---
title: Whales by kind, the baleen whales: blue, fin, humpback, grey, right… — how Mova does on the tests · Biology
description: Lesson 312 of the biology course of Mova's primary school: 3 of 11 tests right, exam 2 of 4, every question with the options, the student's choice, the right answer and why it chose.
---

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# Whales by kind, the baleen whales: blue, fin, humpback, grey, right and minke

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**Tests:** 3 of 11 right · **Exam:** 2 of 4 right · **Kind:** plain · **Understood:** 10 of 15 · **Run:** 2026-10-18, commit `f3c23ea72`

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Lesson 312 of the biology course of Mova's primary school, as Mova's small model took its tests: it had read this lesson and the ones before it and learned from their exercises. Each test shows the options in the order the student saw them, its choice, the right answer, the score of every option and why it chose. The lesson itself, sentence by sentence with trees and pragmatics: [the lesson in the corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/312-whales-by-kind-the-baleen-whales-blue-fin-humpback-grey-right-and-minke/).

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Every question of this lesson and each of its options parsed by Mova, with trees and pragmatics: [the lesson's questions in the corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/312-whales-by-kind-the-baleen-whales-blue-fin-humpback-grey-right-and-minke/).

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### Test 1 · wrong ✗ {#t1}

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Count them: a whale-watching boat sees 3 humpbacks and 2 sperm whales blow at once. Sperm whales have one blowhole. How many blowholes are open?

- **1.** 5 — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** 10 — no support
- **3.** 8 — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **4.** 6 — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/312-whales-by-kind-the-baleen-whales-blue-fin-humpback-grey-right-and-minke/t1/)

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### Test 2 · right ✓ {#t2}

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Count them: 4 blue whales swim past. How many flippers and how many back legs do they have together?

- **1.** 8 flippers and no back legs — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score -2
- **2.** 4 flippers and 4 back legs — score -2
- **3.** 8 flippers and 8 back legs — score -2
- **4.** 16 flippers and no back legs — score -2

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score -2, tied with another option at -2 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 270, line 9: «Plesiosaurs were sea reptiles with four flippers that died out 66 million years ago; a fossil mother with a baby inside shows they gave birth in the sea.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. Against it: the same doer «four flippers» (-1); the same thing acted on «four flippers» (-1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/312-whales-by-kind-the-baleen-whales-blue-fin-humpback-grey-right-and-minke/t2/)

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### Test 3 · right ✓ {#t3}

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In Pinocchio a huge whale swallows a man and his boat whole. What would a real blue whale do?

- **1.** It would chew the boat into pieces with its huge teeth — score 0
- **2.** It could not; it feeds on krill and its throat is far too narrow — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 6
- **3.** It would swallow boats every day — score 6
- **4.** It would keep the man as a pet inside — score 4

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 2 with score 6, tied with another option at 6 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 7, line 2: «Almost all its life is in and around the sea: the Southern Ocean swarms with krill, tiny shrimp-like animals that feed whales, seals, penguins, fish and seabir…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same action «feed» (+2); the same circumstance (+1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/312-whales-by-kind-the-baleen-whales-blue-fin-humpback-grey-right-and-minke/t3/)

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### Test 4 · right ✓ {#t4}

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«whales eat all the krill, so kill whales = more fish for us, simple» What is the truth?

- **1.** True, krill grow faster with no whales — score 3
- **2.** Whale poo feeds the plants that feed krill, so fewer whales can mean less krill — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 6
- **3.** True, whales are the only thing eating krill in the whole ocean — score 4
- **4.** Whales do not eat krill at all — score 5

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 6, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 312, line 16: «Whales dive to eat and come up to poo, and their poo, rich in iron, feeds tiny floating plants near the surface, which feed krill; so more whales can mean more…», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: the same action «feed» (+3); the same doer «poo» (+2); the same thing acted on «tiny floating plants» (+1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/312-whales-by-kind-the-baleen-whales-blue-fin-humpback-grey-right-and-minke/t4/)

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### Test 5 · wrong ✗ {#t5}

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From a boat you see a spout shaped like a V. Which whale is it most likely to be?

- **1.** A fin whale — no support
- **2.** A minke — **← Mova's choice** · score 4
- **3.** A goldfish in a bowl — no support
- **4.** A right whale — **✓ the right answer** · score 4

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**Why:** It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 2 with score 4, tied with another option at 4 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 312, line 13: «The minke is the smallest of the big baleen whales, about 7 to 10 metres long, and is the whale most often seen near boats around Britain in summer.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+2); the same doer «minke» (+1); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+1). The right option, 4, scored 4. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/312-whales-by-kind-the-baleen-whales-blue-fin-humpback-grey-right-and-minke/t5/)

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### Test 6 · wrong ✗ {#t6}

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What would happen to a grey whale baby born in the icy Arctic instead of a warm lagoon?

- **1.** It would turn into a polar bear — **← Mova's choice** · score 2
- **2.** It would grow baleen faster — score 2
- **3.** Nothing at all, babies like cold best and grow faster — no support
- **4.** It would struggle more, being thin and losing heat in the cold water — **✓ the right answer** · no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 2, tied with another option at 2 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 311, line 16: «A mermaid's purse is the egg case of a catshark, skate or ray; curly tendrils at its four corners hold it to seaweed while the baby grows for months.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «grow» (+3). Against it: the same doer «baby» (-1). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/312-whales-by-kind-the-baleen-whales-blue-fin-humpback-grey-right-and-minke/t6/)

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### Test 7 · wrong ✗ {#t7}

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«mum, why's the fin whale's face two colours, is it ill» What is the best answer?

- **1.** It painted itself with mud to scare the boats away — no support
- **2.** No, its jaw is naturally white on the right and dark on the left — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **3.** Yes, it has a sunburnt side — no support
- **4.** Only old fin whales go two colours — **← Mova's choice** · score 7

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**Why:** It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 4 with score 7, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 298, line 13: «Camouflage is colours and shapes that help an animal hide, like a polar bear in snow or a leaf insect on a twig; some animals, like wasps, do the opposite and…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «bright warning colours» (+4); the same doer «animals» (+3). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/312-whales-by-kind-the-baleen-whales-blue-fin-humpback-grey-right-and-minke/t7/)

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### Test 8 · wrong ✗ {#t8}

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A fan company copies bumps from a whale's flipper. Which whale did they copy?

- **1.** The humpback — **✓ the right answer** · score -3
- **2.** The blue whale — **← Mova's choice** · score 3
- **3.** The grey whale — no support
- **4.** The minke whale — no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score 3, against -3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 312, line 5: «The blue whale may be the biggest animal that has ever lived, up to about 30 metres long; its heart weighs about 180 kilograms and on a dive can beat as slowly…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: a different doer (counts against) (+3); the same property (+1). Against it: the same thing acted on «biggest animal» (-1). The right option, 1, scored -3. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/312-whales-by-kind-the-baleen-whales-blue-fin-humpback-grey-right-and-minke/t8/)

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### Test 9 · wrong ✗ {#t9}

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«ugh whale with nits lol» What is true about right whales?

- **1.** The white patches are paint from ships — no support
- **2.** Whales catch lice from people on boats who lean over the side to look at them — score 2
- **3.** Lice only live on sick whales about to die — **← Mova's choice** · score 5
- **4.** Tiny whale lice live on its rough head patches, and the patterns help name each whale — **✓ the right answer** · score 5

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 5, tied with another option at 5 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 169, line 7: «Bowhead whales can smash through ice with their heads to make breathing holes, and they may live for over two hundred years; old harpoon tips from the 1800s ha…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «live» (+3); the same circumstance (+3). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). The right option, 4, scored 5. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/312-whales-by-kind-the-baleen-whales-blue-fin-humpback-grey-right-and-minke/t9/)

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### Test 10 · wrong ✗ {#t10}

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A child says baleen is just big teeth. What is right?

- **1.** No, baleen is keratin plates like fingernails, used as a sieve — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** No, baleen is made of shell — no support
- **3.** Yes, baleen is bone, like the tusk of an elephant or a walrus — no support
- **4.** Yes, they are teeth that fell out — **← Mova's choice** · score 3

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 41, line 13: «Children have 20 milk teeth, which fall out roughly from age 6 to 12; adults have 32 teeth if all four wisdom teeth come in, and a lost adult tooth never grows…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «fall out» (+3); the same property (+1). Against it: the same doer «20 milk teeth» (-1). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/312-whales-by-kind-the-baleen-whales-blue-fin-humpback-grey-right-and-minke/t10/)

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### Test 11 · wrong ✗ {#t11}

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Count it: a grey whale swims 18,000 kilometres a year for 10 years. How far is that?

- **1.** 1,800 kilometres — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** 180,000 kilometres — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **3.** 18,000 kilometres — no support
- **4.** 28,000 kilometres — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/312-whales-by-kind-the-baleen-whales-blue-fin-humpback-grey-right-and-minke/t11/)

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### Exam question 1 · formal language · right ✓ {#e1}

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Identify the material of which the baleen plates of a whale are composed.

- **1.** Keratin, the substance of which human fingernails are composed — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** Cartilage, the substance of which the human ear is composed — no support
- **3.** Enamel, the substance of which human teeth are composed — no support
- **4.** Calcium carbonate, the substance of which shells are composed — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/312-whales-by-kind-the-baleen-whales-blue-fin-humpback-grey-right-and-minke/e1/)

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### Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e2}

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Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the feeding method of the humpback whale.

- **1.** Individuals feed exclusively upon seaweed attached to rocks — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** Individuals capture seals upon the sea ice by stealth — no support
- **3.** Individuals pursue prey into rivers far inland — no support
- **4.** Individuals may encircle a shoal with a spiral of bubbles and ascend through its centre — **✓ the right answer** · no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/312-whales-by-kind-the-baleen-whales-blue-fin-humpback-grey-right-and-minke/e2/)

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### Exam question 3 · formal language · right ✓ {#e3}

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Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the annual movements of the grey whale?

- **1.** It travels some sixteen to twenty thousand kilometres, feeding in the Arctic and calving in Mexican lagoons — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 3
- **2.** It migrates overland between seas during the winter — score 3
- **3.** It remains throughout the year within a single bay — score 3
- **4.** It travels from the Arctic to the Antarctic and calves upon the ice — score 3

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**Why:** It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 3, tied with another option at 3 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 109, line 8: «A keeper never goes into the den of a dangerous animal like a tiger while it is there; the animal is first moved through slide doors, with two-step locks, chec…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+2); the same doer «animal» (+1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/312-whales-by-kind-the-baleen-whales-blue-fin-humpback-grey-right-and-minke/e3/)

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### Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e4}

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Ascertain the number of blowholes possessed by a baleen whale, and their nature.

- **1.** None, respiration occurring entirely through the skin of the back — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** Three, being organs for the emission of song — no support
- **3.** One, being a mouth for the intake of air — no support
- **4.** Two, being nostrils situated upon the top of the head — **✓ the right answer** · no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/312-whales-by-kind-the-baleen-whales-blue-fin-humpback-grey-right-and-minke/e4/)

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- ← previous: [311. Sharks by kind, small and strange: walking shark…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/311-sharks-by-kind-small-and-strange-walking-sharks-wobbegongs-cookiecutters-and-goblin-sharks/)
- next →: [313. Whales by kind, the toothed whales: sperm whale,…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/313-whales-by-kind-the-toothed-whales-sperm-whale-orca-beluga-and-beaked-whales/)
- ↑ back to [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/)