PAGES 8-9 FEATURE ARTICLE

 

OH BABY

Emphasis on: reading comprehension, motivation for discussion

Students read what it was like to witness baby turtles hatching on a beach.

Vocabulary preview: considered, authority, specialist

Word to teach: Teach the word "eagerly" in context as follows: Every year I wait eagerly for my birthday to arrive."

Discussion questions:

What do "turtle people" do? (They devote time to searching beaches for turtle nests.)

How do they decide to name a nest? (The nest is named after the person who discovers it.)

Why must streetlights be turned off along the coast during turtle hatching season? (Baby turtles are attracted to the lights and would crawl up the beach instead of into the ocean.)

How big are the hatchlings when they are born? (About one to two inches in length.) Why do seagulls begin diving onto the beach? (They are turtle predators.) How do the "turtle people" try to help? (They try to keep the gulls away from the baby turtles.)

Follow-up ideas:

1. Students can go to the Dolphin Log Web site (http://www.dolphinlog.org/creatures/turtles.htm) to learn more about turtles. 

2. Encourage students to keep a log of a local environmental adventure (observations at a local pond, stream or lake or even a marsh or beach.) Have them fill out the reproducible Log page at the end of this Teaching Guide.

 

PAGES 10-11 CREATURE FEATURE

MANATEES

Emphasis on: reading comprehension, motivation for discussion

Students read an article by marine-biologist Milton Love and learn about manatees.

Vocabulary preview: lolled, generating, inoffensive

Word to teach: Teach the word "recognize" in context as follows: "My sister is easy to recognize because she has bright red hair just like our mom."

Discussion questions:

What animal is the closest relative to a manatee (the elephant.)

Why do manatees like to swim close to power plants? (They like warm water so they swim in the warm currents generated by the power plant.)

What do manatees like to eat? (Sea grass and water hyacinths.)

If manatees only eat plants, why are they constantly losing and growing teeth? (Manatees also accidentally take in lots of sand and dirt when they eat sea plants and this wears their teeth down.)

Why are manatees in danger? (Many have been killed off in red tides. Others are killed in boating accidents as well.)

Follow-up:

1.  Explain to students that the little poem at the end of the article is a limerick. For fun, have students try writing their own limericks about manatees or any other sea creature.
2.  Students can go to the Dolphin Log Web site (http://www.dolphinlog.org/creatures/manatees.htm) for more information about manatees.

 

PAGES 12-13 ART ACTIVITY

DRAW LIKE WYLAND

Emphasis on: art skills

Students practice the basic shapes needed to draw a green sea turtle.

FollowUp Activity: Have students draw the basic shapes needed to illustrate a manatee, by using the manatee photos on pages 10-11 as a guide.

  Page  * 1  * 2  * 3  * 4  * 5  Reproducible

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