{"id":483816,"date":"2010-03-28T22:41:34","date_gmt":"2010-03-29T02:41:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/archives\/2571"},"modified":"2010-03-28T22:41:34","modified_gmt":"2010-03-29T02:41:34","slug":"teaching-life-science-with-children%e2%80%99s-literature-winter%e2%80%99s-tail-how-one-little-dolphin-learned-to-swim-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/483816","title":{"rendered":"Teaching Life Science with Children\u2019s Literature: Winter\u2019s Tail: How One Little Dolphin Learned to Swim Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"winters-tail-book-cover-image.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Winter\u2019s Tail: How One Dolphin Learned to Swim Again<\/a>, told by Juliana Hatkoff, Isabella Hatkoff, and Craig Hatkoff, is a heartwarming book that chronicles the amazing true story of Winter, a three-month old Atlantic bottle-nosed dolphin who lost her tail after becoming entangled in a crab trap.\u00a0 The book contains the actual photographs as Winter was rescued from Mosquito Lagoon (near Cape Canaveral) by Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute.\u00a0 She was then transported to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, a rescue, rehab, and release stranding center for marine animals.<\/p>\n

Winter\u2019s journey at Clearwater Marine Aquarium was not an easy one at first.\u00a0 But Winter persevered and eventually was able to swim on her own.\u00a0 The problem was her tail was so injured that it fell off.\u00a0 Without her tail, she swished her tail stump from side to side like a fish, instead of the up-and-down tail action of a dolphin.\u00a0 \u201cWinter had taught herself an entirely new way to swim!\u201d\u00a0 But her trainers were concerned this would damage her backbone.\u00a0 As Winter adapted to her new home & not having a tail, it became even more apparent that she needed to learn how to swim like a dolphin to avoid further injury and develop muscles properly.<\/p>\n

Luckily Kevin Carroll, a premier creator of prostheses, heard about Winter\u2019s dilemma and believe he could help.\u00a0 Working with a team of experts, and despite many obstacles, they were eventually able to create a new, innovative prosthetic tail for Winter.\u00a0 This new tail helps to keep her backbone healthy and her body flexible.\u00a0 It also resulted in these innovations crossing over to bring more advanced technology to prosthetics for humans.<\/p>\n

The book goes on to say that Winter and her visitors seem to have a special connection…<\/p>\n

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From children who have prostheses, to veterans who lost a limb fighting in a war, to one little girl who didn\u2019t want to wear a hearing aid until she met Winter, people saw how Winter learned to adapt and are inspired by her story.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Beyond all expectations, Winter has thrived and has become an inspiration to the disabled and able-bodied alike.\u00a0 Winter\u2019s inspiring story uses narrative writing and fantastic photographs to deliver an important message of hope, adaptation, friendship, and universal acceptance.<\/p>\n

Curriculum Connections<\/strong><\/p>\n

Winter\u2019s Tail: How One Little Dolphin Learned to Swim Again can be used to introduce and\/or enhance many of the life science Standards of Learning. Winter\u2019s ability to adapt to her new environment at the aquarium and to her prothetic tail can show the key concept of behavioral and structural adaptions when investigating how animals in an ecosystem interact with one another and the nonliving environment.\u00a0\u00a0 (VA SOL 4.5a)\u00a0 Looking at how the crab trap placed in the water by humans caused the dolphin to become entangled and injured can be an example of possible negative influences of human activities on ecosystems. (VA SOL 4.5f)\u00a0 Concepts of Winter\u2019s instinct and learned behavior can be explored.\u00a0 (VA SOL 3.4b) The student can investigate the physical characteristics (body coverings, body shape, appendages, and methods of movement) of the Atlantic Bottlenose dolphin and explore the importance of the dolphin\u2019s tail as an appendage that allows a dolphin to survive in the wild. (VA SOL 1.5b).<\/p>\n

Additional Resources<\/strong><\/p>\n