Community reviews for Whale FM

Many students, inspired by films such as the Free Willy series, Whale Rider, and Big Miracle are fascinated by whales and the beautiful, eerie clicks, whistles, and other sounds whales, porpoises, and dolphins use to communicate with one another. WhalesFM could serve as a the basis for at least several lessons within an oceanography unit and.or as part of a science project for individual students or small teams. Some students with particularly acute hearing and an ear for languages might find that they can really shine in such a project. The spectrogram offers another way for students to analyze sounds by looking at their wave forms. Demonstrating this connection by having students use their computer’s built-in microphone and a recording program (such as the free, open-source Audacity) can provide students with a basic understanding of how their own voice generates acoustic waves that can be measured. My main concern with the WhaleFM website is that directions on the site are rather sparse. Teachers will need to spend time with the interface ahead of time (or assign some savvy students figure it out for you!) I did not find a lot of support materials for this project on the Zooniverse website or its associated blog.