Unit:  Making Science/Literature Connections: El Guero

Title: Using technology to research and track the migration route of the gray whale.

Aims:
    1.  To instill in students an appreciation for science and a respect  for all living creatures and natural environments.
    2.  To increase student's competencies in using computer technology to research information and analyze maps.
    3.  To employ Internet sites to create a map.
    4.  To transfer maps from web sites to original works.
    5.  To ensure student's will respect each other while working cooperatively in small group situations.
    6.  To enable the students to appreciate the connection between multicultural literature and science.

Materials:
    Novel- El Guero- by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino, Sunburst Books, 1989
    Internet
    Apple Works
    KidPix

Motivation:
    1.  Relate to children's knowledge gained from introductory lesson on the novel El Guero and previous lessons about the gray whale.
    2.  Ask questions like:
        a.  In the novel, where did Guero and Captain Forker sight the whales? (They were traveling along the western coast of Mexico from Acapulco to San Diego).
        b. What was Captain Forker's explanation of why the whales were there? (The whales were there because they came down from the cold, northern waters to have their little ones in warm, safe water).
        c.  Where do you think the whales came from? (the whales came from the north, Alaska).
        d.  Why do you think the gray whales migrate from one location to another? (Responses may include: to get warm, to find a new home, and to give birth to their young).
    3.  Direct students to online graphics of whale migration.  Good web sites containing migration routes of the gray whale are:

http://athena.ivv.nasa.gov/curric/oceans/whales/index.html
http://acsonline.org/factpack/graywhl.htm
http://198.188.248.11/whale/whale2.html

Procedure:
    1.  Have students find solutions to the following questions:
        a.  Where do gray whales spend the winter and the summer? (Gray whales spend their winters off the coast of northern Mexico  and their summers in the northern Bering Sea).
        b.  List and explain reasons why the gray whales spend the winters and summers where they do. (The gray whales head south in the winter to have their calves and to seek shelter in the  warm lagoons of Baja California, Mexico. They build up a thick layer of blubber to keep warm in the colder northern waters).
        c.  Find a map depicting the migration path of the gray whale.
        d.  Create your own migration map.
 

The above map can be found at: http://slocs.k12.ca.us/whale/whale3a.html

    2.  Direct students to work in cooperative groups, as described in lesson 2, to research questions.
    3.  Have students use the Internet, online encyclopedias, or computer encyclopedia to research the migration of the gray whale.
The following are online encyclopedias:
http://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?z=1&pg=2&ti=761579741
http://encyclopedia.com/articles/13799.html
The following links provide migration maps and routes of the gray whale:
http://athena.ivv.nasa.gov/curric/oceans/whales/index.html
http://acsonline.org/factpack/graywhl.htm

The following link provides 600 National Geographic maps:
http://nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions
    4.  Encourage students to answer each question.
    5.  Have students work in cooperative groups transferring gathered research to informative reports.
    6.  Direct students to transfer migration maps from web site to informative reports.
    7.  Direct students to create own migration map using internet site and Apple Works.
    8.  Have reporters from each group read report and share migration maps.

Evaluation:
    1.  Students will be evaluated on the oral reports read and explained by reporters. The reports should include facts, a map, and diagrams.
    2.  Check findings from teacher made tests.

Follow-Up:
    1.  Transcribe migration patterns onto a wall map.
    2.  Have students name countries and cities along the route. (Alaska, Canada, United States, Mexico)
    3.  Make a time-line related to the migration map.