Rise of the Octopus by Melanie Kletter

Rise of the Octopus by Melanie Kletter

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Vocabulary: cephalopods, adapt, marine, unique

Depth of Knowledge Level 1-2

1. Two things are taking a toll on marine animals?
2. Which 3 marine animals have increased in population in the past 60 years?
3. What do you call marine animals without a backbone?
4. Who is the scientist at the University of Adelaide, Australia, that says, “cephalopods’ unique traits are helping them”?
5. What can cephalopods do to their bodies?
6. For how many years can cephalopods live?
7. Why can cephalopods adapt to changing conditions than other marine life?
8. In which ocean, Pacific Ocean or Atlantic Ocean, do the cephalopods live?
9. Are the cephalopods found in warm tropic waters or frigid pole waters?
10. What eats the cephalopods?
11. How can cephalopod numbers decrease in the future?

Depth of Knowledge Level 3-4

12. What conclusion can be drawn about the cephalopod population taking over the oceans one day? (Target 1 & Target 8 Key Details)
13. Which sentence in the text best summarizes the central idea of the text?  Write the sentence and explain your reasoning.  (Target 2 & Target 9 Central Idea)
14. In the paragraph, “Taking Over the Oceans,” the author is talking about the cephalopods camouflaging into the environment.  What word did the author use in the text to represent that idea? (Target 7 & Target 14 Language Use)
15. What is the best reason the author/writer chose to end the article with a positive conclusion about the cephalopod population boom? (Target 6 & Target 13 Text Structure & Features)
16. What inference can be made about the authors/writers of the first article, “Earth’s Cleaning Crew” by Heather Price-Wright, and the second article, “Rise of the Octopus” by Melanie Kletter? (Target 4 & Target 11 Reasoning & Evidence)
17. How are the vultures and the cephalopods unrelated in being endangered species? (Target 5 & Target 12 (Target 5 & Target 12 Analysis Within or Across Text)
18. The cephalopods are predators while the vultures are not predators.  The two creatures face or will face the same human problem in the future.  Describe what that problem is or will be.  (Target 4, Target 11, Target 5 and Target 12)