by Bea Peterson
Life Skills teacher Melodee James is very imaginative. She dreams up great special projects for her students. A couple of years ago they did a project on dinosaurs.
Besides learning about the creatures themselves, what they did gave them an opportunity to mentor elementary students on the extinct beasts. They had games and quizzes on the different critters and shared them with the little kids. The highlight of the project was giant dinosaur foot prints in the hallway. The prints were large enough to hold nine students lying end to end. This year James dreamed much larger. She told her Science/Ecology class what she wanted to do and with “blind trust and faith,” they did as she instructed. What resulted was a construction weight clear plastic inflated mock up of an 80 foot long blue whale. “The students have been working on this project off and on since the end of October,” said James.
“Day after day they would drag this plastic out in the hall and work on it, not having any idea what the end result would be.” They used math and physics to make the creature large enough for people to be able to go inside. Blue Whales are actually longer than 80 feet, but a longer creation would not fit on the school stage.
In addition to teaching her students about whales and other ocean creatures, James’ emphasis was on pollution, particularly the pollution of plastics and plastic bags. “Ninety percent of the garbage in the ocean is plastic,” she said. Her plan is to eventually fill the whale with plastic bags and then take it to a recycling center. Already its flukes (tail) are filled with bags. Piles of plastic bags were stacked by the stage. A week ago last Thursday and Friday, elementary students had an opportunity to walk inside the whale, giving them a very different perspective on its size. The whale is held together with colorless duct tape. It has a dorsal fin, flippers, blowholes and black baleen stripes for filtering the krill it eats. Paper krill cover part of the outside near the mouth.
Elementary Lessons
Elementary students were invited to name the whale, and many names were received. The one they selected was Whaley Tail submitted by Gloria Martinez. James’ students provided tours through their creation, and
after the tour the young students were directed to stations where they could hear whales talking, learn more about blue whales, see some of the damage inflicted on sea creatures by plastic and learn how they can make a difference to what happens in the oceans.
For James’ students it was a wonderful hands on learning experience and a project for which they could take ownership. “It was a chance for them to shine and gain confidence and respect from their peers,” she said.
In the spring she hopes to hold a Whale Celebration outside and then fill the whale with the bags. Outside everyone can get to see it.
Facts
Blue Whales are the biggest animals that ever lived on earth. They weigh more than 32 elephants! These mammals are up to 94 feet long and can live at least 80 years. The females are slightly larger than the males. They travel in pairs and their babies are born under water. They have 260 to 400 black baleen plates on each side of their mouth for eating the small krill that are their primary diet. A blue whale eats over 100 pounds of food every time it swallows.
Statistics say every person in the world uses 300 plastic bags a year. That means that many of us use more since there are areas of the world where plastic bags aren’t used at all.