

I suggest that we:

1. We each draw a picture of our animal in action that we can use as a blueprint to design of our life-size animal from. 
   
   

2. We will have to work together choose the best one to model our life-size animal after by coming to a consensus.  This probably will not be easy to do but we can work together to make sure that we come to a fair decision.
   
   

3. We can use this picture as a blueprint to create our life-size animal. Remember, we can use all the resources that we have available to us (large bulletin board paper, construction paper, paint, markers, glue, tape...) to make sure that our animal looks realistic.
   
   

4. Finally, we'll tape or glue our life-size animal onto our our background. I suggest using light newspaper to stuff our animal so that it looks three-dimensional.
   
   

5. We'll have to use clear packing tape to tape the outside of our mural to add extra strength.  We are now ready to attach plenty of string and hang it in our hallway.

Revisit the Question:

What are the characteristics of your animal that makes it interesting to you?

Sincerely, 

Your E-Mail Pal