Make Your Own Whale Call
GRADE LEVEL 2-6

Objective

Students will use balloons to create their own whale calls and will write down each call using symbols to describe it

Background

Orca calls are repeated and consistent over time. The noise is made by residual air left in the nasal cavity. Researchers are able to listen to whale vocalizations on a hydrophone and record them for further analysis. They can then use computer programs to play back the sound and visually view the sound using a spectrogram, also called a sonogram. In this activity, students will use balloons to create echolocation clicks, whistles or calls.

Activity Lesson Plan