When we think of whales, we picture big, round animals, but not all whales are shaped like that. The fin whale is long and skinny, almost like an enormous eel. A marine biologist caught this amazing video of a fin whale hauling its 80-ton body out of the water. At 89 feet long it’s the second biggest animal on the planet, and can swim at nearly 30 miles an hour!
Wee ones: Fin whales are silvery-grey. Can you find 3 things in your classroom that are silver or grey?
Little kids: If a fin whale does 5 belly flops, what number is the second-to-last flop? Bonus: A fin whale can swim 23 miles an hour for a while, but for short bursts it can swim 6 miles an hour faster. What is the fastest it can it swim?
Big kids: Eels can be up to 13 feet long. How much longer is that 89-foot whale? Bonus: A fin whale weighs 80 tons! How many pounds is that? (Reminder: A ton equals 2,000 pounds.)
The sky’s the limit: If a whole bunch of kids lie end to end to be as long as that 89-foot whale, how many more 4-foot kids does it take to match the whale than 5-foot kids?
Answers:
Wee ones: Items might include socks, shoes, parts of pencils, coins, or other metal objects.
Little kids: The 4th belly flop. Bonus: 29 miles per hour.
Big kids: 76 feet longer. Bonus: 160,000 pounds.
The sky’s the limit: 5 more kids. It takes 18 5-foot kids to make a chain longer than the whale, because 17 kids would be only 85 feet long. Then it takes 23 4-foot kids to be longer than 89, because 22 kids would be just 88 feet long. So we need 23 kids instead of 18.
