1 Teahers College Reading and Writing roj Reading Curriular Calendar Centers, Middle Shool, 2015-2016 Task One: Text Complexity Center You ll be reading an artile that teahes you how amazing the otopus is. As you read, you ll notie the artile talks about different parts of the otopus that are amazing. Easier texts have headings for eah new setion of an artile, Otopuses are amazing beause, Otopuses are amazing beause Now you have to reate your own headings in your mind as you read. When you see a plae for a heading, make a text box and we an talk later about what you d write in it. The author will also use a lot of sophistiated voabulary words, espeially about the otopus s body. Some will name body parts we don t even have. I ve highlighted some of those words not all. See if you an work to figure out what they mean the answers are in the text. Task Two: You ll be reading a text about the otopus. Look it over right now and see if you an disern what the main thing is that the author wants us to know about the otopus. What is the author s main laim? (They do and note together that the artile advanes the laim that otopuses are amazing.) Prepared for: Claire Lowenstein (CLowenstein@shools.ny.gov) Copyright 2018 Reading and Writing Projet. Page 1 of 21 In easier artiles, the text would ontain headings to help you see the parts of the text, the plaes where it swithes from talking about one thing to the next. In the texts you are reading now, you are left to note those shifts yourself, and to almost write little subheadings for eah shift saying what the artile will talk about. I an tell you this artile makes three main shifts. Can you look over your page - see if you an spot one of them and mark it. As you read, note these shifts, and write in your mind the subheadings you ould add. You ll also note that there are hallenging words. San the text, and see if you an mark a few. As you read, make sure you are learning about those words so that later, you an talk about the otopus using those words.
2 Task Three: Teahers College Reading and Writing roj Reading Curriular Calendar Centers, Middle Shool, 2015-2016 Will you get yourself ready to give your partner a text introdution? Look the text over and think about what the author seems to want readers to be learning about, what the main parts of the text seem to be, and what the hallenges will be that you two need to work on. Prepared for: Claire Lowenstein (CLowenstein@shools.ny.gov) Copyright 2018 Reading and Writing Projet. Page 2 of 21
The Amazing Otopus Adapted from a text by Anna Gratz Cokerille Of all the strange and wonderful reatures in the oean, one stands out. It is the amazing otopus. There are over 300 different types of otopus, and they an be found in every oean in the world! Bodies Like No Other The otopus has a body unlike any other animal. Its body, alled a mantle, is soft and shaped like a bag. The otopus an squeeze into very small spaes beause it has no bones in its body. Its eight rubbery arms are attahed to its head near its mouth. The otopus s arms are overed with sukers. The sukers help the otopus grab and taste things. The otopus an see very far distanes, but it annot hear anything at all. The otopus s body is amazing on the inside, too. The otopus has three hearts. Two of its hearts send its blood, whih is light blue, to its gills. Its gills are organs for breathing, and they re loated on two of the otopus s arms. The third heart sends blood to the rest of the otopus s body. Talents Like No Other The otopus has amazing ways to defend itself. When an otopus wants to move quikly to esape a predator, it an shoot out water to push itself bakwards. This is alled jet propulsion. Using this skill, otopuses an travel many miles. An otopus an also protet itself by squirting ink at a predator. The ink makes the predator beome blind and lose its sense of smell temporarily. Prepared for: Claire Lowenstein (CLowenstein@shools.ny.gov) Copyright 2018 Reading and Writing Projet. Page 3 of 21 Level 3
This makes it diffiult for the predator to trak the otopus one it has darted away. The otopus an hide from predators by hanging its olors to blend into its surroundings. The otopus an also esape a predator by breaking off its arm, swimming away, and then growing a new one later! The amazing otopus is also a predator. It hunts mainly at night. It has a varied diet, inluding snails, fish, turtles, small rustaeans, and even other otopuses. An otopus athes its prey by grabbing it with its arms. To kill it, the otopus bites its food with its tough beak and injets it with a poison so the animal an t move. Smarts Like No Other The otopus isn t just amazing physially. It s smart, too. Sientists have taught otopuses to learn shapes and patterns. Some otopuses in tanks have been seen playing games. They throw objets into urrents in the water, then ath them again. Researh shows that otopuses may have emotions, too. They an hange olor based on how they feel. Of all the animals in the sea, on land, or in the air, none is quite like the amazing otopus! Prepared for: Claire Lowenstein (CLowenstein@shools.ny.gov) Copyright 2018 Reading and Writing Projet. Page 4 of 21 Level 3 The otopus uses jet propulsion to swim away from predators.
An Animal Like No Other Adapted from a text by Anna Gratz Cokerille Of all the strange and wonderful reatures that live in the oean, one stands out above the rest. It is the amazing otopus. There are over 300 different types of otopus, and they an be found in every oean in the world! The otopus has a body unlike any other animal. Its body, alled a mantle, is soft and shaped like a bag. The otopus an squeeze into very small spaes beause it has no bones in its body. Its eight rubbery arms are attahed to its head near its mouth. The otopus s arms are overed with sukers, whih help the otopus grab and taste things. The otopus an see very far distanes, but it annot hear anything at all. The otopus s body is amazing on the inside, too. Along with its stomah and other organs, the otopus has three hearts. Two of its hearts send blood, whih is light blue, to its organs for breathing, alled gills, on two of its arms. The third heart sends blood to the rest of its body. When the otopus breathes out, the water omes out of the tube alled the siphon. The otopus has many amazing ways to defend itself from predators. When an otopus wants to move quikly to esape a predator, it an shoot out water out of its siphon and push itself bakwards. This is alled jet propulsion. Using this tehnique, otopuses an travel many miles. An otopus an Prepared for: Claire Lowenstein (CLowenstein@shools.ny.gov) Copyright 2018 Reading and Writing Projet. Page 5 of 21 Level 4
also protet itself by squirting ink at a predator, ausing it to beome blind and lose its sense of smell temporarily. This makes it diffiult for the predator to trak the otopus one it has darted away. The otopus an also esape predators by hanging its olors like a hameleon to blend into its surroundings. But, if a predator does manage to grab an otopus by the arm, the otopus has one more trik up its sleeve. It an break off its arm, swim away, and then grow a new one later! Meanwhile, the otopus is also a predator. It hunts mainly at night. It has a varied diet, inluding snails, fish, turtles, small rustaeans, and even other otopuses. An otopus athes its prey by grabbing it with its arms. To kill it, the otopus bites it with its tough beak and injets it with a poison that paralyzes it. Only one type of otopus, the Australian blue-ringed otopus, an kill a human with its poison. However, the otopus isn t just amazing physially. It s smart, too. Sientists have taught otopuses to learn to distinguish shapes and patterns. Some otopuses in tanks have been observed playing games. They throw objets into irular urrents in the water and then ath them again. Researh shows that otopuses may have emotions, too. Sientists believe that an otopus an hange olor depending on how it is feeling. An otopus is usually pale in olor when it is relaxed. It beomes brightly olored when it is angry or sared. Of all the animals in the sea, on land, or in the air, none is quite like the amazing otopus! Prepared for: Claire Lowenstein (CLowenstein@shools.ny.gov) Copyright 2018 Reading and Writing Projet. Page 6 of 21 Level 4
Fifth Grade: Of all the strange and wonderful reatures that live in the oean, one unique reature stands out above the rest. It is the amazing otopus. There are over 300 different types of otopus, and they an be found in every oean in the world! The otopus has a body unlike any other animal. Its body, alled a mantle, is soft and shaped like a bag. The otopus an squeeze into impossibly small raks and revies beause it has no bones in its body. Its eight rubbery arms are attahed to its head near its mouth. The otopus s arms are overed with sukers, whih help grab and taste things. The otopus an see very far distanes, but it annot hear anything at all. The otopus s body is amazing on the inside, too. Along with its stomah and other organs, the otopus has three hearts. Two of its hearts send blood, whih is light blue, to its gills, on two of its arms. The third heart sends blood to the rest of its body. When the otopus breathes in, water omes in through its gills and fills its body. When the otopus breathes out, the water omes out the siphon. One of the most striking harateristis of the otopus is the wide array of tehniques it uses to avoid or thwart its attakers. When an otopus wants to move quikly to esape a predator, it an expel water from its siphon and push itself bakwards. This is alled jet propulsion. Using this tehnique, otopuses an travel many miles. An otopus an also protet itself by squirting ink at a predator, obsuring its view and lose its sense of smell temporarily. This makes the fleeing otopus diffiult to trak for the predator. Using a network of pigment ells and speialized musles in its skin, the otopus an also instantaneously math the olors, patterns, and even textures of its surroundings. And if a predator manages to grab an otopus by the arm, the otopus has one more trik up its sleeve. This esape artist an break off its arm, swim away, and then grow a new one later with no permanent damage. Prepared for: Claire Lowenstein (CLowenstein@shools.ny.gov) Copyright 2018 Reading and Writing Projet. Page 7 of 21 This unique reature is also a noturnal hunter. It has a varied diet, inluding snails, fish, turtles, small rustaeans, and even other otopuses. An otopus athes its prey by grabbing it with its arms, sometimes using ink to disorient their vitims first. To kill its prey, an otopus bites it with its tough beak-like jaws and injets it with venomous saliva, paralyzing it. Only one type of otopus, the Australian blue-ringed otopus, an kill a human with its poison. Considered the most intelligent of all invertebrates, otopus brains are still a mystery that offers sientists the opportunity to study a unique kind of omplex intelligene. Sientists have taught otopuses to learn to distinguish shapes and patterns. Some otopuses in tanks have been observed playing games. They throw objets into irular urrents in the water and then ath them again. Another study found otopuses olleting oonut halves to use as tools, snapping the halves together when they were sared or wanted to hide. Researh shows that otopuses may have emotions, too. Sientists believe that an otopus an hange olor depending on how it is feeling. An otopus is usually pale in olor when it is relaxed, but beomes brightly olored when it is angry or sared. Of all the animals in the sea, on land, or in the air, none is quite like the otopus. They are mysterious reatures, and there is still muh to learn about these inredible animals.
Lessons from the Deep Adapted from a text by Anna Gratz Cokerille Prepared for: Claire Lowenstein (CLowenstein@shools.ny.gov) Copyright 2018 Reading and Writing Projet. Page 8 of 21 Level 6 Of all the strange and wonderful reatures that live in the oean, one unique reature stands out above the rest. It is the amazing otopus. "Mishief and raft are plainly seen to be the harateristis of this reature," Claudius Aelianus, a Roman natural historian, wrote at the turn of the third entury A.D. Humans have been athing and eating otopuses for hundreds of years, and yet their mystifying biology and intelligene ontinue to inspire and puzzle the researhers who study them. There are over 300 different types of otopus, and they an be found in every oean in the world. This ephalopod s unique body, alled a mantle, is soft and shaped like a bag. Boneless, the otopus an squeeze into impossibly small raks and revies. Its eight rubbery arms are attahed to its bulbous head near its mouth. Eah arm is nearly five feet long and overed with nearly 200 sukers, whih help to both grab and taste things. "Otopuses an bend their arms in every diretion," says biologist Jeff Christiansen of the Seattle Aquarium. "In order to move, they have to work musles against themselves beause they lak bones for the musles to pull on." The otopus an see very far distanes, but it annot hear anything at all. The otopus s body is amazing on the inside, too. Along with its stomah and other organs, the otopus has three hearts. Two of its hearts send blood, whih is light blue, to its gills, on two of its arms. The third heart sends blood to the rest of its body. When the otopus breathes in, water omes in through its gills and fills its body. When the otopus breathes out, the water omes out the siphon. One of the most striking harateristis of the otopus is the wide array of tehniques it uses to avoid or thwart its attakers. When an otopus wants to move quikly to esape a predator, it an expel water from its siphon and push itself bakwards, a proess alled jet propulsion. Using this tehnique, otopuses an travel many miles. An otopus an also protet itself by squirting ink at a predator, obsuring its view and ausing it to lose its sense of smell temporarily. This makes the fleeing otopus diffiult to trak. And if a predator manages to grab an otopus by the arm, the otopus has one more trik up its sleeve. This esape artist an break off its arm, swim away, and then grow a new one later with no permanent damage. The first line of defense, however, is to hide in plain sight. Using a network of pigment ells and speialized musles in its skin, the otopus an almost instantaneously math the olors, patterns, and even textures of its surroundings. Sientists are studying the amouflaging skin and pliable body of the otopus for insight into building resilient, soft resue robots that an fit into hard-to-reah plaes.
Prepared for: Claire Lowenstein (CLowenstein@shools.ny.gov) Copyright 2018 Reading and Writing Projet. Page 9 of 21 Level 6 Though the otopus is skilled in defense, it is also a noturnal hunter who enjoys a varied diet, inluding snails, fish, turtles, small rustaeans, and even other otopuses. An otopus athes its prey by snaring it with its arms, sometimes using ink to disorient its vitims first. To kill its prey, an otopus bites it with its tough beaklike jaws and injets it with venomous saliva, paralyzing it. Only one type of otopus, the Australian blue-ringed otopus, an kill a human with its poison. Considered the most intelligent of all invertebrates, otopus brains are still a mystery that offers sientists the opportunity to study a unique kind of omplex intelligene. Running on a deentralized nervous system, twothirds of whih is distributed aross its eight arms and away from the entral brain, sientists are not sure exatly how otopuses experiene the world. Though they are invertebrates, ephalopods exhibit affetive, ognitive, and behavioral traits one onsidered exlusive to the higher vertebrates. The European Union reently made the otopus an honorary vertebrate, to ensure they are legally proteted against "pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm." For example, sientists have taught otopuses to learn to distinguish shapes and patterns. Some otopuses in tanks have been observed playing games. They throw objets into irular urrents in the water and then ath them again. Another study found otopuses olleting oonut halves to use as tools, snapping the halves together when they were sared or wanted to hide. Researh shows that otopuses may have emotions, too. Sientists believe that an otopus an hange olor depending on how it is feeling, remaining pale in olor when it is relaxed, but beoming brightly olored when it is angry or sared. Furthermore, uriosity or malie is evident when an otopus doesn t just look at you, it stares you down or studies you. Sientists and aquarium staff tell stories of otopuses who torment and outwit them, lying in wait to ambush them or sneaking from their tanks at night to gobble fish from other exhibits. Aquarium staff need to be wary of ephalopods who beome bored, as some speimens have been known to break the monotony by eating their own arms whih tends to sare the kids. Some sientists even believe that individuals exhibit distint personality traits. Of all the animals in the sea, on land, or in the air, none is quite like the otopus. Some of the researh on otopuses remains ontroversial, but more and more researh on these startling reatures is onfirming key findings of their intelligene. There is still muh to learn about these mysterious and mishievous reatures.
Prepared for: Claire Lowenstein (CLowenstein@shools.ny.gov) Copyright 2018 Reading and Writing Projet. Page 10 of 21 Level 7 The Honorary Vertebrate Adapted from a text by Anna Gratz Cokerille Of all the strange and wonderful reatures that live in the oean, one unique ephalopod stands out above the rest. "Mishief and raft are plainly seen to be the harateristis of this reature," Claudius Aelianus, a Roman natural historian, wrote at the turn of the third entury A.D. Humans have been athing and eating them for hundreds of years, yet the mystifying biology and intelligene of the otopus ontinue to inspire and puzzle the researhers who study them. There are over 300 different types of otopus, and they an be found in every oean in the world. The term ephalopod omes from the Greek for head and foot, so it should ome as no surprise that these are prominent and important features. The otopus s body is omprised of two parts: the bulbous head and mantle, a musular organ shaped like a bag that serves as a protetive overing its internal organs. Boneless, the otopus an squeeze into impossibly small raks and revies. Its eight rubbery arms are attahed to its head near its mouth. Eah arm an be nearly five feet long and overed with nearly 200 sukers, whih help to both grab and taste things. "Otopuses an bend their arms in every diretion," says biologist Jeff Christiansen of the Seattle Aquarium. "In order to move, they have to work musles against themselves beause they lak bones for the musles to pull on." The otopus also has sophistiated hemoreeptors at the end of eah arm, whih help it to interpret its surroundings and avoid danger. In addition to these hemoreeptors that serve as eight noses, the otopus has keen eyesight, but it annot hear anything at all. An otopus also has startling internal strutures. Along with its stomah and other organs, the otopus has three hearts. Two of its hearts send blood, whih is light blue, to its gills, on two of its arms. The third heart sends blood to the rest of its body. When the otopus breathes in, water omes in through its gills and fills its body. When the otopus breathes out, the water omes out the siphon. One of the most striking harateristis of the otopus is the wide array of tehniques it uses to avoid or thwart its attakers. When an otopus wants to quikly esape a predator, it an expel water from its siphon and push itself bakwards, a proess alled jet propulsion. Using this tehnique, otopuses an travel many miles. An otopus an also protet itself by squirting ink at a predator, obsuring its view and ausing it to lose its sense of smell temporarily. This makes the fleeing otopus diffiult to trak. And if a predator manages to grab an otopus by the arm, the otopus has one more trik up its sleeve. This esape artist an break off its arm, swim away,
Prepared for: Claire Lowenstein (CLowenstein@shools.ny.gov) Copyright 2018 Reading and Writing Projet. Page 11 of 21 Level 7 and then grow a new one later with no permanent damage. The first line of defense, however, is to hide in plain sight. Using a network of pigment ells and speialized musles in its skin, the otopus an almost instantaneously math the olors, patterns, and even textures of its surroundings. Sientists are studying the amouflaging skin and pliable body of the otopus for insight into building resilient, soft resue robots that an fit into hard-to-reah plaes. Though the otopus is skilled in defense, it is also a noturnal hunter who enjoys a varied diet, inluding snails, fish, turtles, small rustaeans, and even other otopuses. An otopus athes its prey by snaring it with its arms, sometimes using ink to disorient its vitims first. To kill its prey, an otopus bites it with its tough beaklike jaws and injets it with venomous saliva, paralyzing it. Only one type of otopus, the Australian blue-ringed otopus, an kill a human with its poison. Considered the most intelligent of all invertebrates, otopus brains are still a mystery that offers sientists the opportunity to study a unique kind of omplex intelligene. Running on a deentralized nervous system, twothirds of whih is distributed aross its eight arms and away from the entral brain, sientists are not sure how otopuses experiene the world. Though they are asoial invertebrates, ephalopods exhibit affetive, ognitive, and behavioral traits one onsidered exlusive to the higher vertebrates. The European Union reently made the otopus an honorary vertebrte, to ensure they are legally proteted against "pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm." Cousins to brainless, passive lams and oysters, these reatures hallenge the long-held notion that intelligene developed in a linear way through inreasingly omplex organisms. Sientists have taught otopuses to learn to distinguish shapes and patterns. Some otopuses in tanks have been observed playing games. They throw objets into irular urrents in the water and then ath them again. Another study found otopuses olleting oonut halves to use as tools, snapping the halves together when they were sared or wanted to hide. Researh shows that otopuses may have emotions, too. Sientists believe that an otopus an hange olor depending on how it is feeling, remaining pale in olor when it is relaxed, but beoming brightly olored when it is angry or sared. Curiosity or malie is evident when an otopus doesn t just look at you, it stares you down or studies you. Sientists and aquarium staff tell stories of otopuses who torment and outwit them, lying in wait to ambush them or sneaking from their tanks at
night to gobble fish from other exhibits. Aquarium staff need to be wary of ephalopods who beome bored, as some speimens have been known to break the monotony by eating their own arms whih tends to sare the kids. Some sientists even believe that individuals exhibit distint personality traits. Of all the animals in the sea, on land, or in the air, none is quite like the otopus. Some of the researh on otopuses remains ontroversial, but more and more researh on these startling reatures is onfirming key findings of their intelligene. Yet, sientists marvel at the ruelty of evolution has left these animals with big brains and suh short lifespans to use them. Prepared for: Claire Lowenstein (CLowenstein@shools.ny.gov) Copyright 2018 Reading and Writing Projet. Page 12 of 21 Level 7
The Honorary Vertebrate Adapted from a text by Anna Gratz Cokerille Prepared for: Claire Lowenstein (CLowenstein@shools.ny.gov) Copyright 2018 Reading and Writing Projet. Page 13 of 21 Of all the strange and wonderful reatures that live in the oean, one unique ephalopod has fasinated humans for enturies, though it ontinues to esape our full understanding. While Aristotle famously alled them stupid, Claudius Aelianus, a Roman natural historian, wrote at the turn of the third entury A.D, "Mishief and raft are plainly seen to be the harateristis of this reature." Though humans have been athing and eating them for hundreds of years, the mystifying biology and intelligene of the otopus ontinue to inspire and puzzle the researhers who study them. Common otopus habitat is shown in red. There are over 300 different types of otopus, and they an be found in every oean in the world. The term ephalopod omes from the Greek for head and foot, so it should ome as no surprise that these are prominent and important features. The otopus s body is omprised of two parts: the bulbous head and mantle, a musular organ shaped like a bag that serves as a protetive overing its internal organs. Boneless, the otopus an squeeze into impossibly small raks and revies. Its eight rubbery arms are attahed to its head near its mouth. Eah arm an be nearly five feet long and overed with nearly 200 sukers, whih help to both grab and taste things. "Otopuses an bend their arms in every diretion," says biologist Jeff Christiansen of the Seattle Aquarium. "In order to move, they have to work musles against themselves beause they lak bones for the musles to pull on." The otopus also has sophistiated hemoreeptors at the end of eah arm, whih help it to interpret its surroundings and avoid danger. In addition to these hemoreeptors that serve as natural biosensors, the otopus has keen eyesight, but it annot hear anything at all. Their otherworldly forms and unfurling arms have inspired monsters and villains from the Kraken to Spider-Man s Do O. Yet, an otopus also has startling internal strutures. Along with its stomah and other organs, the otopus has three hearts. Two of its hearts send blood, whih is light blue, to its gills, on two of its arms. When the otopus breathes in, water omes in through its gills and fills its body. When the otopus breathes out, the water omes out the siphon. The third heart sends blood to the rest of its body; however, this heart atually stops when the otopus is swimming, explaining the reature s penhant for rawling. One of the most striking harateristis of the otopus is the wide array of tehniques it uses to avoid or thwart its attakers. When an otopus wants to quikly esape a predator, it an expel water from its siphon and push itself bakwards, a proess alled jet propulsion. Using this tehnique, otopuses an travel many miles. An otopus an also squirt ink at a predator. A ompound alled tyrosinase in the ink obsures the predator s view and auses it to lose its sense of smell and taste temporarily. This makes the fleeing otopus diffiult to trak. However, if an otopus does not esape its own ink loud, its defensive mixture is so potent, the otopus itself ould die. And if a predator manages to grab an otopus by the arm, the otopus has one more trik up its sleeve. This esape artist an break off its arm, swim away, and then grow a new one later with no permanent damage. The first line of defense, however, is to hide in plain sight. Using a network of pigment ells and speialized musles in its skin, the otopus an almost instantaneously math the
Prepared for: Claire Lowenstein (CLowenstein@shools.ny.gov) Copyright 2018 Reading and Writing Projet. Page 14 of 21 olors, patterns, and even textures of its surroundings. Sientists are studying the amouflaging skin and pliable body of the otopus for insight into building resilient, soft resue robots that an fit into hard-to-reah plaes. Though the otopus is skilled in defense, it is also a noturnal hunter who enjoys a varied diet, inluding snails, fish, turtles, small rustaeans, and even other otopuses. An otopus athes its prey by snaring it with its arms, sometimes using ink to disorient its vitims first. To kill its prey, an otopus bites with its tough beak-like jaws and injets venomous saliva that results in paralysis. Only one type of otopus, the Australian blueringed otopus, an kill a human with its poison. Yet, humans pose a greater risk to the otopus, as many ountries have overfished their otopus populations, leading to smaller athes and smaller otopuses. Otopus imported world-wide Value of imported otopus Main exporters Main importers Minimum weight for apture (European Union) 270,000 tons per year Over $900 million China, Moroo, and Spain Korea, Japan, Northern Mediterranean ountries 1.1 pounds Considered the most intelligent of all invertebrates, otopus brains are still a mystery that offers sientists the opportunity to study a unique kind of omplex intelligene. Running on a deentralized nervous system, two-thirds of whih is distributed aross its eight arms and away from the entral brain, sientists are not sure how otopuses experiene the world. Eah arm an move independently and an reat even after it s been ompletely severed. Though they are asoial invertebrates, ephalopods exhibit affetive, ognitive, and behavioral traits one onsidered exlusive to the higher vertebrates. The European Union reently made the otopus an honorary vertebrate, to ensure they are legally proteted against "pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm." Cousins to brainless, passive lams and oysters, these reatures hallenge the long-held notion that intelligene developed in a linear way through inreasingly omplex organisms. Sientists have taught otopuses to learn to distinguish shapes and patterns. Some otopuses in tanks have been observed playing games. They throw objets into irular urrents in the water and then ath them again. Another study found otopuses olleting oonut halves to use as tools, snapping the halves together when they were sared or wanted to hide. Researh shows that otopuses may have emotions, too. Sientists believe that an otopus an hange olor depending on how it is feeling, remaining pale in olor when it is relaxed, but beoming brightly olored when it is angry or sared. Curiosity or malie is evident when an otopus doesn t just look at you, it stares you down or studies you. Sientists and aquarium staff reount tales of otopuses who torment and outwit them, lying in wait to ambush them or sneaking from their tanks at night to gobble fish from other exhibits. Aquarium staff need to be wary of ephalopods who beome bored, as some speimens have been known to break the monotony by eating their own arms whih tends to sare the kids. Some sientists even believe that individuals exhibit distint personality traits. Some of the researh on otopuses remains ontroversial, but more and more researh on these startling reatures is onfirming key findings of their intelligene. Yet, sientists marvel at the ruelty of evolution, whih has left these animals with big brains and suh short lifespans to use them.
The Honorary Vertebrate Adapted from a text by Anna Gratz Cokerille Multiple lassial allusions assumes reader s bakground knowledge Text features inlude parenthetial information Of all the strange and wonderful reatures that live in the oean, one unique ephalopod has fasinated humans for enturies, though it ontinues to esape our full understanding. While Aristotle famously alled them stupid, Claudius Aelianus, a Roman natural historian, wrote at the turn of the third entury A.D, "Mishief and raft are plainly seen to be the harateristis of this reature." Though humans have been athing and eating them for hundreds of years, the mystifying biology and intelligene of the otopus ontinue to inspire and puzzle the researhers who study them. eah arm, whih help it to interpret its surroundings and avoid danger. In addition to these hemoreeptors that serve as natural biosensors, the otopus has keen eyesight, but it annot hear anything at all. Their otherworldly forms and unfurling arms have inspired monsters and villains from the Kraken to Spider-Man s Do O. Yet, an otopus also has startling internal strutures. Along with its stomah and other organs, the otopus has three hearts. Two of its hearts send blood, whih is light blue, to its gills, on two of its arms. When the otopus breathes in, water omes in through its gills and fills its body. When the otopus breathes out, the water omes out the siphon. The third heart sends blood to the rest of its body; however, this heart atually stops when the otopus is swimming, explaining the reature s penhant for rawling. Little support to determine the meaning of aademi voabulary Allusions to other literary haraters; sentene distrats from big idea of the paragraph Greater knowledge demands Prepared for: Claire Lowenstein (CLowenstein@shools.ny.gov) Copyright 2018 Reading and Writing Projet. Page 15 of 21 Common otopus habitat is shown in red. There are over 300 different types of otopus, and they an be found in every oean in the world. The term ephalopod omes from the Greek for head and foot, so it should ome as no surprise that these are prominent and important features. The otopus s body is omprised of two parts: the bulbous head and mantle, a musular organ shaped like a bag that serves as a protetive overing its internal organs. Boneless, the otopus an squeeze into impossibly small raks and revies. Its eight rubbery arms are attahed to its head near its mouth. Eah arm an be nearly five feet long and overed with nearly 200 sukers, whih help to both grab and taste things. "Otopuses an bend their arms in every diretion," says biologist Jeff Christiansen of the Seattle Aquarium. "In order to move, they have to work musles against themselves beause they lak bones for the musles to pull on." The otopus also has sophistiated hemoreeptors at the end of Level 8 One of the most striking harateristis of the otopus is the wide array of tehniques it uses to avoid or thwart its attakers. When an otopus wants to quikly esape a predator, it an expel water from its siphon and push itself bakwards, a proess alled jet propulsion. Using this tehnique, otopuses an travel many miles. An otopus an also squirt ink at a predator. A ompound alled tyrosinase in the ink obsures the predator s view and auses it to lose its sense of smell and taste temporarily. This makes the fleeing otopus diffiult to trak. However, if an otopus does not esape its own ink loud, its defensive mixture is so potent, the otopus itself ould die. And if a predator manages to grab an otopus by the arm, the otopus has one more trik up its sleeve. This esape artist an break off its arm, swim away, and then grow a new one later with no permanent damage. The first line of defense, however, is to hide in plain sight. Using a network of pigment ells and speialized musles in its skin, the otopus an almost instantaneously math the Additional sientifi voabulary Requires the reader to learn additional information
Additional information to onsider multiple sides of an issue Text features inlude parenthetial information that distrats from the main idea Prepared for: Claire Lowenstein (CLowenstein@shools.ny.gov) Copyright 2018 Reading and Writing Projet. Page 16 of 21 Information is layered more densely. Level 8 Level 8 olors, patterns, and even textures of its surroundings. Sientists are studying the amouflaging skin and pliable body of the otopus for insight into building resilient, soft resue robots that an fit into hard-to-reah plaes. Though the otopus is skilled in defense, it is also a noturnal hunter who enjoys a varied diet, inluding snails, fish, turtles, small rustaeans, and even other otopuses. An otopus athes its prey by snaring it with its arms, sometimes using ink to disorient its vitims first. To kill its prey, an otopus bites with its tough beak-like jaws and injets venomous saliva that results in paralysis. Only one type of otopus, the Australian blueringed otopus, an kill a human with its poison. Yet, humans pose a greater risk to the otopus, as many ountries have overfished their otopus populations, leading to smaller athes and smaller otopuses. Some ountries have lose fisheries for months to help otopus populations rebound. Otopus imported world-wide Value of imported otopus Main exporters Main importers Minimum weight for apture (European Union) 270,000 tons per year Over $900 million China, Moroo, and Spain Korea, Japan, Northern Mediterranean ountries 1.1 pounds Though they are onsidered the most intelligent of all invertebrates, otopus brains are still a mystery that offers sientists the opportunity to study a unique kind of omplex intelligene. Running on a deentralized nervous system, two-thirds of whih is distributed aross its eight arms and away from the entral brain, sientists are not sure how otopuses experiene the world. Eah arm an move independently and an reat even after it s been ompletely severed. Though they are asoial invertebrates, ephalopods exhibit affetive, ognitive, and behavioral traits one onsidered exlusive to the higher vertebrates. The European Union reently made the otopus an honorary vertebrate, to ensure they are legally proteted against "pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm." Cousins to brainless, passive lams and oysters, these reatures hallenge the long-held notion that intelligene developed in a linear way through inreasingly omplex organisms. Sientists have taught otopuses to learn to distinguish shapes and patterns. Some otopuses in tanks have been observed playing games. They throw objets into irular urrents in the water and then ath them again. Another study found otopuses olleting oonut halves to use as tools, snapping the halves together when they were sared or wanted to hide. Researh shows that otopuses may have emotions, too. Sientists believe that an otopus an hange olor depending on how it is feeling, remaining pale in olor when it is relaxed, but beoming brightly olored when it is angry or sared. Curiosity or malie is evident when an otopus doesn t just look at you, it stares you down or studies you. Sientists and aquarium staff reount tales of otopuses who torment and outwit them, lying in wait to ambush them or sneaking from their tanks at night to gobble fish from other exhibits. Aquarium staff need to be wary of ephalopods who beome bored, as some speimens have been known to break the monotony by eating their own arms whih tends to sare the kids. Some sientists even believe that individuals exhibit distint personality traits. Some of the researh on otopuses remains ontroversial, but more and more researh on these startling reatures is onfirming key findings of their intelligene. Yet, sientists marvel at the ruelty of evolution, whih has left these animals with big brains and suh short lifespans to use them. Central idea is impliit
An impliit argument or debate is introdued. Prepared for: Claire Lowenstein (CLowenstein@shools.ny.gov) Copyright 2018 Reading and Writing Projet. Page 17 of 21 Tehnial voabulary is introdued without explanation. This assumes the reader knows or will find out. Level 7 The Honorary Vertebrate Adapted from a text by Anna Gratz Cokerille Of all the strange and wonderful reatures that live in the oean, one unique ephalopod stands out above the rest. "Mishief and raft are plainly seen to be the harateristis of this reature," Claudius Aelianus, a Roman natural historian, wrote at the turn of the third entury A.D. Humans have been athing and eating them for hundreds of years, yet the mystifying biology and intelligene of the otopus ontinue to inspire and puzzle the researhers who study them. There are over 300 different types of otopus, and they an be found in every oean in the world. The term ephalopod omes from the Greek for head and foot, so it should ome as no surprise that these are prominent and important features. The otopus s body is omprised of two parts: the bulbous head and mantle, a musular organ shaped like a bag that serves as a protetive overing its internal organs. Boneless, the otopus an squeeze into impossibly small raks and revies. Its eight rubbery arms are attahed to its head near its mouth. Eah arm an be nearly five feet long and overed with nearly 200 sukers, whih help to both grab and taste things. "Otopuses an bend their arms in every diretion," says biologist Jeff Christiansen of the Seattle Aquarium. "In order to move, they have to work musles against themselves beause they lak bones for the musles to pull on." The otopus also has sophistiated hemoreeptors at the end of eah arm, whih help it to interpret its surroundings and avoid danger. In addition to these hemoreeptors that serve as eight noses, the otopus has keen eyesight, but it annot hear anything at all. An otopus also has startling internal strutures. Along with its stomah and other organs, the otopus has three hearts. Two of its hearts send blood, whih is light blue, to its gills, on two of its arms. The third heart sends blood to the rest of its body. When the otopus breathes in, water omes in through its gills and fills its body. When the otopus breathes out, the water omes out the siphon. One of the most striking harateristis of the otopus is the wide array of tehniques it uses to avoid or thwart its attakers. When an otopus wants to quikly esape a predator, it an expel water from its siphon and push itself bakwards, a proess alled jet propulsion. Using this tehnique, otopuses an travel many miles. An otopus an also protet itself by squirting ink at a predator, obsuring its view and ausing it to lose its sense of smell temporarily. This makes the fleeing otopus diffiult to trak. And if a predator manages to grab an otopus by the arm, the otopus has one more trik up its sleeve. This esape artist an break off its arm, swim away, Tuked in explanations, with tehnial voabulary, to explain hallenging words.
Prepared for: Claire Lowenstein (CLowenstein@shools.ny.gov) Copyright 2018 Reading and Writing Projet. Page 18 of 21 Layering of fasinating detail. Level 7 and then grow a new one later with no permanent damage. The first line of defense, however, is to hide in plain sight. Using a network of pigment ells and speialized musles in its skin, the otopus an almost instantaneously math the olors, patterns, and even textures of its surroundings. Sientists are studying the amouflaging skin and pliable body of the otopus for insight into building resilient, soft resue robots that an fit into hard-to-reah plaes. Though the otopus is skilled in defense, it is also a noturnal hunter who enjoys a varied diet, inluding snails, fish, turtles, small rustaeans, and even other otopuses. An otopus athes its prey by snaring it with its arms, sometimes using ink to disorient its vitims first. To kill its prey, an otopus bites it with its tough beaklike jaws and injets it with venomous saliva, paralyzing it. Only one type of otopus, the Australian blue-ringed otopus, an kill a human with its poison. Considered the most intelligent of all invertebrates, otopus brains are still a mystery that offers sientists the opportunity to study a unique kind of omplex intelligene. Running on a deentralized nervous system, twothirds of whih is distributed aross its eight arms and away from the entral brain, sientists are not sure how otopuses experiene the world. Though they are asoial invertebrates, ephalopods exhibit affetive, ognitive, and behavioral traits one onsidered exlusive to the higher vertebrates. The European Union reently made the otopus an honorary vertebrte, to ensure they are legally proteted against "pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm." Cousins to brainless, passive lams and oysters, these reatures hallenge the long-held notion that intelligene developed in a linear way through inreasingly omplex organisms. Sientists have taught otopuses to learn to distinguish shapes and patterns. Some otopuses in tanks have been observed playing games. They throw objets into irular urrents in the water and then ath them again. Another study found otopuses olleting oonut halves to use as tools, snapping the halves together when they were sared or wanted to hide. Researh shows that otopuses may have emotions, too. Sientists believe that an otopus an hange olor depending on how it is feeling, remaining pale in olor when it is relaxed, but beoming brightly olored when it is angry or sared. Curiosity or malie is evident when an otopus doesn t just look at you, it stares you down or studies you. Sientists and aquarium staff tell stories of otopuses who torment and outwit them, lying in wait to ambush them or sneaking from their tanks at Cyles bak to an argument introdued and implied earlier.
night to gobble fish from other exhibits. Aquarium staff need to be wary of ephalopods who beome bored, as some speimens have been known to break the monotony by eating their own arms whih tends to sare the kids. Some sientists even believe that individuals exhibit distint personality traits. Central idea is still embedded. Of all the animals in the sea, on land, or in the air, none is quite like the otopus. Some of the researh on otopuses remains ontroversial, but more and more researh on these startling reatures is onfirming key findings of their intelligene. Yet, sientists marvel at the ruelty of evolution has left these animals with big brains and suh short lifespans to use them. Prepared for: Claire Lowenstein (CLowenstein@shools.ny.gov) Copyright 2018 Reading and Writing Projet. Page 19 of 21 Level 7
Prepared for: Claire Lowenstein (CLowenstein@shools.ny.gov) Copyright 2018 Reading and Writing Projet. Page 20 of 21
Prepared for: Claire Lowenstein (CLowenstein@shools.ny.gov) Copyright 2018 Reading and Writing Projet. Page 21 of 21