Mammal Form and Function Chart

SCIENCE CONCEPT:

Dolphins and whales are mammals and not fish, but they live their entire lives in the water. They are warm-blooded, they have live births, they nurse their young, and they need to breathe air.

STUDENT OBJECTIVE:

OVERVIEW:

Students will make a mammal form and function chart to show the various features of dolphins and whales. The parts that will be charted will be the mouth, body, tail, and coloration of these mammals of the sea.

PREPARATION TIME:

15 minutes.

LESSON TIME:

30 minutes.

TEACHER PREP:

Prepare a master sheet with a chart form (with the following dimensions on the 8 1/2 by 11 paper) which will be reproduced for the students. The dimensions are: Lines drawn down at 3/4 of an inch, 2 1/4 inches, 5 1/4 inches, and 8 1/4 inches the length of the paper. Lines drawn across are 1 inch, 2 inches, 4 inches, 6 inches, 8 inches, and 10 inches.

WORDS TO KNOW:

mammals

propulsion

blowhole

wake

submerged

warm-blooded

function

fusiform

flukes

breaks the surface

TEACHER TEXT:

Dolphins and whales, like fish, spend their whole lives in the water. However, unlike fish, they are mammals. This means that they are warm-blooded, they have live births, they nurse their young and they need to breathe air. The tail has become the flukes which, combined with the powerful trunk muscles, provides the main propulsive power that allows these animals to swim and dive. A big difference between fish and dolphins is that a fish's tail moves from side to side and a dolphin^ńs tail moves up and down. The dolphin's flukes and trunk muscles are so powerful that they can even push the dolphin straight up out of the water.

Dolphins and whales are mammals and therefore need to breathe air. Their nose is located on top of the head and is called a blowhole. When the animal needs to breathe, it swims up to the surface of the water, opens its blowhole and takes a breath. When the dolphin breaks the surface, it creates a wake that acts as a strong drag force and slows it down. The dolphin faces much less drag when it is completely submerged. Therefore, when a dolphin is traveling at high speeds, it will jump clear out of the water in order to get the necessary breath of air. This greatly reduces the amount of time spent fighting the pull of the wake and does not slow the dolphin down.

Web Hosting Provided By The National Business Aviation Association.

Explore Space ... Not Drugs!
Hear what astronauts have to say about staying drug-free.
Last modified: Fri Apr 3 13:49:33 PST 1998