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Weekly Online LessonOnline Lesson ArchiveGrade Level: 3-7
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Dolphins
Something
in the ocean water killing dolphins along the coast of Southern California.
More than 20 dolphins have died and washed ashore since February, and
marine biologists want to know what's causing it.
Some scientists think natural marine toxin called domoic acid might be the culprit. Domoic acid is produced by blooms of single-celled organisms, which are eaten by fish like anchovies and sardines. Dolphins and other sea mammals in turn eat these fish and get sick.
On
Friday, several of the dead dolphins were taken by truck to a warehouse
south of Los Angeles, where scientists could do tests to find out how
the animals died and if domoic acid was the cause.
In this week's online lesson you will learn about dolphins, perhaps the most intelligent and graceful of all sea creatures.
Dolphin Research Center
Begin
this week's lesson at the Dolphin
Research Center in Grassy Key, Florida. You will find some fun
things to explore at this site. First, click Meet
the Pod and learn the names and personalities of the dolphins
living at the center.
Which dolphin is probably the oldest? Which is closest to your age? After reading about all of them, which dolphin has a personality most like yours? Which do you think could be your best friend? Why?
Go back to the home page and click Learn
about Marine Mammals. You will see several topics listed here.
Start with the Natural History link and then click The
Bottlenose Dolphin. This section is a little long, but it tells
a lot about these dolphins, how they live, what they eat, and how they
play.
Why
are these dolphins so familiar to the general population? How big do they
get? Where in the world's oceans do they live? What do they eat? Do they
chew their food or just swallow it? Name several ways dolphins play.
Go back to the Learn about Marine Mammals page, click Communication, and read this page. What is a signature whistle? What other sounds do dolphins make and why? Are there ways dolphins can communicate without making sounds?
Return to the Learn about Marine Mammals page and read other topics that interest you.
Dolphin Quest
Would
you like to hear what a dolphin sounds like? Visit the Dolphin
Quest site and go to the Marine
Education page. Scroll down and click Sounds
of the Ocean. Clicking the first two links you will hear dolphin
sounds. Click some of the other links as well to hear more sounds of the
ocean.
Go back to the Marine Education page and click Games. Try the Puzzle Game. Can you solve the puzzle? Click squares of the puzzle to move them around until you unscramble the dolphin picture.
Cetacea
Cetacea
is a terrific site with information about every species of whale, dolphin
and porpoise. Click Dolphins
on the left. From the list you see, choose at least five dolphins you
want to learn about. You already learned a lot about the bottlenose
dolphin, so consider other species, including pilot and killer
whales. For each dolphin you learn about, answer the following questions.
What are the physical characteristics of this species—what do they look
like? Where does the species live? What do they eat? How long do they
live?
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