Word Workout. Dear Family Member: WORDS TO KNOW. This Week s Skills SPELLING WORDS. dove massive rumbling encounter tangles unique

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1 Home-School Connection Word Workout WORDS TO KNOW dove massive rumbling encounter tangles unique You Against Me Let s each write a definition for every word above. Then we can compare our work and see how close our definitions are. SPELLING WORDS uncle oral symbol bugle turtle pebble bubble pedal total channel settle special pencil local vessel ankle paddle pupil medal docile le, al, el, or ol? All the spelling words this week have the same ending sound, but some are spelled differently than others. I ll write the spelling words, leaving off the last two letters of each word. Then, you can write in the correct ending. (fold here) Macmillan/McGraw-Hill Dear Family Member: We re reading a true story in class this week. Adelina s Whales is about whales that migrate to Baja, California, in Mexico. Adelina, a girl who lives there, waits for the whales return every January. The story is a photo essay with many wonderful photos of Adelina, her town, and the whales. Their arrival signals the unfolding of other events. As I learn about the events, I ll think about the sequence in which they happen. This Week s Skills Comprehension: sequence Vocabulary: homographs Spelling/Phonics: words ending in le, al, el, il, or ol Name 347

2 Hot Off the Press Let s choose an idea for a story. We can use the outline to organize our thoughts. When we re done, we can read your article to a family member. Where does the story take place? Write the name of the place. Who is the article about? Write the names of any people and who they are. Why do the events happen? Write what caused these events to happen. When does the story take place? Was it yesterday, last week, months ago? Macmillan/McGraw-Hill How does your story end? 348

3 Conexión con el hogar Ejercicio de palabras PALABRAS DE VOCABULARIO dove massive rumbling encounter tangles unique Tú contra mí Cada uno de nosotros va a escribir una definición para cada una de las palabras de arriba. Luego vamos a comparar lo que hicimos y ver qué tan parecidas son nuestras definiciones. PALABRAS DE ORTOGRAFÍA uncle oral symbol bugle turtle pebble bubble pedal total channel settle special pencil local vessel ankle paddle pupil medal docile (fold here) Macmillan/McGraw-Hill Queridos familiares: Esta semana estamos leyendo en clase una historia verídica: Adelina s Whales, que trata de las ballenas que emigran a Baja California, en México. Adelina, una niña que vive allí, espera que las ballenas regresen cada enero. El relato es un ensayo fotográfico y hay fotos bellísimas de Adelina, su pueblo y las ballenas. La llegada de las ballenas marca el inicio de otros sucesos importantes. A medida que vaya leyendo sobre estos sucesos, iré pensando sobre el orden en el que suceden. Destrezas de la semana Comprensión: orden de los sucesos Vocabulario: homógrafos Ortografía/Fonética: palabras terminadas en le, al, el, il, o ol Falta el final Aunque todas las palabras de ortografía de esta semana tienen el mismo sonido final, no se escriben de la misma manera. Voy a escribir todas las palabras de la lista, pero sin las últimas dos letras. Tú debes escribir la terminación correcta. Nombre 349

4 Recién salido de la imprenta Vamos a escoger una idea para un artículo. Podemos utilizar las preguntas para organizar nuestras ideas. Cuando terminemos, leeremos el artículo a otro miembro de la familia. Where does the story take place? Write the name of the place. Who is the article about? Write the names of any people and who they are. Why do the events happen? Write what caused these events to happen. When does the story take place? Was it yesterday, last week, months ago? Macmillan/McGraw-Hill How does your story end? 350

5 Comprehension Check Summarize Use a Sequence Chart to tell how the information in the book is presented. Then summarize the information. Think and Compare 1. Look at page 11. Where does a male sperm whale live when it is a calf? When it is five years old? When it is 45 years old? (Identify Sequence) 2. Whales play in all kinds of ways. How is whale play the same as your play? How is it different? (Analyze) 3. Why is it important to keep the world safe for whales? (Evaluate) Macmillan/McGraw-Hill Looking at Whales LOOKING AT WHALES by Dina Anastasio Table of Contents Introduction Chapter 1 A Whale s Life Chapter 2 Whales Together Chapter 3 On the Move Conclusion Glossary/Index Comprehension Check

6 Introduction Where do some of the world s largest mammals live? Underwater. Whales spend their whole lives in the ocean. Whales never stop swimming. Most of the time they swim in groups. Sometimes whales jump up above the water s surface and then dive back in. They also slap their fins against the water and do belly flops. And people who study whales know that they also sing underwater. How many different kinds of whales are there? What kinds of food do they eat? You will find the answers to these questions in this book. Whales can jump far out of the water. Right after this photograph was taken, the whale dove back under the water. Glossary baleen (buh-leen) a type of whale. Baleen whales have two blowholes and a comblike plate in their mouths that helps them filter food from seawater. (page 7) blowhole (BLOH-hohl) a nostril on the top of the head of whales, dolphins, and porpoises (page 5) echolocation (e-koh-loh-kay-shuhn) a way to find the location of something by measuring how long it takes an echo to return from it (page 9) fluke (FLEWK) one of the two flat, horizontal tail pieces of a whale, dolphin, or porpoise (page 13) migrate (MIGH-grayt) to move from one place to another (page 16) predator (PRED-uh-tuhr) an animal that lives by hunting other animals for food (page 5) species (SPEE-sheez) a group of animals or plants that have many things in common (page 10) Index baleen whales, 7 games, sleeping, 5 toothed whales, 7 whale songs,

7 Conclusion In the ocean, pods of whales are swimming around. They are searching for food, caring for their calves, and playing whale games. Many people think it is important to protect these unique animals. Think of all the whales that live in the ocean. Picture all the activities going on. Somewhere, gray whales are traveling thousands of miles to find food. Orcas are slapping their flukes. Pilot whales are playing follow the leader. And if you listen closely, you might even hear a humpback whale singing a song. Whales live, play, and sing all over the world. Baby whales, called calves, stay close to their mothers until they can take care of themselves. 18 3

8 Chapter 1 A Whale s Life Whales live in families called pods. Members of a pod live, eat, and travel together. In most pods, the whales are all related. But some pods consist of whales that aren t related. A group of whale mothers and their calves can be a pod. Once in a while, whales move to different pods. But this doesn t happen very often. This lucky explorer encountered a pod of orcas. California gray whales migrate even farther. Every year they travel about 10,000 miles (16,093 km) round trip between Mexico and the Bering Sea near Alaska. Spy-Hopping Sometimes a whale needs to find out where it is. Or maybe it s testing the weather. Whatever the reason, it pops its head up above the surface. Sometimes only its eyes can be seen. This is called spy-hopping. 4 17

9 Whales are always on the move. Some travel a very long way. Others just swim around in their own backyards. Whales even carry their young. A calf is carried along in the water current created by its mother as she swims. That s how the calves keep up with the rest of the pod. Some whales migrate from one area to another. Blue whales migrate thousands of miles every year. They spend their winters in warm breeding grounds. In the summer they migrate north to cooler waters, where it s usually easier to find food. It helps to be carried along in a water current. All whales live in the sea. Some whales stay in one area. For others, their home is wherever they happen to be at the moment. Whales never stop moving, even when they are sleeping. How do they do this? Many scientists believe that whales take a short nap, wake up and breathe, and then take another nap. Some whales even sleep with one eye open. The open eye watches for predators like sharks. There She Blows! A whale breathes through a blowhole in its skull. You might have seen pictures of whales blowing air out of their blowholes. It may look like a stream of water, but it s really more like mist. 16 5

10 Whales spend half the year eating. During the rest of the year these massive animals hardly eat at all. Whales do most of their eating during the summer months. They hunt for prey in different places. Some whales feed on the ocean floor. Others feed near the surface. Whales have a unique way of storing food. They stockpile food energy in a layer of fat, called blubber, under their skin. Blubber helps keep whales warm when they are in cold waters. Fluking: Whales raise their tails before they dive downward. Fluking is often performed by large whales, like the massive blues. Whale Games Breaching: Whales leap out of the water, twirl, and crash backward or sideways when they come back down. Sailing: Whales move along with their heads down and their tails fluking above the surface. The smallest whale is the dwarf sperm whale. The biggest is the blue whale. The blue whale is the largest animal on Earth. Body Rolling: Whales roll onto their backs and swim. 6 15

11 Different whales like different games. Pilot whales enjoy playing follow the leader. Pilot whales live in very large pods. Often they form lines that lead fishermen toward schools of fish. Sometimes, however, pilot whales follow their leader onto a beach. No one is sure why this happens. Some people believe something goes wrong with the leader s echolocation. Or perhaps the leader swims too close to shore, and he can t turn back. Whatever the reason, pilot whales are willing to follow their leader anywhere. The dorsal fins of these pilot whales are above the water. Toothed vs. Baleen Whales are divided into two groups. Toothed whales catch fish with their teeth and swallow them whole. Baleen whales scoop up tangles of food and seawater in their mouths. A comb-like filter called a baleen in their upper jaws strains food from the seawater. The sperm whale is the largest toothed whale. Humpback whales are baleen whales. 14 7

12 The beluga whale is known as the sea canary because of the many different sounds it makes. Did you know that whales talk to each other? Whales make sounds for different reasons. Some sounds are used to locate calves. Others are used to find mates. Whales even use sounds to warn other pod members that a predator is around. Toothed whales click and whistle in order to locate food. Baleen whales make knocking, moaning, and rumbling noises. Humpback whales sing, but not during feeding season. They save their tunes for the warmer waters where they spend their breeding season. Some scientists believe they are communicating. Other scientists think they are sending out threats, like Go away! We may never know exactly why whales sing. Chapter 3 On the Move Have you ever seen whales playing? They jump, thrash, and throw themselves up and out of the water. Whales slap their fins and flukes and do belly flops, especially after a filling meal. So what do all these twirls, slaps, and jumps mean? Whale watchers often wonder if the whales are playing, looking for food, or searching for a mate. It s often hard to tell unless you re a whale, of course. Orcas are great acrobats. 8 13

13 Whales that stay in groups take care of one another. They help other members of their pod as they travel long distances. Like other animals, whales have relationships with each other. They play, fight, and show affection. Sometimes they form small groups in their pods called sub-pods. Most whales are shy and gentle creatures, as peaceful as doves. When a sperm whale wants to get closer to one of the whales in her pod, she rubs up against it. Whales of the same species may stroke each other with their pectoral fins. Mothers and calves stroke each other too. Whales may stroke each other to show feelings. Beluga Whales About 10 beluga whales live together in a pod. Like many other species of whales, several pods travel together when they move from one place to another. Echolocation Toothed whales use echolocation to find food. When whales echolocate, they bounce a clicking sound off an object, such as a squid. Then they time how long it takes the echo to travel back to them. If the echo takes a long time, dinner is far away. If it only takes a second or so, the prey is nearby. Some humpback whales swim up to the surface and take a few breaths. Then they dive under the water and start to sing. They do not move when they sing. Their underwater songs can be heard for miles. Sometimes they sing for a half hour without stopping. A right whale s song can be heard for miles. 12 9

14 Chapter 2 Whales Together Whale pods may differ but the strongest bond in a pod is always between a mother and her calf. Some mothers and their calves stay together forever. The orca is one species that behaves like this. Orcas might meet up with other mothers and their calves, but the mother and her calf never separate. Many pods include grandmothers, mothers, and calves. Female calves usually stay with their mothers for their whole lives. In some species, older male calves leave their mothers while female calves stay on. Male sperm whale calves, for example, stick around until they are about five years old. After that they are sent away to fend for themselves. They go to places where it is easy to find food and look for a new pod. Usually they join up with other young males and stay in that pod for the next 40 years or so. When sperm whales grow old, they usually leave the pod and live alone in deeper waters. Whale Social Groups Social groups, from smallest to largest: A maternal pod is a mother whale and her calf. A pod is a group of whales that lives together. A clan is a group of pods that sometimes travels together. A community is a group of clans