Dolphins are some of the most talented swimmers in the ocean. Some species can reach more than 20 miles (32 kilometers) per hour at top speed. The best human swimmers max out at around 5 mph (8 kph)! Like an acrobat, dolphins can make twirling leaps into the air. Top spinners twirl up to seven times before they splash back down!
Back to Teacher View
Student View
Shutterstock.com (dolphins); JUAN BARRETO/AFP via Getty Images (hummingbird)
Would You Rather Be a Super Swimmer or a Fancy Flier?
Read each section, then decide!
By Mara Grunbaum
From the October/November 2026 Issue
Learning Objective: Students will use information about dolphins and hummingbirds to support an argument.
Standards
A Super Swimmer
Shutterstock.com
A bottlenose dolphin and calf
Cool Moves
How It Works
Dolphins are built for super-efficient swimming. Their long, smooth bodies help them glide through water the way a fighter jet cuts through air. Instead of arms and legs, dolphins have fins. To propel themselves forward, they repeatedly move their wide, flat tail fins up and down. Strong muscles control their side fins, which they use to steer.
What’s the Catch?
Dolphins are mammals like us. They breathe air through their lungs; they can’t breathe underwater like fish do. Dolphins usually surface every few minutes to fill their lungs with air. If you were a dolphin, you wouldn’t be able to sleep the way you’re used to. Only one eye would close and half of your brain would rest at a time. The other half would stay awake to control swimming, making sure you didn’t drown!
A Fancy Flier
JUAN BARRETO/AFP via Getty Images
A hummingbird
Cool Moves
Most birds can only fly forward, but hummingbirds can also move backward, up and down, or side to side. They can hover in place, appearing as if they’re perfectly still while sipping nectar from a flower. But don’t be fooled—their wings are beating roughly 60 times per second! They can flit around at more than 50 miles (80 kilometers) per hour.
How It Works
Most birds flap their wings up and down to fly. But hummingbirds beat theirs in a figure eight pattern. Some species can do this hundreds of times per second. They angle their wings to zip in any direction they please. Their powerful flight muscles make up about one-third of their weight. But these birds are ultralight; the smallest is only as heavy as a penny.
What’s the Catch?
Fancy flying takes a lot of energy. If you were a hummingbird, you’d need to constantly eat. To fuel their busy bodies, hummingbirds need to feed at 1,000 to 2,000 flowers every day. They take in about 12 times their body weight in nectar. That’s like a human eating 275 burgers a day!
What does your class think?
Which ability would
you rather have?
Which ability would
you rather have?
Which ability would
you rather have?
0%
0votes
{{result.answer}}
Total Votes: 0
Games
(1)
Activities
(2)
Skills Activities
Answer Key
(1)
Text-to-Speech