CURRICULUM SOURCES
FOR MARINE MAMMAL STUDIES

Prepared by
Nancy Stevick
Allied Whale
College of the Atlantic
Bar Harbor, ME

(Updated March 1996)

Here are some resources I have put together for teachers. The first is a listing of curriculum resources, and the second is a general bibliography on whales linked on the previous page.

The Teacher Resource Center at the New England Aquarium is a stupendous resource. Joel Rubin has lots of materials he can loan to you for free or for a small fee. Information on how to contact him is included in the list of curriculum resources.

I would also encourage you to check out the affliates page on the WhaleNet homepage, and to check out the list of marine mammal homepages listed on the WhaleNet homepage. Some of these contain good information. I especially find the NMFS Office of Protected Resources a great reference. It contains very complete species accounts of many endangered species of marine mammal. Good luck in your collecting.

Marine Mammal Info

ADOPT A FINBACK WHALE - $30 for single whale, $50 for mother/calf

You will receive a certificate of adoption, 8 X 10 color photograph of an identified finback whale, biography of your whale and a sighting history, the Adopt A Finback Book, and a one-year subscription to Allied Whale's newsletter. (Adoptions can be given as gifts, please include the recipient's name and address.)

MARINE MAMMALS OF THE GULF OF MAINE - $29.95

This 24-minute educational film tells the story of Allied Whale and presents information learned during twenty years of marine mammal research in the Gulf of Maine. It features exciting and exclusive color footage of the commonly seen species of whales and seals.

Allied Whale
College of the Atlantic
105 Eden Street
Bar Harbor, ME 04609
(207) 288-5644

WhaleNet SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS:

  • MARINE SCIENCE ACTIVITIES ON A BUDGET - $13.00
  • THE WORLD OF WHALES, DOLPHINS, AND PORPOISES - INTERDISCIPLINARY CURRICULUM UNITS FOR PRE-K THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL - $20.00
  • HOW TO BUILD AN INFLATABLE (55 FT) FINBACK WHALE - $8.00
  • MARINE SCIENCE BIBLIOGRAPHY - $3.00

    Order from J. Michael Williamson
    MICS
    20 Moynihan Rd.
    So. Hamilton, MA 01982

    WHALE FACT PACK AND DOLPHIN FACT PACK - $5.25 + postage & handling
    American Cetacean Society
    P.O. Box 2639
    San Pedro, CA 90731
    (310) 548-6279

    These fact packs contain general information on cetaceans, fact sheets on each species, instructions on how to draw different species, and a bibliography. ACS also sells books, posters and prints, notecards, mobiles and shirts.

    WHALE KITS AND LOTS OF MARINE MAMMAL INFO
    Teacher Resource Center (Contact: Joel Rubin)
    New England Aquarium
    Central Wharf
    Boston, MA 02110-3399
    (617) 973-6590
    Some of this material is free and some requires a small fee.

    WHALES IN THE CLASSROOM PRESENTS: GETTING TO KNOW THE WHALES
    by Larry Wade, illustrated by Stephen Bolles. 1995. Singing Rock Press, Minnetonka, Minnesota. ISBN 0-9629395-2-8

    This book is geared toward middle-school students and contains activities developed from actual scientific data contributed by marine biologists. It also contains interviews with whale biologists.

    Information On Using The InterNet

    EDUCATOR'S GUIDE TO THE INTERNET - $16
    Virgina Space Grant Consortium
    2713-D Magruder Boulevard
    Hampton, VA 23666

    This guide is invaluable for the novice Internet user. It contains step by step instructions on how to use the Internet, a list of resources and comes with a video and disk (specify whether you need it IBM or Mac compatible).

    ELECTRONIC LEARNING MAGAZINE
    Free one year subscriptions for educators
    Scholastic, Inc.
    P.O. Box 53796
    Boulder, CO 80323-3796

    On Line Information

    ABOUT MARINE MAMMALS
    http://www.marinelab.sarasota.fl.us/wmarine.html

    Home page of the Mote Marine Lab. Contains their newsletter, information about the lab, and weather for Sarasota updated every 15 minutes.

    BIOLOGY OF HARBOR PORPOISES
    http://biome.bio.dfo.ca/bio/hed/brodie/porpoise.html

    An excellent species account on harbor porpoise.

    CETACEAN SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL
    http://elfnet1a.elfi.com.csihome.html

    Contains information about CSI, but also links to other marine mammal organizations.

    EROSQUID MARINE MAMMAL HOMEPAGE
    http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~nhi104/seals/marmamm.html

    A great resource with links to marine mammal web sites, discussion groups and other home pages of interest.

    'HOT TOPICS' by MARK MILLER
    http://www.phoenix.net/~mark

    Links to many other marine mammal web sites.

    IUCN RED LIST OF THREATENED ANIMALS (1994)
    http://www.wcmc.org.uk/data/database/rl_anml_combo.html

    The list of threatened and endangered animals produced by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

    JOURNEY NORTH
    Email <edonnelly@jriver.jriver.com>

    Journey North tracks the northward spring migration of various species of animals including humpback and right whales, monarch butterflies, loggerhead sea turtles, bald eagles, peregrine falcons, lo ons, American robins, orioles. caribou, and migratory bats of the Sonoran Desert. Journey North provides information on the best maps, ask the expert, informational reports put together by student s in classrooms around the world. An excellent program. Fax subscriptions are available for teachers without e-mail capabilities.
    Journey North
    125 North First Street
    Minneapolis, MN 55401
    (612)339-6959

    LISTING OF INTERNET MARINE MAMMAL RESOURCES
    http://oregon.uoregoon.edu/~rmitchel/whale.html

    This list was put together by Bill Lemus and contains all the marine mammal sites he could find. This list will be updated periodically.

    MARMAM: MARINE MAMMALS RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION DISCUSSION
    To subscribe to this list, send an Email message contining the text "subscribe marmam first_name last_name" to the Internet address "listserv@uvvm.uvic.ca".

    This is a bulletin board containing discussions on any topic pertaining to marine mammals. It is a great place to find resources like the list above and participate in or observe conversations between people with vastly different scientific and political views.

    MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM
    http://www.usw.nps.navy.mil

    Contains info on sea otters and the Aquarium's sea otter rehabilitation program.

    NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE OFFICE OF PROTECTED RESOURCES
    http://kingfish.ssp.nmfs.gov/tmcintyr/prot_res.html#ES and Recovery

    Contains information on endangered species and on the conservation measures being taken to protect these animals.

    NETVET- MARINE MAMMALS
    http://netvet.wustl.edu/marine.html

    Contains species accounts and educational information produced by various aquariums.

    ORCINUS ORCA
    http://www.slip.net/~oyafuso/orcinusorca.html

    This home page was put together by a 15 year boy and contains lots of information on killer whales as well as links to other sites.

    SEA WORLD/BUSCH GARDENS
    http://www.bev.net/education/SeaWorld/homepage.html

    Sea world offers teacher guides. This page contains sample activities from the guides and contact information for ordering the guides.

    STRATEGIES FOR PURSUING A CAREER IN MARINE MAMMAL SCIENCE
    http://www.rtis.com/nat/user/elsberry/marspec/mmstrat.html

    Advice for the would-be marine mammalogist produced by the Society for Marine Mammalogy.

    TIRPITZ WHALING PAGE
    http://tirpitz.ibg.uit.no/wwww/ss.html

    Contains information on current whaling issues.

    THEMATIC WHALE WEB UNIT
    http://curry.edschool.virginia.edul~kpj5el/Tabl.Contents.html

    Contains curriculum ideas on marine mammals.

    USING COMPUTER IN ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
    http://www.nceet.snre.umich.edu/computers/computers.html

    Contains information on how to best utilize computers in your teaching.

    WHALENET
    http://whale.wheelock.edu

    WhaleNet is an international collaboration of scientists, researchers and computer technologists working to get real data in the classroom. WhaleNet's homepage includes teacher/student resources, opportunity to have marine mammal questions answered, links to its affliates' homepages, and a list of more options to come. Join us!

    WILDLIFE AND CONSERVATION LINKS
    http://metro.turnpike.net/S/sam2.index.html

    Links to other marine mammal web sites.

    ZOONET
    http://www.mindspring.com/~zoonet

    Contains information on endangered species.