1. Teacher Guide
This lesson is designed to teach kids to ask a critical thinking question that you can’t just put into a search box to solve. To do that, we encourage them with smaller questions that search can help them answer. Make sure that you read the notes for each slide: they not only give you teaching tips but also provide answers and hints so you can help the kids if they are having trouble.
Remember, you can always send feedback to the Bing in the Classroom team at You can learn more about the program at bing.com/classroom and follow the daily lessons on our Partners In Learning site.
Want to extend today’s lesson? Consider using Skype in the Classroom to arrange for your class to chat with another class in today’s location. And if you are using Windows 8, you can also use the Bing apps to learn more about this location and topic; the Travel and News apps in particular make great teaching tools.
Alice Keeler is a mother of 5 and a teacher in Fresno, California. She has her B.A in Mathematics, M.S. in Educational Media Design and Technology and is currently working on a doctorate in Educational Technology with an emphasis in games and simulations. EdTech speaker, blogger, and presenter. Founder of coffeeEDU, a 1 hour conference event for educators. New Media Consortium Horizon report advisory panel member. High school math teacher for 14 years. Currently teaching pre-service teachers curriculum, instruction and technology at California State University Fresno. Teaches online for Fresno Pacific University in the Masters in Educational Technology. Passionate that kids are not failures, researches gamification in education to increase student motivation.
This lesson is designed to teach the Common Core State Standard: English Language Arts
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W E Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.

2. What advantages and disadvantages are there to keeping Orca whales in captivity?
© Steven Kazlowski/SuperStock
Having this up as kids come in is a great settle down activity. You can start class by asking them for thoughts about the picture or about ideas on how they could solve the question of the day.

3. What advantages and disadvantages are there to keeping Orca whales in captivity?
Orcas, or, killer whales, continue to surprise and intrigue scientists who study them. It’s believed that there are at least three distinct types of orca – diverse enough that some marine biologists consider them different subspecies and perhaps even different species altogether.
Much of the distinction between orca types comes from size, social behavior, diet, coloration, and the shape and angle of the white or cream-colored eye patch that’s so distinctive on all specimens.
As far as the “killer” moniker goes, it’s rare for these highly intelligent marine mammals to attack humans. However, they are alpha predators with sophisticated and unrelenting hunting techniques that have been observed for centuries.
Depending on time, you can either have students read this silently to themselves, have one of them read out loud, or read it out loud yourself.

4. What advantages and disadvantages are there to keeping Orca whales in captivity?1
Web Search
What are the most common reasons for keeping Orca whales in captivity? 2
What benefits do people derive out of keeping whales in captivity? 3
What are the possible effects on the whales from keeping them in captivity? 4
How many times have Orca whales attacked humans in captivity, out of captivity? 5
Thinking
What is the least harmful way to keep a whale in captivity?
There are a couple of ways to use this slide, depending on how much technology you have in your classroom. You can have students find answers on their own, divide them into teams to have them do all the questions competitively, or have each team find the answer to a different question and then come back together. If you’re doing teams, it is often wise to assign them roles (one person typing, one person who is in charge of sharing back the answer, etc.)

5. What advantages and disadvantages are there to keeping Orca whales in captivity?5
Minutes
You can adjust this based on how much time you want to give kids. If a group isn’t able to answer in 5 minutes, you can give them the opportunity to update at the end of class or extend time.

6. What advantages and disadvantages are there to keeping Orca whales in captivity?1
Web Search
What are the most common reasons for keeping Orca whales in captivity? 2
What do people get out of keeping whales in captivity? 3
What are the possible effects on the whales from keeping them in captivity? 4
How many times have Orca whales attacked humans in captivity, out of captivity? 5
Thinking
What is the least harmful way to keep a whale in captivity?
You can ask the students verbally or let one of them come up and insert the answer or show how they got it. This way, you also have a record that you can keep as a class and share with parents, others.

7. What advantages and disadvantages are there to keeping Orca whales in captivity?1
Web Search
What are the most common reasons for keeping Orca whales in captivity?
(Possible Search Queries: ”Orca whales captivity” “Orca Whales reasons for captivity” )
Sources
National Geographic -
The main reasons for keeping Orca whales in captivity are for research to better understand how the animals behave and to boost and provide funding for conservation efforts and research. Another reason is for entertainment- corporations such as SeaWorld keep whales as means to entertain people for financial gain.

8. What advantages and disadvantages are there to keeping Orca whales in captivity?2
Web Search
What do people get out of keeping whales in captivity?
(Possible Search Queries: “whales captivity,” “benefits whales captivity” )
Sources
Wikipedia
Keeping Orca whales in captivity:
connects people and children to nature and provide them with the opportunity to learn about them and form a connection that they would otherwise need to go out into the ocean to receive
provides a way to study them
supplies a corporate entertainment industry

9. What advantages and disadvantages are there to keeping Orca whales in captivity?3
Web Search
What are the possible effects on the whales from keeping them in captivity?
(Possible Search Queries: "whales captivity” ,“whales captivity effects” )
Sources
PBS -
Effects on whales from captivity:
3 times higher mortality rate than in the wild
Whales in the wild have massive space to roam where as in captivity they are severely restricted. Whales are extremely social animals constantly with a group, but with the so much space to get away from them when needed. In captivity they have nowhere to go which causes them to become more aggressive both towards the other whales and towards humans.
Each group of whales in the wild has their own language, when put in captivity even with their own species they are not able to communicate because they are from different groups. Because whales are such social animals they can become depressed from the isolation of not being able to communicate with other whales.

10. What advantages and disadvantages are there to keeping Orca whales in captivity?4
Web Search
How many times have Orca whales attacked humans in captivity, out of captivity?
(Possible Search Queries: “Orca Captivity Killings,” “Orca killings” )
Sources
Wikipedia -
Wikipedia -
There have been 9 attacks from Orcas in the wild. (none resulting in death) The majority were accidental or occurred when humans were mistaken for sea lions.
There have been 41 attacks from Orcas in captivity. (at least 6 resulting in death) Most of these were purposeful acts of aggression. Some people believe that captivity causes an anxiety disorder that may lead to more aggressive behavior.

11. What advantages and disadvantages are there to keeping Orca whales in captivity?5
Thinking
What is the least harmful way to keep a whale in captivity?
(Possible Search Query: “whales in captivity”)
Sources
New York Times -
Students may include that the least harmful way to keep whales in captivity would be to keep them in a large netted area in the ocean. Students may also mention that orcas should be in their natural environments not as a part of the entertainment industry but held only as a last resort if releasing them to the wild would not work for the specific whale. Keeping them in the ocean can still provide a way to study and learn more about whales and also give people a connection to them in the least disruptive and/or dangerous way.

12. What advantages and disadvantages are there to keeping Orca whales in captivity?
This slide is a chance to summarize the information from the previous slides to build your final answer to the question.