Objective:
The students will measure and compare two different lengths.

Materials

• Information on bottle-nosed dolphins and Orcas (killer whales).  Use the following sites for the information: Bottle-Nosed Dolphins and Killer Whales or gather information from a book.

• 42 1 foot rulers, or 42 pieces of paper cut to one foot.

• A wide space to measure out 30 feet.

• Dolphin Measurement Worksheet

Procedure

1. Share the information about Bottle-Nose Dolphins and Killer Whales.  Point out that Killer Whales are a member of the dolphin family and can be 30 feet long or more.  Bottle-Nose Dolphins are another type of dolphin which grow to be 12 feet long at the most.

2. Pass out the rulers or pieces of paper.  Have the students work together to lay the items end to end to create a 30 foot long  line and a 12 foot long line.  Have these lines begin at the same point so the students can easily compare the 2 lines.

3. Work as a class to answer the questions on the Dolphin Measurement Worksheet.  For questions number 4 and 5, have some students lay down next to the lines to see about how many children it takes to equal 12 feet and how many to equal 30 feet.

Other Lesson Ideas

1. Similar to the Frog Day Math Lesson, have the students jump along a number line (just as dolphins leap through the water)  to solve math problems.  

2. Have the students write and solve story problems which involve numbers of dolphins in a pod.  A pod is a group of dolphins.