Whale Crier- South Africa

Jason's grandmother lives in Walker Bay, Hermanus on South Africa. This place is considered to be the 'Whale Capital of South Africa'

(View video clip from start to 1.20 min)


She sent us some neat info pamphlets and postcards about this place and the whale crier who alerts people about the whales in the area.

Thanks so much Dorothy- Fantastic hearing from you!

Blubber Glove

Today we had a look at how blubber acts as an amazing insulator for whales and other ocean mammals with this "Blubber Gloves" activity. We then used this SOLO rubric to help us with our writing. Have a look at some 'Extended Abstract' examples here.
(Click on the SOLO chart on the right to enlarge)

First we put a plastic bag around a hand. We put one hand in freezing cold water. Next we put the hand in the plastic bag into another bag with chefade. Then we put this hand in the freezing water and it felt normal. It’s like a whale because whales have blubber inside them. The blubber insulates the whale in cold sea water. 

By Josh

On Thursday Mrs Brieseman brought blubber to school and she put the blubber in a bag. We put on a plastic bag on our hand and put our hand in the bag of blubber and put our hand in the freezing cold water so we can see if it is cold in the sea. The hand without the bag was freezing cold and the blubber hand was warm. Whales have blubber so they can be warm.  

By Shaymaa

The blubber hand was warm and the hand that was not in the blubber was freezing cold. Whales have blubber to keep them warm.

By Rosie

When I put my hand in the container with ice and water it felt freezing on my hand. And when I put a plastic bag with chefade blubber in it I felt absolutely nothing. I just felt warm. That’s how the whales survive the freezing sea water – lots of blubber.   

By David

An enormous whale!

We have been reading up all about whales. There are 2 types of whale- the Toothed Whale and the Baleen Whale.
The Blue Whale is the largest animal in the ocean and is a baleen whale. It can grow up to 30 metres long. We took the tape measure out to see how big that would be- huge!!

More info on this amazing mammal soon!