Blue whale

High school (ages 12+)
Animals & Nature

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/blue-whale

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the scientific name?Balaenoptera musculus
2. What is the lifespan?Estimated average lifespan in the wild is 80 to 90 years
3. How big is a blue whale?A blue whale can be as long as 30 meters, longer than a school bus, and it can weigh about 200 tons, heavier than a herd of elephants.
4. What do blue whales eat?Blue whales eat almost only krill, tiny shrimp-like animals. One blue whale can eat up to 40 million krill each day.

Baleen: A filter-feeding system in the mouths of baleen whales, composed of keratin plates.
Krill: Small, shrimp-like crustaceans that are the primary food source for blue whales.
Trophic Dynamics: The study of the feeding and predator-prey relationships within an ecological community.
Anthropogenic Threats: Environmental problems caused or influenced by human activities.