Natural History: Mapping Cetacean Distributions Lesson Plan

Grade Level

6th-8th Grade

Objectives

Students will determine the geographical distributions of various cetacean
species by plotting their locations on a world map. Students will also examine how and why geographical distributions change over time.

Florida Sunshine State Standards:

Science SC.G.2.3.3 The student knows that a brief change in the limited resources of an ecosystem may alter the size of a population or the average size of individual organisms and that longterm change may result in the elimination of animal and plant populations inhabiting the Earth.
Social Studies SS.B.1.3.1: The student uses various map forms (including thematic maps) and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report geographic information including patterns of land use, connections between places, and patterns and processes of migration and diffusion.

National Standards:

Content Standard C (5-8) – Populations and Ecosystems: The number of organisms an ecosystem can support depends on the resources available and abiotic factors, such as quantity of light and water, range of temperatures, and soil composition. Given adequate biotic and abiotic resources and no disease or predators, populations (including humans)
increase at rapid rates. Lack of resources and other factors, such as predation and climate, limit the growth of populations in specific niches in the ecosystem.