Introduction of Explore the Salish Sea
Killer Whale Task Force
J 50 “Scarlet,” with her mom, J 16 “Slick” in 2015. Photo by NOAA Fisheries West Coast
Killer Whale Task Force sets up the main phenomenon for the Explore the Salish Sea curriculum: our sea’s top predator is endangered. Next, students develop their own overarching Essential Question, such as: How can we help endangered killer whales recover? This will guide the rest of their explorations. No matter which units you choose to implement with your class, start here to set the premise and spark an intrinsic desire to figure out how to help the beloved killer whales.
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By downloading this curriculum, I agree to complete the educator surveys and pre- and post-assessments with my students.
TASKFORCE UNIT PLAN
The Unit Plan is here to provide direction, resources, and standards for guiding the lessons, activities, games, and research that introduce the overarching question. This plan includes Learning Targets and Success Criteria, Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) addressed, a framework for instructional flow, links to all resources (websites, articles, activity/game instructions, and more) referenced in the plans, estimated time for each content item, and the materials needed for exploring.
TASK FORCE PRE-ASSESSMENT
This is your unit-specific assessment to administer before and after the Task Force unit to measure student growth.
*NOTE: All materials in this unit are offered in formats that you can revise to suit your needs.
Choose what you’d like to use, add your content to slideshows, student journals, and more.
Just be sure to follow a logical flow, as described in this great NGSS article:
STUDENT JOURNAL
This is your students’ place to wonder, record observations, take notes, diagram, and plan and record scientific investigation or engineering processes. It is also a place to celebrate hard work with well-deserved stamps on the back page. Print this journal in color in booklet format on 8.5 x 14 paper, center fold with 2 staples, if possible.
HOW TO PRINT
In Microsoft Word, click on the Layout menu, then the arrow to expand the Page Set Up options. Click Margins and select Book fold in the drop down menu by Multiple pages. Print in landscape orientation on 8.5 x 14” paper with two staples along the center fold.
SLIDESHOW
Use these PowerPoint slides with video and resource links as an aid to help guide, but not dominate, your lessons. Feel free to modify content and add or remove slides to best fit your learning progression.
WONDER
Give your students a visual or sensory experience that provides a chance to wonder at a particular aspect of the Salish Sea. This is referred to in the NGSS as a “discrepant event.” For chapters 1-8, this will be a hands-on outdoor activity, an observational field trip, or an in-classroom presentation or video that presents a specific mystery or problem students will work to solve throughout the unit. Let them wonder at the phenomenon. It is okay to clarify student input for your understanding, but do not steer their understanding. Let them form their own concepts. For the introduction, photos of a skinny southern resident killer whale, such as J-50, “Scarlet.”
ESSENTIAL QUESTION
After students experience the book on their own, it is time to give a Taskforce! Student Journal to each person. Have students read the book Introduction: Welcome to the Salish Sea. Here is a time to write (Journal p. 1) their thoughts, ideas, and questions inspired by their reading. After students have read and written, invite an open discussion with the class. Near the end of this discussion, ask what the students know about our resident orca population and their endangered status. Guide them to develop an overarching essential question for their Salish Sea explorations, and steer it to be about the health of these killer whales. Each chapter will address aspects of the ecosystem that ultimately support the health of the whales, and of us humans, as well.
BACKGROUND RESEARCH
Once you have established an essential question, information-gathering begins. The Explore the Salish Sea book is a great place to start, there are some additional resources in the link below and in the slideshow, and you may find many more of your own. Of course, you’ll come back to this step throughout the process, as your questions and claims will require support.
Southern Resident Killer Whale eating a Chinook salmon. An adult needs 385 lbs of salmon per day.
PUT SCIENCE TO WORK
In chapters 1-8, your students will conduct their own authentic, hands-on research, as well as consult existing science. Taskforce! prepares them for doing so as they must glean evidence from existing research and tribal perspectives to make their own recommendations to the Governor for killer whale recovery as they simulate the Working Groups of the actual Governor-appointed Southern Killer Whale Taskforce of 2018.
COMMUNICATE YOUR FINDINGS
This is a crucial part of the scientific process. It is the part where the results of all your hard work can make a difference. Your research can equal a difference in the choices a few citizens make each day to help the sea or a new bill that changes the way our whole state or province helps the whales. Taskforce! concludes by communicating student recommendations in actual letters to your Legislators. See the video in the button below and use the Taskforce! Slideshow and Student Journals for support. There are many bills being considered currently, so this is a very timely science-based stewardship action.