Walk This Way

Overview: While on land, seals use their stomach and back muscles to help them move along keeping their front flippers to the side. Their back flippers drag behind them. Sea lions are able to bring their back flippers up under their body and use them, together with their front flippers, to help them scoot along the ground.

This lesson is part of a series. Select this text to learn more about the series and how to extend its usefulness, or proceed directly to a list and summary of related mammal activities.

Subjects: Science and Movement

Grades: 1-3

Length: Quick

Special Set-Up:
Smooth, open space such as a hallway or classroom floor

Procedures:
1. Provide students with information on seal and seal lion movement. Refer to content information in this guide on how they move differently on land.
2. First, have students move like a land mammal, such as a cat or dog. This will most likely resemble crawling. Then, have students move like a seal across a smooth, slick floor. They should rock their bodies to use their stomach to move forward, keeping their arms at their sides to help only a little. Legs shouldn't be used at all, but should drag behind them.
3. Next have students move like a sea lion. They will use their arms to push their bodies along the floor and can also bend their knees and use their legs to help with movement.

4. Once students have tried each movement, consider doing some of the following activities:
- Take a class vote on which animal would move faster on land.
- Have a race between a “seal” and a “sea lion”.
- Play “Mother May I?” with seal and sea lion steps.