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- Course name
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Cetaceans: Marine Mammals with MacBeth Derham
- Summary
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Join us for this fun 6th- to 8th-grade science course exploring our marine mammal friends! Learn the history, biology, breeding, habitats, and behaviors of whales, dolphins, and porpoises in this science course for all middle school students.
How to get the most out of Cetaceans: Marine Mammals with MacBeth Derham:
First, read the course materials below before the first class meeting.
Then have a notebook ready and available for class notes each live session.
Read assignments before class meetings
Watch that week’s recording if you need to revisit information from our live session.
Do the assignments, quizzes, and any extra work assigned for that week.
Once the course is completed to the parent's and professor’s satisfaction, there is a Certificate of Completion at the end to be filled in for your records.
Total Classes: 12
Duration: 45 minutes
Prerequisite: None
Suggested Grade Level: 6th to 8th grade. Interested high school students are also welcomed to join us.
Suggested Credit: One full semester Science, Vertebrate Biology, or Life Science. For a full year credit, follow with Introduction to Geology or another science course in the spring.
Instructor: MacBeth Derham
Course Description: Why would a mammal live in the water? Wonderful whales, delightful dolphins, playful porpoises...or not? Do they really like us? And are they really like us? And what on Earth is ambergris? Join us this semester as we discover the answers to these questions and more.
Course Outline:
Class 1: Cetacean ancestors, fossils, whale fingers?
Class 2: A tale of tails– who's who? Or just a fluke?
Class 3: Brains, skulls, skeletons
Class 4: Circulation, respiration, adaptation
Class 5: The 5 senses? Echolocation, and play!
Class 6: Range, habitat, and migration, breeding
Class 7: Baleen whales
Class 8: Toothed whales
Class 9: Dolphins, porpoises
Class 10: Narwhals, beaked whales
Class 11: Whaling– historic to present
Class 12: Captivity (Thanks for the fish!)
Course Materials: Guide to Marine Mammals of the World from National Audubon, ISBN 13: 978-0375411410 (https://amzn.to/3LFcaKB or BookFinder.com)
Homework: Weekly reading and quizzes. Students are encouraged to visit an aquarium, or go on a whale watch, if possible.
If you have any questions please contact us at homeschoolconnections@gmail.com.
©2022 Homeschool Connections and MacBeth Derham. All rights reserved. This course is designed by MacBeth Derham.
This material is only to be used for its intended purpose by active subscribers of Homeschool Connections. Any other use without explicit permission is in violation of the seventh commandment (yes, the 7th commandment)and in violation of US and International copyright laws.
You may print or download to local hard disk extracts for your personal homeschool and non-commercial use only. This is not to be used for homeschool co-ops without express written permission from Homeschool Connections.
- Course name
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Cetaceans: Marine Mammals with MacBeth Derham
- Instructor
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MacBeth Derham
- Semester
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Recorded
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Science ➤ Biology
- Grade level
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Middle School
- Start time
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December 16th, 2022 at 12:00 AM ET
- Course type
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Recorded, free with subscription
- Relative due dates
Honors Biology
Biology
Astronomy
To the Moon: Apollo Missions and the Future
Geology
A History of Scientific Thought for Middle School Students
Introduction to Earth Science
Planetary Science
Introduction to Ornithology
Invertebrate Zoology
Vertebrate Zoology
Cetaceans: Marine Mammals
The Dog
The Cat
- This material is only to be used for its intended purpose by active subscribers of Homeschool Connections or purchasers of the course. Any other use without explicit permission is in violation of the seventh commandment, and in violation of US and International copyright laws.
- You may print or download to your own storage extracts for your personal homeschool and non-commercial use only. This is not to be used for homeschool co-ops without express written permission from Homeschool Connections.
- Upon completion of the course, you must delete all copies of course materials from any storage on which you saved permissible extracts.
MacBeth Derham
About MacBeth Derham
MacBeth Derham studied biology at Mount Holyoke College and has taught natural history in the field for over 35 years. She currently teaches classes for her homeschool group, tutors math and science privately, and conducts a Marine Biology field school twice a year for local students.
From 2005-2020 she worked with The Front Lawn Players, a Shakespeare troupe made up of students ages 3-18, as both a speech coach and director. She spent the summer of 2017 in Oxford studying literature (including Shakespeare), philosophy, theology, and history. A more than reasonable amount of her time there was spent out of doors, in nature, walking the paths loved by Lewis, Tolkien, and friends. An amateur wildlife and travel photographer, many of her courses feature her own images of creature encounters from both home and abroad. Thanks to her children, she has a fine collection of animal skulls and skeletons.
Mrs. Derham speaks at homeschool conferences on the interdisciplinary need for nature study. She is a retired homeschooling mother of four very different grown children, grandmother of 4 west-coasters, and wife to Don.
Click here for more info about MacBeth Derham!
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© 2019 Homeschool Connections; MacBeth Derham. All Rights Reserved.
Violation of the above copyright policies may result in expulsion without any refund and/or legal action.