Ocean Mammals

Summary
A lesson on the mammals of the ocean. The reading is accompanied by true/false questions.

Objectives
• To introduce students to the mammals of the ocean.

Suggested Grades
5th Grade
6th Grade
7th Grade

Excerpt
One of the major characteristics of mammals is that they need air to breathe; mammals cannot breathe under water like fish. Yet there are mammals that have adapted to spending a great deal of their lives not only in water but in the salt water of the ocean. Many of these marine mammals have also adapted to the extreme cold of ocean waters in the polar regions.

Ocean mammals include some of the largest creatures on earth. Male walruses can reach a length of ten feet and weigh 2,600 pounds. Male elephant seals grow to sixteen feet in length and weigh 6,000 pounds. Blue whales are the largest animals on earth at 110 feet long and weighing more than 170 tons.

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