Whales

               Whales are large sea animals. They live in the ocean along with other sea creatures. Whales have enormous bodies that are shaped like fishes, but they are not fishes. Whales are mammals. Mammals are warm-blooded animals that carry their babies in their bodies. Then after their babies are born, the mother mammal feeds their young with milk that comes from the mother's body. Just like humans, baby whales drink milk too. 

                Before a humpback baby whale is born, its carried by its mother inside her body for almost a full year! All summer this mother whale swam in the cold waters of the Pacific Ocean while her baby grew inside her body. Towards the end of the summer, the cold water began to freeze. So the whales swam south to warmer ocean waters. 

               After the baby humpback whale was born, the mother would make sure that he would stay near her. This is why baby whales usually swim right by their mother's fin, because the mother's fin can help them navigate and stay close to them. Just like humans, whales need to breathe fresh air. They do this through 2 breathing holes at the top of their heads. These 2 breathing holes are called blowholes. Sometimes people have seen whales spray shooting water from their blowholes. This is called sprouting. Some sprouts shoot as high as 25 feet into the air! 

              Although these mammals may be gigantic creatures, they have some similarities with us.   

Definitions

enormous- description of something big.

mammals- warm-blooded animal that nourishes their young with their own milk.

fin- a part of an animal that is usually located at the end of its body. 

blowhole- a breathing hole animals have to breathe out of. 

sprouting-  when whales blow out old air from its lungs. 

gigantic- description of a huge size of something. 

Past Tense Verbs

Past tense verbs are verbs that describes an action done in the past. Ex: to eat, ate. 

Directions: There is a past tense verb in each sentence. Fill in the blank of each past tense verb and write its original present tense verb. 

1.  All summer this mother whale swam in the cold waters of the Pacific Ocean.

_______________    ______________

2. Her baby grew inside her body.

_________     ____________

3. The cold water began to freeze.

________       _________

4. The baby humpback whale was born.

________      __________