Name_____________________________________ Date______________________
Tell what you already know about marine mammals:
Blubber
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Background Information: Marine mammals are mammals that spend their lives living in the water. Some examples include whales, dolphins, seals, walruses, and manatees. Most marine mammals have smooth rubbery skin that helps them to slip easily through the water. In order to keep warm, their body has a layer of blubber. Blubber is the think layer of fat that the animals use to conserve body heat. Blubber can be six to twenty inches thick. If a mammal's food source is scarce (hard to find), it can live off of its blubber for a long time. Blubber is lighter than water, so it increases buoyancy in marine mammals and helps them to float. Hunters often kill marine mammals such as whales and seals and they heat their blubber to make oil. |
Will marine mammals with blubber stay warmer than animals without blubber?
Problem Statement: Which finger will stay warmer, the one with the lard or the one without?
Hypothesis:
Materials: lard, rubber glove, wooden stick, ice water
Procedure:
1. Place the glove on the hand that you do not write with.
2. Hold your hand out flat and spread the lard on the three middle fingers.
3. Hold the three middle fingers together.
4. Place the three middle fingers in the ice water for 15 seconds.
5. Remove the fingers with the lard from the ice water and place your thumb in the ice water for 15 seconds.
6. Remove your hand from the water. Immerse you entire hand in the ice water for 15 seconds. See if you can tell if the which fingers feel warmer in the ice water.
Results: Which fingers stayed warmer, the ones with the lard or the ones without?
Conclusion: Was your hypothesis supported? Tell why or why not.
Choose one of the following to respond to below:
Many marine mammals are being hunted and killed for their blubber. The blubber is used to make oil, crayons, cosmetics, glue, and soap. Tell what you think can be done to keep marine mammals from being hunted for their blubber. Give possible solutions for this problem.
Pretend that you are a whale. Tell about how you might fell knowing that hunters wanted to hunt you and use your blubber to make things for their own use. Be sure to tell about your family, where you live, what you look like, and some of the things you like to do. What would you do to stop the hunters?