Unit 12 Climate Change Wipes Out Frogs
Let’s talk What is the difference between weather and climate? What is the climate like where you live? How is it different from other parts of the world? Reading Scan the texts on this page and the next. • Global warming is an increase in the Earth’s temperature. What do you think might happen if the Earth gets warmer? CLIMATE CHANGE WIPES OUT FROGS By our science correspondent According to scientists, global warming has caused a deadly fungus to spread amongst frogs. The fungus has killed many frogs in Central and South America where it has entirely destroyed some species.
Headline
Introductory sentence
Earth gets hotter, warmer conditions are created which are ideal for the growth and spread of the fungus.” The scientist reported that 30 per cent of all amphibians are endangered. He said that harlequin frogs and golden toads are most severely affected by the fungus. He explained that they had measured the effect of the fungus on frogs that live on tropical mountains. They had discovered that frogs which live at the tops and bottoms of mountains, where temperatures are cooler, survived better than frogs that live in the middle where it’s warmer. This research shows the connection between temperature and the frog- killing fungus. It has provided one more piece of evidence that global warming could have a catastrophic effect on wildlife.
What
Where and when
At an international conference last week, a scientist explained, “As the
How and why
Conclusion
The golden toad has been declared extinct as a result of the killer fungus.
• Let’s talk: Weather is what happens in one place at a particular time. Climate is the average weather over many years. Weather can change in an hour; climate takes hundreds of years to change. • Discuss cause and effect. Have students copy and complete Graphic organiser 8 on page 167. • Ask students which pieces of information they think are most important to check if they can assess the relative importance of ideas in the passage.
134
Made with FlippingBook Learn more on our blog