Whale Scale: Using Comics for Visual Comparisons!

Esperanza, 3rd Grade | Science & Visual Art
Ms. Andrea

In Mr. Boone’s 3rd grade science class, students were learning about whales. Notably, we learned that the equivalent of our unique fingerprints, on whales, is located on their tails! Thinking about the vast range of sizes here—a giant whale and tiny fingerprints—we drew comics focusing on scale!

First we played a game to further explore scale: I’d draw a circle on the board, and the class had to guess what it was. But many things, from planets to golf balls, are circular! How could we tell just by shape, here a circle, alone? We couldn't! We needed clues; when I drew surrounding details, planetary rings or golf tees and grass, the students correctly, and excitedly, guessed the circular objects.

Then we drew our comics: first, a full page panel of a whale. On shore, for comparison, we drew very small people and buildings to highlight the nearby whale's massive size. In the next class, to compare a whale tail and human fingertip, we drew a small panel, or inset, that connected the two. There's no tool like comics to make visual comparisons!