All About Whales Lesson

What do you know about the largest animal on earth? Did you know their throat is the size of a grapefruit or that their they can’t breath through their mouths? Teach your kids all about whales with this fun, no prep whale lesson your whole family can enjoy learning about together!

Whales for Kids

Children will be fascinated to learn about the largest animal on earth! Whales have a tongue that weighs more than most cars, a heart as big as a Volkswagen Beetle, and they spend most of their life in parts of the ocean no person can ever see.  Even though whales can dive thousands of feet below the surface of the ocean, they are mammals and must breath air just like you and me or they would drown. Join us on a fascinating study about these marine mammals.

Whether you are looking for a quick mini unit, a supplement to your science curriculum, you are exploring an interest your child has, or you want to dive into our complete Ocean Unit – you will love this printable all about whales lesson for kids in kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade, 6th grade, 7th grade, and 8th grade.

All About Whales

We have put together a complete unit for you to dive into the exciting world of whales. In this 35+ page whale lesson plan you will learn how whales sleep, what they eat, label their different parts, be able to tell the difference between a baleen and a toothed whale, uncover the mystery of why whales make clicking sounds and sing, learn the terms for the different whale moves, and so much more! There is NO PREP on your part. Just read from your laptop or print the pages and you are ready to learn!

Whale Facts for Kids

The meat of the unit is in ten pages filled with fun to read information about whales. These pages are in black and white to save you on printer costs and include super cute images to help you visualize what we are talking about and keep kids engaged. Your younger students will have fun coloring in the whale clipart as they go along.

You can print the pages in the pdf file or you can read them from your computer, laptop, or phone – the choice is yours in this easy to use, no prep, science lesson for kids.

Whale Printables

One of my favorite parts about this handy resource is that try this and let’s think about it sections sprinkled throughout our zoology lessons. They include though provoking questions for kids to ponder and hints in case they get stuck. Plus the simple whale science experiments will help kids get a deeper understanding on what it is like to be a whale, their adaptations, and their environment. All the experiments are simple to complete with no fancy equipment.

Facts About Whales for Kids

If yo have a color printer, we’ve included two types of whale flashcards your kids will enjoy.

• Types of Whales – Kids will have fun seeing colorful pictures of real whales in the ocean. We’ve included the Beluga whale, Blue Whale, Dolphin (yep, dolphins are technically classified as a whale), Humpback Whales, Gray Whales, Narwhal (kids will have trouble believing this animal with a 7 foot long horn is real), Orca Whale (also known as a Killer Whale), and a Sperm Whale.
• Whale Communication – Have you ever gone whale watching?  If you watch carefully, and the whales are cooperative, you can see whales do a breach, lobtailing, spyhopping, and logging.  Whales and dolphins are such friendly, intelligent, and fun animals to observe.

Whale Worksheets

We’ve also included various printable whale worksheets for kids to review and remember what they have learned in this non fiction whale unit. Their are worksheets appropriate for kids of all ages from kindergartners to elementary age students in grade 1, grade 2, grade 3, grade 4, grade 5, grade 6, grade 7, and grade 8. Simply pick the pages that work best for your children.

• Compare and Contrast the two types of whales using a Venn Diagram
• Cut & paste the 8 discussed types of whales by the type of whale they are: baleen or toothed
• Whale Test – there is a test to discern what your child has learned in this lesson. (don’t worry, the answer key is included!)
• Whale True or False – read the statements and have children right a T for true or a F if the fact is false
  
• Label the parts of a Toothed Whale
• Label the parts of Baleen Whales Anatomy
• Whale Watching – match the whale picture to the type of what it is (available in color or black & white)
• Whale Text Detective – have your student read the text and then answer the questions. They will find the evidence in the text and color the text proof for their answer with the color indicated
• Help students work on organizing their writing with this template for organizing 3 main ideas and their details
• All about Whales form – students can write a story or a report form with this cute whale themed ruled paper
• Wonderful Whales – fun writing prompt for kids to write down facts that they’ve learned, things that amazed them, and draw a picture of a whale move they liked

Just for fun, we’ve included whale coloring pages too! These printable whale coloring sheets are get to keep toddler, preschool, pre k, kindergarten, and 1st graders engaged with the material as you dive deeper with older siblings! There is a cute humpback whale and baby page as well as a fun dolphins doing tricks jumping above the water.

Kids can use crayons, markers, or colored pencils to design their own beautiful whale.

Don’t miss the other animal studies we’ve created!

• All About Whales
• All About Pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, walrus)
• All About Herps (sea turtles, sea snakes, aquatic frogs, toads, salamander)
• All About Fish, Sharks, and Rays
• All About Mollusks, Crustaceans, & Cephalopods (crabs, lobsters, octopus, bivalves, clams)
• All About Echinoderms & Cnidarians (Jellyfish, Sea Stars, Sand Dollars, Coral)
• Plus don’t miss our 1+ million free worksheets for kids including 1st Grade Worksheets!

For use in a classroom or co-op, please purchase a teacher licensed version.

Because of the sheer amount of time this resource took to create, there is a small fee to purchase this impressive pack filled with information, links to animal videos, science worksheets, science coloring pages, and more! But you know me, my heart is to keep things free (or as close to free as I can possibly make them) so this amazing unit for you to study whales is only $1.99!

** Please note this is a printable unit. You will not be mailed any physical product.

Or purchase the entire 7 lesson, 250+ page Ocean Unit! (learn more)