Grade Level
Pre-K to 6th grade as a teacher demonstration
3rd to 6th grade as a student activity that they make and share

Objectives
Students will learn the relative sizes of common marine mammals. Students will learn characteristics of the animals depicted in the roll-outs.

If the students construct the roll-outs, they will research each marine mammal and decide which characteristics should be depicted. Students will plan and paint the roll-outs.

Extension objective: Students will present the roll-outs to another class practicing good presentation techniques.

Background Information

Roll-outs are a great to illustrate the actual size of smaller marine mammals. If your students will not be able to see any marine mammals in person then what better way to help students visualize the sizes than with life-size marine mammal roll-outs. Even if your students are able to see live animals they will be at a distance and roll-outs enable students to see the animals' sizes relative to there own. Make a collection of the most common marine mammals in your area or those that you study. They are not only a great teaching resource, but can be a fun learning activity if students make them.

For length and coloration of marine mammals it is recommended that you check out or buy a relatively new book on marine mammals. Don't use any book that is older than 1980. Some libraries only have old books on marine mammals. Suggested books:

The Sierra Club Handbook of Seals and Sirenians. R. Reeves, B. Stewart, and S. Leatherwood; Sierra Club Books; San Francisco, CA; 1992. (Also includes information on otters and polar bears).

The Sierra Club Handbook of Whales and Dolphins. S. Leatherwood and R. Reeves; Sierra Club Books; San Francisco, CA; 1983.

For pictures, use books, calendars, or check out the National Marine Mammal Laboratory's images online at http://nmml.afsc.noaa.gov/gallery/images.htm.

Supplies
Cloth or butcher paper at least 4 feet in width and 1foot longer than the length of the animal.
Paint - see chart below for color and size. Use black for eyes, mouth, and whiskers.
2 wooden dowels, 1 foot wider than the cloth and 3 inches in diameter (optional for butcher paper)
Equipment to sew, glue, or staple dowels to the ends of cloth
Pictures of the animals to be illustrated
Tape measure

Procedure
1. Attach the wooden dowels to each end of the blank cloth. The dowels should extend beyond the margins of the cloth. They serve as handles when the roll-outs are unrolled in front of a group.
2. Identify the characteristics that you can illustrate. Attempt to illustrate those that are intrinsic to group and species (example: male elephant seal is a seal so it has claws on the front flippers and a large nose or proboscis.) Find pictures that show these characteristics clearly.
3. Decide on the position the animal will be in. Have one person do the initial outline. Paint and allow it to dry completely!
4. For storage, and for fun when using it again, roll it up so that the amount of fabric is equal on each stick.

Using the Roll-outs
Note: Make sure that students understand that "life-sized" means "that is how big they are in real life." Until some younger students (third grade and under) hear you say this they often do not comprehend what "life-sized" means.

Roll them out slowly without identifying which is which. Have the other students observe and identify the species. What characteristics do they observe? If you have made a collection of roll-outs, open them all up and compare.

Extensions:
Bring the roll-out(s) to another classroom to share. Have the your students do the presentation.
See how many students equal the length of the animal on the roll-out. Have students pace the length. Have the students do paper roll-outs of themselves to compare size and characteristics.

Resource