Activity:  Examine details of seal biology.

Pre-Activity:  Homework on how toxins get into marine mammals (mainly through the food web).

Do Now:  Make a list of common behaviors of animals.

Aim:  What do we need to know about seals to help them thrive in our region.

Major Assignment:  Examine seal taxonomy via DNA maps.

Processes, Skills, Goals:  Vocabulary of biology and processes that affect them.

Content:  Seal taxonomy and DNA maps.

Instructions: Lead students to create a list of common aspects of living organisms, marine animals, and marine mammals.  Encourage them to desire a classification system to streamline the process, then introduce it.

Materials: notes and visuals on the classification of animals, specifically the link between wolves and seals, including map of taxonomy based on DNA. 

Guiding Questions:  What are our arms called?  Fingers? Toes?  How about a seals?  Do they have faces?  What makes them mammals?  Do they smell?  Hear?  Taste?  Feel?  What do you think is the origin of the word mammals?How are organisms classified into groups?

Homework: Make a list of all of the organisms you come across in today and night and place them in their taxonomical location on the tree of life.