RCSD students learn about whale anatomy inside Whalemobile

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Students at the Rochester City School District School No. 23 got an up-close look at the inside of a whale on Tuesday morning.

The life-size Whalemobile is in town to give students a lesson on the anatomy of a humpback whale. Up to 25 students can fit inside for a 40 minute lesson on our impacts on the aquatic ecosystem.

“Instead of just doing the regular talking at kids about whales, they’re going to experience an actual lifesize whale,” said Kathryn Yarlett-Fenti, principal at School No. 23. “Where they’re going to learn all about whales but then they’re going to go inside the whale where there’s bones and there’s other things. They will sit down and do a lesson inside the whale. So it’s making learning come to life.”

The lesson began with an assembly, where Cynde McInnis spoke about her experience as a whale researcher, using videos and photographs. McInnis has led about 2,000 whale watch trips and educated people about the threats that whales face.

The Whalemobile travels all over the country every year. It has already visited Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. School No. 9, The Children’s School of Rochester No. 15, and Pinnacle School No. 35. It will make appearances later this month at Montessori Academy School No. 53, George Mather Forbes School No. 4, and Dr. Charles T. Lunsford School No. 19.