Whale Scientists: Solving the Mystery of Whale Strandings [Scientists in the Field Series] Book

Summary: Did you know whales began as land creatures? This book states how humans learned to hunt and kill whales: first for food and then for oil, soap, candles, furniture, and even wasp waist corsets. The whale had served so many purposes for humans that its stranding was seen as a gift from the sea. Research has been on these creatures because their numbers are decreasing. The book answers the question, "what causes whales to leave the ocean and become stranded on land" through a research study. Some of the possible causes listed in the book include man-made noises, weather or the activity of the sun, and illness or injury.

Evaluation: I like how the book uses a lot of scientific vocabulary then provides a vocabulary for students to interpret what the word means. I like how all the pictures in the book have a caption underneath it describing what the picture is showing. I do not recommend this book for grades younger than 4th.


Teaching: This book is a great resource to offer students who are doing a book report on whales. You can have your students do a nonfiction scavenger hunt using this book because it has all the traditional text features of a good nonfiction book as well. My lesson would help students achieve this standard, ELAGSE2RI5: Know and use various text features (e.g., captions, bold print, subheadings, glossaries, indexes, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text efficiently.