KUTZTOWN UNIVERSITY

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

LESSON PLAN FORMAT

Teacher Candidate:

Tiana Hammond

Date:

2/15/2016

Cooperating Teacher: Lauren Miller Coop. Initials LM

Group Size:

20

Allotted Time

1 hr

Grade Level 4th

Subject or Topic: Attributes of aquatic mammals Section

STANDARD:
Standard - 3.1.4.C2

3.1.4. C2 Describe plant and animal adaptations that are important to survival.
Standard - 4.1.4.D
Explain how specific adaptations can help organisms survive in their environment.

Standard - 3.1.4.C1
Identify different characteristics of plants and animals that help some populations survive and reproduce in
greater numbers.

I.

II.

III.

Performance Objectives (Learning Outcomes):

A. Students will show that they know the five characteristics of mammals by listing them on an exit slip.
B. Students will show how blubber keeps a mammal warm in the water by conducting an inquiry activity
and collecting / recording data on their findings. The students will also complete an inquiry worksheet.
C. The student will show that they know the three purposes of blubber by listing them in their science
notebooks and on an exit slip at the end of class.
Instructional Materials
A. The following materials will be required for each group:

Rubber gloves or gloves made out of two large self-sealing bags (turn one bag inside out and insert into
other bag and zip it closed. ( Two gloves for every four students)

Large bowl ( 1 per table)

Water ( enough to cover the ice)

Ice ( enough to fill the bowl)

Solid vegetable shortening (one stick per table)

Data collection and discussion worksheet

Outdoor thermometer (optional) ( 1 for the class to share)

Subject Matter/Content (prerequisite skills, key vocabulary, big idea, outline of additional content)
A. Prerequisite skills
1. Students need to be able to follow a procedure to conduct an experimental inquiry
2. Students need to be able to form a hypothesis
B. Key Vocabulary
1. Mammal a warm-blooded vertebrate animal of a class that is distinguished by the
possession of hair or fur, the secretion of milk by females for the nourishment of the
young, and (typically) the birth of live young.
2. Attributes- a quality or feature regarded as a characteristic or inherent part of
someone or something.

C.

Big Idea

D.

Content

1.

Aquatic mammals share certain attributes to be able to survive under water.

1.What does it mean to be a sea mammal?

2.For whales, dolphins, porpoises and seals, it means they spend some or most of their life in the
sea.
3. Being a mammal means you birth your babies, rather than hatching them from eggs and also you
feed them milk.
4. Also, mammals are warm-blooded animals.
5. Their body temperatures remain constant amidst the freezing temperatures around them.
6. To keep warm in the frigid water, some sea animals such as seals have fur, but another feature is
the layer of fatty tissue beneath their skin called blubber.
7. The colder the water, the thicker the blubber.
8. The blubber is very buoyant and helps keep whales and dolphins afloat (Klenk).
9. The blubber is considered an organ according to Richard Roshon.
10. The fat serves as an energy source when food is scarce or when the mammals are migrating.
11. So the three main purposes of blubber are energy storage, insulation and buoyancy.
a. Storing Energy
1. Energy is stored in the thick, oily layer of blubber. The energy stored in blubber
includes both proteins (mostly collagen) and fats (mostly lipids). The ability of
blubber to use these stored nutrients means marine mammals are not forced to
search for food for long periods of time. Nursing mothers, for instance, build up
thick stores of blubber before giving birth. In addition to feeding offspring,
mothers cannot regularly search for food. They rely on the energy stored in
their blubber.
b. Insulation
1. Blubber also insulates marine mammals, or helps keep them warm in icy
waters. This insulation is necessary. Mammals are warm-blooded, meaning
their body temperature stays about the same no matter what the temperature
outside is. Keeping a warm body temperature in cold water requires more
energy than keeping a warm body temperature in warm water. Some marine
mammals, such as sea otters, have a thick fur coat, as well as blubber, to
insulate them. To insulate the marine mammal, blood vessels in blubber
constrict, or get smaller, in cold water. Constricted blood vessels reduce the
flow of blood, thus reducing the energy required to heat the body. This
conserves heat.
c. Buoyancy
1.

Finally, blubber helps marine mammals stay buoyant, or float. Blubber is

generally less dense than the ocean water surrounding it, so animals naturally
float. Animals with the thickest blubber, such as right whales, are found in
Arctic and Antarctic regions. In these animals, blubber is more than a foot
thick! The thickness of their blubber does not indicate better energy storage,
insulation, or buoyancy, however. Those characteristics are determined by the
chemical property of the blubber.

IV. Implementation
A. Introduction
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Play the Mystery Mammal Game.

Split class into four groups of five
Have each group get an I-pad out for research
Give each group one index card with the name of a marine mammal.
Have each group research their assigned mammal using online resources.
As the children research their mammals, instruct them to record facts about their
mammal in their science notebook and write one clue that will help their peers to
guess what the mammal is.
When students have completed their research, invite each group to present a clue and
allow the rest of the class to guess the animal. The presenter can give clues until the

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audience has guessed the mammal. Once the mammal is revealed, the presenter
should share the rest of the clues and any other information learned about the
mammal.
As the students are presenting have the students write down the facts about each
mammal in their science notebooks.

B. Development
Ask the students what they think mammals are
List the answers the students give on the board
Ask the students if they think that marine mammals are different from land mammals
Explain that we will be learning about marine mammals and non-mammals
Give a short lesson on the differences between mammals and non-mammals
What does it mean to be a sea mammal?
Show powerpoint mammal graphic
For whales, dolphins, porpoises and seals, it means they spend some or most of their life in the sea.
Being a mammal means you birth your babies, rather than hatching them from eggs and also you feed them
milk.
Ask the students if they think marine mammals are different from land mammals.
Marine mammals are different from land mammals in several ways
They have streamlined bodies to help them swim faster.
Many species can stay under water for a long time, but must come to the surface to breathe.
To be able to stay under water for long periods, they store extra oxygen in their muscles and blood.
They also have more blood than land mammals in proportion to their body sizes, can direct their blood flow
to only their vital organs (such as their heart and lungs),
They can slow their heartbeat down so they are using less oxygen in a dive
Mammals are warm-blooded animals.
Their body temperatures remain constant amidst the freezing temperatures around them.
To keep warm in the frigid water, some sea animals such as seals have fur, but another feature is the layer of
fatty tissue beneath their skin called blubber.
The colder the water, the thicker the blubber.
The blubber is very buoyant and helps keep whales and dolphins afloat
The blubber is considered an organ
The fat serves as an energy source when food is scarce or
The fat serves as an energy source when food is scarce or when the mammals are migrating.
11. So the three main purposes of blubber are energy storage, insulation and buoyancy.
Ask the students if they think whales are mammals or fish and why.
Hand out whales Can ,have , are foldable
Show video Is a Whale a Mammal?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WKlBXgd72Y
Have the students glue the foldable in their science notebook
Have the students fill out the handout based on the information below. Show power point
a. Whales are
1. Mammals
2. Warm blooded
b. Whales can
1. Give birth to live young
2. Breath air through blow holes
3. Feed their young with milk
c. Whales have
1. Blubber to keep them warm, make them buoyant, and store energy
2. Hair
3. A skeleton
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwfKCX_8fbABegin the inquiry activity
Hand out inquiry worksheet ( See Attached)
Tell the students to put their science notebooks to the side and focus on the materials in front of them.
Tell the students that we are going to be exploring mammal blubber
Divide the class into groups (no more than four students per group).
Give each group a large bowl filled with cold water and ice cubes and a glove.
Direct students to take turns putting on the glove and submerging the gloved hand in the ice water for 30
seconds.

38. Have each student tell the group how his or her hand feels after being submerged.
39. Tell students to record each students reaction on a chart they devise themselves. The chart should have
columns for group members names and for members reactions without blubber. The chart should also
have a column for reactions with blubber.
40. Next, have students take turns repeating the procedure, with each group member thickly coating his or her
hand with solid vegetable shortening before putting on the glove (this has been modified to make the
experiment easier and cleaner).
41. Take two large self-sealing bags, put vegetable shortening into the bag and insert a zip lock bag that has been
turned inside out. Zip-lock the two bags together and you will have a glove that includes the vegetable
shortening. This lets the children conduct the experiment without getting the shortening on clothing and
makes the experiment easier to clean up as it is hard to get the shortening off the childrens hands).
42. Have each student tell the group how his or her hand feels this time. Group members should add data from
this step to their chart.
43. Discuss results with the class.
44. Why did students hands feel warmer when coated with solid vegetable shortening than when uncoated?
45. What does this experiment tell them about the function of blubber in sea mammals?
46. Have students wash their hands with soap and water after the experiment.
47. Younger students may need help coating their hands with the shortening and with cleaning up. If students
record data on charts, you might prepare the charts for the students in advance. Rather than have students
work on their own, you might have one or more volunteers perform the experiment, with your help, as a
demonstration for the class.
48. Have the students glue the inquiry sheet in their science notebooks
49. Have the students answer the discussion questions below.
50. Ask the students to share what they learned from the inquiry activity.
51. Besides blubber, what are some other physical characteristics that help keep animals keep warm in cold
climates?
52. Humans have a layer of fat under the skin, but not enough to keep us warm. How do humans keep warm in
cold weather?
53. Underwater mammals differ in many ways from mammals that live on land. In what ways are land mammals
and underwater mammals similar? What common characteristics qualify both groups of animals to be called
mammals?
54. Hand out index cards as an exit slip
55. Ask the students to write the five characteristics of a marine mammal and the three purposes of blubber on
the card before they leave using their notes but not another partner ( Use this as your formative assessment)

C.

Closure

D.

Accommodations/Differentiation
1.

E.

Our child with autism Dillon has difficulty working in groups. Allow him to have the
choice of doing the inquiry alone. He may also choose to draw or write his findings in
his science notebook.

Assessment/Evaluation Plan
1. Formative
a. The students will complete an exit slip listing the five main characteristics
of a mammal one example of a marine mammal and the three purposes of
blubber.
b. The students must list that
1. Mammals give birth to live young
2. Mammals breath with lungs
3. Mammals have backbones
4. Mammals have hair or fur
5. Mammals are warm blooded

2. Summative
a. There is no summative assessment for this lesson.

V. Reflective Response
A. Report of Student Performance in Terms of Stated Objectives (Reflection on student performance
written after lesson is taught, includes remediation for students who fail to meet acceptable level of
achievement)
Remediation Plan
B.

VI.

Personal Reflection (Questions written before lesson is taught. Reflective answers to question recorded
after lesson is taught)
1. Did the students understand the differences between mammals and non-mammals?
2. Did the students understand how to perform the inquiry? Were they able to designate tasks and
work together to come up with a conclusion?

Resources (in APA format)

Videohttps:
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGonwMTPV6g
This is a great video about the attributes of mammals
http://education.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/blubber/
This website gave some very helpful information on blubber and how it helps the mammal survive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WKlBXgd72Y
This is a video about why whales are mammals
Book
Landau, Elaine. Ocean Mammals. New York: Children, 1996. Print.
This is a great book to reference when teaching about ocean mammals!