Reef Rescue

Reef Rescue: The Great Barrier Reef in Australia

Australia is often called "the land down under." That's because it lies in the Southern Hemisphere.

The hit movie Finding Nemo follows a clownfish that is scooped up from the Great Barrier Reef.

In real life, clownfish are among the thousands of colorful sea creatures that call the Great Barrier Reef home.

Stretching 1,250 miles along Australia's northeastern coast, the Great Barrier Reef is the longest coral reef in the world. A coral reef is a living underwater structure.

But these days, the Great Barrier Reef has found itself in trouble. Overfishing, pollution, and high temperatures are harming its health. That's why the government in Australia is trying to help rescue the reef.

Multiple Choice

According to the text, which of the following is a living underwater structure?

• a coral reef

• a coral polyp

• Finding Nemo

• Australia

Underwater Garden

While coral may look like a plant, it is actually made up of tiny sea animals. Those sea animals are called coral polyps.

As polyps die, they leave hard shells behind. Other polyps grow on top of the shells. Over thousands of years, they form a coral reef in warm water that is not very deep.

Multiple Choice

Read the following steps of How Coral Polyps Form a Reef, and fill in Step 2.

How Coral Polyps Form a Reef

Step 1: Polyps die

Step 2:

Step 3: Other polyps grow on top of shells

Step 4: Over thousand of years, they form a coral reef in warm water

• Polyps leave their hard shells behind

• Polyps shells dissolve completely

• Polyp shells are eaten by predator fish

Underwater Garden (cont.)

In many ways, the Great Barrier Reef resembles an underwater garden. Coral can be hard or soft. It forms in different colors and in strange shapes. Some coral looks like hardened brains. Other coral looks like fans and lettuces. The reef bursts with schools of tropical fish, darting among gaps in the coral.

Multiple Choice

Read this sentence from the text:

"The reef bursts with schools of tropical fish, darting among gaps in the coral."

What image does the author most likely want the reader to visualize?

• many fish quickly moving through the coral

• fish moving toward the center, or target, of the coral

• fish exploding when they come into contact with gaps in the coral

• structured, orderly groups of young fish without a clear path

Underwater Garden (cont.)

The reef supplies food and shelter to creatures living in and around the coral. Turtles, sharks, sea horses, and crabs are among its many inhabitants.

Open Ended

List and explain at least 3 ways that a coral reef is similar to a garden.

Helping Humans

While the reef is important to ocean life, it helps humans, too. People rely on the reef for both food and jobs. It also provides medicine used to treat disease. Each year, the Great Barrier Reef contributes about $975 million to the economy through tourism and fishing.

Multiple Choice

Read this sentence from the text:

"Each year, the Great Barrier Reef contributes about $975 million to the economy through tourism and fishing."

What does the author mean that the Reef "contributes" money to the economy?

• pays the economy

• makes money for the economy

• owes the economy

• costs the economy

Open Ended

List and explain at least 3 ways in which humans reply on the reef.

Stressed Out

Is it surprising, then, that the Great Barrier Reef is under too much stress? Fishing nets and ships break off sections and damage the reef. Air and water pollution are also doing harm. At the same time, warmer sea temperatures have caused coral bleaching on half of the reef. The high temperatures cause the coral to turn white, often killing it.

Multiple Choice

Choose the answer that best completes the sentence:

The warmer temperatures cause the coral to turn white, ________ the process is called coral bleaching.

• for example

• next

• so

• in conclusion

Reef Rescue

In an effort to help save the reef, the government has limited fishing to two-thirds of it. That plan increases the number of "green zones." Those are areas that are off-limits to fishermen and boats. However, tourists and researchers can still visit them. Many fishermen are upset about the plan because they rely on the reef for jobs.

Reef Rescue (cont.)

The Australian government says that its plan will help keep the reef safe from some threats. "It is very important that we give the reef proper protection for the future," said one government official. "The reef is Australia's greatest natural [treasure]."

Multiple Choice

The Australian government believes that if less people can access the coral reef, less damage will be caused. What sentence from the text supports this conclusion?

• “Each year, the Great Barrier Reef contributes about $975 million to the economy through tourism and fishing.”

• “Many fishermen are upset about the plan because they rely on the reef for jobs.”

• “In an effort to help save the reef, the government has limited fishing to two-thirds of it.”

• “While the reef is important to ocean life, it helps humans, too.”

Multiple Choice

What is this text mostly about?

• the causes of reef problems and possible solutions

• coral bleaching, which causes the reef to turn white

• overfishing and higher temperatures

• the history of tourism to the Great Barrier Reef

Open Ended

Why are people concerned that the reef is disappearing. What are at least two consequences if the reef is not rescued?

Multiple Choice

Bonus Question:

Why is Australia called "the land down under?"

• because it lies in the Southern Hemisphere

• because it lies in the Northern Hemisphere

• because it's under the world

• because it lies in the Western Hemisphere