1. Brainstorm marine organisms that migrate throughout the ocean.
Ask students: Can you name some animals that migrate? Write their responses on the board, then refer to their list and ask: Which of these animals use the ocean during their migration? Draw circles around the animals that students name, and give students an opportunity to add any new ideas to the list.
2. Discuss reasons for animal migration and reasons for studying it.
Ask students: Why do animals migrate? Explain that many marine organisms migrate because of seasonal environmental changes. Animals need to move to find food and water, to mate, to lay their eggs or give birth, or to find places to raise their young. Scientists want to better understand the exact triggers of migrations. Specifically, it is difficult to determine how animals "know" when it is time to migrate. To study migration, scientists often tag animals with a special technology that allows them to track and map their movements.
3. Map North Pacific blue whale migration routes.
Display the Whale Migration photo from the Resource Carousel and ask students what they think this map represents. Explain to students that each colored line represents an actual North Pacific blue whale's migration. This map was created using data that researchers were able to collect by tagging whales.
Break students into three groups and assign each group a migration path (white, light brown, or dark brown). Have each group draw their whale's migration route on a printed World Physical MapMaker tabletop map. Students replications will not be exact, but ask them to include as many details as they can.
4. Measure migration distance on the World Physical MapMaker Kit.
Using the scale on the map and a string to measure distance, have students calculate the distance their assigned whales traveled during their migrations. Explain that a map scale translates distance on a map into distance in the real world. Have student groups compare their measurements with one another and create a class chart with their data so that all the groups know how far each whale traveled.
5. Students pretend to be scientists and create stories about the whales' migrations.
Have students pretend to be scientists studying animal migrations. Ask: Why did the three whales travel different distances and different places? Ask each group to come up with a story about why their assigned whale traveled where it did. Ask: What happened along its migration route that led the whale to travel the places it did? Remind students to incorporate reasons for animal migrations in their stories. Animals need to move to find food and water, to mate, to lay their eggs or give birth, or to find places to raise their young. Encourage students to attach specific events to locations along the migration route they plotted earlier in the activity. What happened where to the whale? Have each group share their whale's story with the rest of the class using the map as a visual aide.
6. Discuss the difficulties in studying animal migration routes.
Discuss how studying animal migrations is challenging for scientists as they evaluate how events at different stages, or locations animals visit during their migrations, add up to impact the overall health of a species. Illustrate this point by having a class discussion on the similarities and differences in the stories they created about their whales.
Extending the Learning
- Have students follow real-time marine organisms for a week. Start each day by logging on to GTOPP (Global Tagging of Pelagic Predators). Have students plot different migrations on the map.
- Discuss the human impact on animal migrations. Point to various locations along the whales' migrations and ask how human activities there might have impacted an animal's journey. Factors such as warming climate can confuse species about when to migrate. Shipping routes often result in collisions with migrating whales, and light pollution in coastal areas can confuse species that normally follow the light of the moon when nesting. Animals often encounter a location that has changed with development of what used to be a natural area. By studying migration, humans can better protect places that animals need for survival.
Subjects & Disciplines
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Earth Science
- Geology
- Oceanography
- Geography
Learning Objectives
Students will:
- identify a major migration route taken by blue whales
- use a map scale to calculate the distances of migrations of several marine organisms
- consider human impacts on whales and other migrating marine species
Teaching Approach
- Learning-for-use
Teaching Methods
- Brainstorming
- Cooperative learning
- Discovery learning
- Discussions
Skills Summary
This activity targets the following skills:
-
Critical Thinking Skills
- Analyzing
- Applying
- Geographic Skills
Connections to National Standards, Principles, and Practices
National Geography Standards
- Standard 1: How to use maps and other geographic representations, geospatial technologies, and spatial thinking to understand and communicate information
- Standard 3: How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on Earth's surface
Ocean Literacy Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts
- Principle 5a: Ocean life ranges in size from the smallest virus to the largest animal that has lived on Earth, the blue whale.
What You’ll Need
Materials You Provide
- Markers
- Scissors
- String
- Tape
Required Technology
- Internet Access: Required
- Tech Setup: 1 computer per classroom, Printer
- Plug-Ins: Flash
Physical Space
- Classroom
Setup
Students at several tables with printed tabletop maps
Grouping
- Large-group instruction
Background Information
Many species of marine animals migrate seasonally, annually, or several times over the course of their lifetimes. Organisms travel great distances in search of food, mates, or places to raise their young. By studying migrations, scientists can learn how to better protect the traveling organisms.
Prior Knowledge
- None
Recommended Prior Activities
- None
Vocabulary
species of marine mammal that is the largest animal to have ever lived.
management of a natural resource to prevent exploitation, destruction, or neglect.
path followed by birds or other animals that migrate regularly.
likely to change with the seasons.
movement of animals or other organisms determined by the changing weather or seasons, or in response to labor or climate conditions. For animals, seasonal migration usually refers to movement to a warmer climate during the winter and a cooler climate during the summer. For humans, seasonal migration may happen because of drivers such as crop and livestock management or tourism.
to cause or begin a chain of events.
Websites
Tips & Modifications
Tip
Laminate the individual sheets of the MapMaker Kit map so you can re-use it for several years.
Tip
When students are coming up with their stories about the whales, encourage them to be creative. There is no right or wrong answer as to why the whales went where they did.
Modification
You can adapt the activity for different MapMaker Kit sizes as needed for different settings.
Funder
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Animal Migration
Some animals, such as the Galápagos tortoise (Geochelone nigra), live their entire lives in one place. Others, such as the monarch butterfly (Sanaus plexippus) and Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea), migrate. Animals have adapted to migrate based on seasonal or geographic variations. Humans have added barriers to this process by building roads across major migration routes or eliminating or minimizing food sources along the way. Efforts to reduce human impacts include creating migration corridors, installing wildlife-friendly fencing, protecting breeding beaches, or building animal only bridges or tunnels across roads. Take your students on this journey with these classroom resources.
-
Organisms: Behavior
Organisms can exhibit a wide range of behaviors; some of which can be quite unique, such as the elaborate courtship behaviors of the birds-of-paradise in Papua New Guinea or the peacock spider in Australia. Although often overlooked, plants also have unique behaviors. Two examples of their behaviors include geotropism, the growth of plants against the force of gravity and phototropism, the growth of plants toward the light. Learn more about these fascinating behaviors with these resources.
-
Maps and Mapping
Whether your map is paper or digital, mastering the basics of reading it are vital to finding your way around and understanding how the world works. Maps are fantastic visual tools that can help us communicate spatial concepts and patterns, tell stories, and analyze data. However, there are some challenges to translating Earth onto a flat surface without adding bias or inaccuracies. Fortunately, cartographers have the training to minimize these issues. Maps have been a part of the National Geographic Society since the beginning. Gilbert H. Grosvenor, the first full-time editor of National Geographic, described maps as “the greatest of all epic poems. It's lines and colors show the realization of great dreams.” Learn more about the basics of reading a map, creating a map, and choosing the best map projection.
-
Incredible Journey
“Humpbacks arguably make the longest documented migration of any mammal,” says one marine biologist. Find out how.
-
-
Animals 101: Blue Whales
Blue whales are the largest animals to have ever existed. Learn how whales communicate with each other and how scientists use their ear wax to determine a whales age.
-
Animal Migration
Some animals, such as the Galápagos tortoise (Geochelone nigra), live their entire lives in one place. Others, such as the monarch butterfly (Sanaus plexippus) and Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea), migrate. Animals have adapted to migrate based on seasonal or geographic variations. Humans have added barriers to this process by building roads across major migration routes or eliminating or minimizing food sources along the way. Efforts to reduce human impacts include creating migration corridors, installing wildlife-friendly fencing, protecting breeding beaches, or building animal only bridges or tunnels across roads. Take your students on this journey with these classroom resources.
-
Organisms: Behavior
Organisms can exhibit a wide range of behaviors; some of which can be quite unique, such as the elaborate courtship behaviors of the birds-of-paradise in Papua New Guinea or the peacock spider in Australia. Although often overlooked, plants also have unique behaviors. Two examples of their behaviors include geotropism, the growth of plants against the force of gravity and phototropism, the growth of plants toward the light. Learn more about these fascinating behaviors with these resources.
-
Maps and Mapping
Whether your map is paper or digital, mastering the basics of reading it are vital to finding your way around and understanding how the world works. Maps are fantastic visual tools that can help us communicate spatial concepts and patterns, tell stories, and analyze data. However, there are some challenges to translating Earth onto a flat surface without adding bias or inaccuracies. Fortunately, cartographers have the training to minimize these issues. Maps have been a part of the National Geographic Society since the beginning. Gilbert H. Grosvenor, the first full-time editor of National Geographic, described maps as “the greatest of all epic poems. It's lines and colors show the realization of great dreams.” Learn more about the basics of reading a map, creating a map, and choosing the best map projection.
-
Incredible Journey
“Humpbacks arguably make the longest documented migration of any mammal,” says one marine biologist. Find out how.
-
-
Animals 101: Blue Whales
Blue whales are the largest animals to have ever existed. Learn how whales communicate with each other and how scientists use their ear wax to determine a whales age.