Section One I-Do/Whole Group
- In this opening section, what important information does the author provide about qualities, characteristics, or features of lionfish?
Lionfish have a ferocious appetite and venomous spines. Lionfish often devour everything in their path. They eat native fish and mollusks. They have no natural predators in the new locations they have migrated to. They have high reproduction rates.
- What examples in this section use a cause/effect structure?
Group One: Someone likely dumped lionfish from their home fish tank into the waters off the coast of southern Florida and the effect of that has led to lionfish spreading up the Eastern seaboard and down to the Bahamas. These lionfish are now spread out far from their native waters of the South Pacific due to this human action.
Group Two: Another example: Because lionfish have no natural predators in the waters they have migrated to, and they reproduce at a high rate, they are now more common in the Bahamas than they are in their home waters of the South Pacific. Predators are not eating them and they are reproducing at a fast rate, so the lionfish population is exploding rapidly in these new regions.
- What does the phrase “natural predators” in paragraph four mean? Why is it important to understand this term in order to understand the author’s central idea?
A predator is an animal that lives by capturing and eating other animals and lionfish have no predators that live in the areas they have migrated to. Without natural predators to eat lionfish, there is nothing to naturally contain the rising population of lionfish. This information supports the author’s central idea in that his central idea emphasizes how challenging it will be to control this problem. Lack of natural predators is just one challenge in controlling the population.
Section Two: Exit Slip
We-Do/Group Discussion and Work Through:
Section Three- Lives Anywhere, Eats Anything
- What might the author mean when he states “In the South Pacific, predators and disease keep lionfish in check”?
2. What examples in this section use a cause/effect structure?
Independent You-Do: Answer the below questions using the assigned article “Incursion of the Lionfish” ensuring that you cite textual evidence for every response.
Section Four- REEF Reeling Them In:
- Why do scientists believe that man must be the one to find a way to keep lionfish in check?
- What are some of the ways REEF is helping reduce the lionfish population?
- What are the challenges associated with man’s work to reduce the lionfish populations?
- Based on the information in the text, what will happen to the natural inhabitants of the reef if lionfish are not contained?
- What example in this section uses a cause/effect structure?
Article as a whole:
1. How does the continued use of cause/effect structure help the author develop the central idea?