A Symphony of Whales
Advanced-Level Reader
Whales and Other…
Unit 3 Week 4
GENERALIZE ANSWER QUESTIONS
LESSON VOCABULARY canids, cetacean,
echolocation, flukes, marine biologists, primate, sonar, species
SUMMARY This book introduces students to the way in which scientists
study animals, especially whales. This reader also introduces scientists’
findings about wolves and other canids, gorillas, chimps, and endangered
apes.
INTRODUCE THE BOOK
BUILD BACKGROUND Discuss students’ interest in how and why scientists approach animals. For instance, some scientists go to habitats and observe animals. Marine biologists study why whales beach and how their system of echolocation works.
PREVIEW/USE TEXT FEATURES Encourage students to look at the captions, sidebars, and charts to get a sense of the animals covered in this book.
Ask students to write a radio script introducing young people to a scientist’s work with animals.
TEACH/REVIEW VOCABULARY As students read the book, notice which words they find most difficult or intriguing. Students interested in echolocation may want to research and tell the class more about scientists’ findings.
TARGET SKILL AND STRATEGY
GENERALIZE Because this reader presents a number of facts and
examples about wonderful animals, students will need to organize these facts
in order to
generalize. To express what the animals have in common,
students’ generalizations should show likenesses by using clue words such
as
many, most, generally, or
overall.
ANSWER QUESTIONS Remind students how important it is to let
questions prompt them to find answers as they read. This strategy helps
them to think actively about their reading. The questions help them express
the main ideas and generalize from the text they read.
READ THE BOOK
Use the following questions to support comprehension.
PAGE 5 Why do many scientists believe that human noise has had much to do
with why whales beach? (Human noise and the use of submarine sonar have increased over the years, and the number of beached whales has increased.)
PAGE 7 Give an example of animals communicating. (Possible response: Whales communicate by echolocation and clicking sounds.)
PAGE 11 Why are there more coyotes today? (As the number of wolves
decreases, there are fewer to attack coyotes as prey, allowing coyotes to
increase.)
TALK ABOUT THE BOOK
READER RESPONSE
- Responses will vary.
- Sometimes human activities interrupt whales echolocation.
- The two words are echo and location; together, echolocation means
using a sound to locate something.
- three baleen whales: blue, right, and humpback whales
RESPONSE OPTIONS
WRITING Have students research a section from this book and write two
paragraphs about the animal that most interests them.
CONTENT CONNECTIONS
SCIENCE Invite students to make their own chart of animals and the aspects that scientists study. Encourage students to find different ways that scientists study animals, such as observing how whales react to human sounds or teaching animals to communicate.
L.R. TOC
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