Lesson Plan: Improving Our Wildlife Will Improve Our Lives
II. While Reading Activities
Word Inference
- reindeer |ˈrānˌdir| noun (plural same or reindeers) a deer of the tundra and subarctic regions of Eurasia and North America, both sexes of which have large branching antlers. Most Eurasian reindeer are domesticated and used for drawing sleds and as a source of milk, flesh, and hide.
- *The Sámi herders (/ˈsɑːmi/; also spelled Sami or Saami) are an indigenous people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland…heir best-known means of livelihood is semi-nomadic reindeer herding.
- gorge |ɡôrj| verb [no object] eat a large amount greedily; fill oneself with food: the river comes alive during March when fish gorge on caddisworms | we used to go to all the little restaurants there and gorge ourselves.
- ecologist |ēˈkäləjəst| noun an expert in or student of ecology: a German ecologist studying the river habitat. ecology |ēˈkäləjē| noun
- 1 the branch of biology that deals with the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings.
- overtake |ˌōvərˈtāk| verb (past overtook; past participle overtaken) [with object] 1 catch up with and pass while traveling in the same direction: the driver overtook a line of vehicles.
- lichen |ˈlīkən| noun 1 a simple slow-growing plant that typically forms a low crustlike, leaflike, or branching growth on rocks, walls, and trees.Answer Key:Improving Our Wildlife Environment:…even Butterflies
- viaduct |ˈvīəˌdəkt| noun a long bridge like structure, typically a series of arches, carrying a road or railroad across a valley or other low ground.
- canopy |ˈkanəpē| noun (plural canopies)• [in singular] the uppermost trees or branches of the trees in a forest, forming a more or less continuous layer of foliage: monkeys spend hours every day sitting high in the canopy.
- avert |əˈvərt| verb [with object] 2 prevent or ward off (an undesirable occurrence): talks failed to avert a rail strike.
Sources:
New Oxford American Dictionary
*Wikipedia
Grammar Focus: Identifying Prepositions
It is hoped the crossings will allow herders to find fresh grazing lands and alleviate traffic jams, and also help moose and lynx to move around the landscape. The country’s 4,500 Sami herders and 250,000 reindeer have been hit hard by the climate crisis, battling forest fires in the summer and freezing rain in the winter that hides lichen below impenetrable sheets of ice… In southern California, there have been signs of inbreeding among lions in the Santa Monica Mountains because busy freeways around Los Angeles have isolated populations with low genetic diversity.
Reading Comprehension: Identify The Speakers
- Per Sandström, a landscape ecologist at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences who works as an intermediary between the Sami and authorities to improve the crossings.“During difficult climate conditions, these lichen lands can be extra important for the reindeer.”
- Mark Benson, a member of the human-wildlife coexistence team for Lake Louise, Yoho and Kootenay at Parks Canada. “When habitat is isolated, we can have impact on individual animals where they might not be able to find water or food. We can also have impact on the genetic diversity of populations.”
- Martin de Retuerto, director of conservation at Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust. “We’re woefully behind the rest of the world. In Europe, it’s become second nature in some areas.”
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