Cetacea

High school (ages 12+)
Animals & Nature

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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/cetacea

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?Cetacea
2. What is the habitat?Global oceans, including polar, temperate, and tropical zones; some species inhabit rivers
3. What are cetaceans and why are they called ocean giants?Cetaceans are whales, dolphins, and porpoises that live in the ocean. They are called ocean giants because they can grow very large, like the blue whale, and they are the biggest animals that live in the sea.
4. How did whales and dolphins evolve from land animals to living in the sea?About 50 million years ago, land animals that walked on four legs started living in the water. Fossils like Ambulocetus and Pakicetus show how they slowly changed, adding a fluke for swimming, moving their nostrils to a blowhole, and turning their front legs into flippers.

Odontoceti: Suborder of cetaceans characterized by having teeth, such as dolphins and orcas.
Mysticeti: Suborder of cetaceans characterized by baleen plates for filter feeding, such as blue whales and humpbacks.
Anthropogenic: Originating from human activity.
Trophic Levels: The position an organism occupies in a food chain.