October 8, 2014
There was a disturbing story in the news last week, when a satellite survey discovered that 35,000 walruses had hauled themselves up on a beach in Alaska.
In this aerial photo taken on Sept. 27, 2014, provided by NOAA, some 35,000 walruses gather on the shore near Point Lay, Alaska. (AP Photo/NOAA, Corey Accardo)
Chadwick Jay, a research ecologist and leader of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Pacific walrus research program, said: "The area’s summer sea ice vanished by mid-September, leaving the walruses with nowhere in the Chukchi Sea to rest between their dives to the seafloor for food." These animals usually rest on ice floating in the ocean, but if there is no ice available, they head for land. This huge gathering, larger than any seen before, is most likely due to the loss of sea ice in the summer due to the warming climate.
Since today is Writing Wednesday, we’ve decided to re-run a previous story about the effect of global warming on another Arctic animal, the polar bear.
This week, we are asking you to read an excerpt from Seymour Simon’s book GLOBAL WARMING, research your own facts and explain in your own words the point that he is making.
From GLOBAL WARMING, by Seymour Simon:Global warming has changed the feeding patterns and behaviors of polar bears, walruses, seals and whales. It may even impact their surval.
Polar bears live only in the Arctic. They are completely dependent on the sea ice for all their life needs. In the winter, females give birth to cubs. The mother polar bear eats little or no food during the winter.
As spring approaches, the bear family makes a run onto the sea ice to feed on seals, their main source of food. If the ice melts, their food supply will be cut off and this will impact their survival.
Your assignment: Can you find facts to support what Seymour Simon is saying on this page? Use other books in your library, articles about global warming from Seymour’s blog, or other Internet sources to learn about the melting of the Arctic ice. Write a few paragraphs that use your own words and information that you have found to either argue for or against the idea that the survival of polar bears is threatened by the melting of the Arctic ice.
When you are finished writing, click on the yellow "Comments" at the bottom of this post to enter your writing!
Note to Educators: Today’s Writing Wednesday exercise is designed to use in support of CCSS Writing Anchor Standard #1: Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
Posted by: Liz Nealon
