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When I was little my favorite movie was Free Willy and my favorite animal was and still is the Orca. So when I saw this assignment I knew that I wanted to discuss the Orca (Killer Whale) in a way that met the fourth grade science curriculum. While students should already have an understanding of habitats by this age, I wanted to use this as a precursor into teaching students about different animal behaviors, food chains, and the structure of the animals such as dorsal fins, how their bones grow etc. and how their habitat plays a part in their internal and external structures.

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Students will be able to answer these questions: Why is a habitat important for animals? What type of habitat does an Orca (Killer Whale) live in? What types of food does an Orca find in their habitats? How does an Orca find their food?

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Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions).

Compare and contrast the point of view from which different stories are narrated, including the difference between first- and third-person narrations.

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Rosanne Parry (Author), Lindsay Moore (Illustrator)

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A Whale of the Wild (A Voice of the Wilderness Novel)

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A Whale of the Wild (A Voice of the Wilderness Novel) [Parry, Rosanne, Moore, Lindsay] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. A Whale of the Wild (A Voice of the Wilderness Novel)

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Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in a text relevant to a grade 4 topic or subject area.

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Killer Whales: The Worlds Most Powerful Predators by IP Faculty 

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Killer Whales: The Worlds Most Powerful Predators by IP Faculty 

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Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears.

Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text.

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Affordances:

This book is told in the first person from the point of view from an Orca named Vega and her little brother. The young orcas are similar in mindset to an elementary child roughly in the 4th grade so even though Vega and Deneb are animals their thoughts are relatable to children which keeps them engaged. At the end of the story there is some information about the Southern Resident Killer Whale Community as well as other facts for some extra information on Orcas, habitats, and the food they like to eat.

Throughout the story there are also illustrations to help break the story up.

Limitations:

The entire book is 219 pages (the story itself is 175 pages and the age recommendation is between 4th and 7th grade so the book could be on the more challenging side for this age. The story also switches points of view between characters which may be confusing for some readers.

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Affordances:

There are photos at the beginning of every chapter to help engage the reader on the subject. The Chapters are also named in a way that tell you exactly what the author is focusing on, so the organization is helpful for young readers. The book is also short, 57 pages that are broken up. The chapters are also only a few pages long so the book is less intimidating to young readers.

Limitations:

I do wish that this book had more comparisons in their photos such as comparing a killer whales size to a humans or other animals as well as a photo to compare male vs. female dorsal fins to help students with a visual.

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Kids Cove Saving the Southern Residents: What can you do?

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Kids Cove Saving the Southern Residents: What can you do?

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Affordances:

There is audio and video to help engage students. There are fun illustrations to help engage students. There are facts about orcas, the foods that they eat etc. The site talks about Habitats which is a large focus for the lesson objectives.

Limitations:

There are no games to interact with students. The time on this page would be short because there isn't much variety in modes. The site is dedicated to keeping the ocean clean (which in itself is not a limitation as this is an important lesson to teach) and talks about other animals and their habitats instead of focusing primarily on Orcas. While this is great for students, this can also be an information overload but could also be a great way to talk about food chains within a habitat. This site also only discusses the Southern Residents and not the other pods that live in different areas and eat other foods so it would be important to discuss other pods and their food preferences (such as the arctic pods eating seals rather than salmon). I also wish there were more interactive games or videos showing echolocation, more videos about their behaviors such as spy-hopping etc.