Dolphins: Lesson 1 Science, Yr 7

Animal Classification, Marine Food Webs and Human Impacts on Dolphins

The learning sequence for this activity begins by considering where dolphins and humans are placed in terms of the classification of organisms. It then examines where dolphins are in a food chain and how human activities around dolphin capture affect this. The impact of human activities on captive dolphins and the nature of the captive habitat is also discussed.

Time Allocation

Three lessons.

Voiceless Resources

Key Inquiry Questions

  • How are animals classified?
  • What are the interconnections within a marine food web?
  • How does human activity affect wild dolphin habitat?
  • Reflect upon the features of captive dolphin habitat.

Teacher Notes

It is recommended that teachers watch the video Wild vs Captive: 10 things you didn’t know about dolphins prior to the lesson. Access video notes for teachers here.

Suggested Learning Activities

1. PRE-TEST

  • Recap previous lessons where the teacher would have introduced classification using hierarchical systems such as kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species.
  • Ask students to complete the table of classification by putting humans, dolphins and one other animal of their choice into classification groups.
  • Table of Classification (access pdf printable version here).

Human Being

Bottlenose Dolphin

Your favourite animal

Kingdom:

Kingdom:

Kingdom:

Phylum:

Phylum:

Phylum:

Class:

Class:

Class:

Order:

Order:

Order:

Family:

Family:

Family:

Genus:

Genus:

Genus:

Species:

Species:

Species:

 

2. EXPLORE

Food Chains

  • Design a simple marine food chain. Include the following organisms: dolphins, phytoplankton, herring fish, humans, tuna fish, zooplankton, the sun (for energy).
  • Label each organism.

Human Impacts on Local Habitats

  1. Dolphins have complex social relationships.
  2. Wild bottlenose dolphins can live for over 50 years.
  3. Dolphins can swim over 60km every day.
  4. Dolphins are very smart.
  5. Dolphins, like us, get stressed out.
  6. Dolphins born in captivity are likely to remain in captivity.
  7. About 2,000 dolphins are in captivity today.
  8. Some captive dolphins have been taken from the wild.
  9. Dolphin captivity is banned in many countries.
  10. Your opinion matters.

3. DISCUSS

Think/Pair/Share Activity

  • Divide the class in half.
  • One half (A) will look at human impacts on habitat while the other half (B) will look at human impacts on an individual species from that habitat. YouTube resources listed below may assist students with this activity.
    •  A. Impact on Habitat. In pairs or small groups, ask students to think about the impacts of human activity on the habitats in which dolphins live. Use Taiji as an example. Consider the impact on other species in the food chain as a result of the dolphin hunt. List the pros and cons of this impact. Have the smaller groups share findings with their half of the class.
    • B. Impact on Individual. In pairs or small groups, ask students to think about the impacts of a life in captivity on bottlenose dolphins. Compare the habitat of a captive dolphin with wild dolphin habitat. List the pros and cons of captivity. Students should refer to the Voiceless Fact Sheet: Dolphins in Captivity here. Have the smaller groups share findings with their half of the class.

4. SHARE

Ask for a spokesperson from each half of the class (i.e. A and B) to address the class and provide a summary of their group’s findings (i.e. impact on habitat/impact on individual).

5. REFLECT

Ask students to write a 150-word response to the following: ‘What is your opinion on the use of captive dolphins in dolphinariums? Can their lack of liberty be justified? Explain why or why not’.

6. USEFUL RESOURCES

To help us improve our materials, we would appreciate any work, feedback or thoughts you would like to share: education@voiceless.org.au

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Australian Curriculum alignment

Learning Area: Science
Year Level: Year 7
General Capabilities:

  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Literacy
Strands:

Science Understanding – Biological Sciences
Content Descriptions:  Biological sciences

  • Classification helps organise the diverse group of organisms (ACSSU111).
  • Interactions between organisms, including the effects of human activities can be represented by food chains and food webs (ACSSU112).
Elaborations:

(ACSSU111)

  • Classifying using hierarchical systems such as kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species.
  • Grouping a variety of organisms on the basis of similarities and differences in particular features.

(ACSSU112)

  • Investigating the effect of human activity on local habitats, such as deforestation, agriculture or the introduction of new species.
Cross-Curricular Priority:

Sustainability  

World Views
OI.5 – World views are formed by experiences at personal, local, national and global levels, and are linked to individual and community actions for sustainability.

Futures
OI.8 – Designing action for sustainability requires an evaluation of past practices, the assessment of scientific and technological developments, and balanced judgements based on projected future economic, social and environmental impacts.
Acknowledgments

This Australian Curriculum alignment statement is based on the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) materials, which are licensed under CC BY 4.0. The material has been modified from the Australian Curriculum website (accessed April 2018).

All activities have been created by educators for educators and are linked to the Australian Curriculum (Version 8.4). We advise teachers to consult the ACARA website for the most up-to-date curriculum outcomes.

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