2 C
SIUSLAW NEWS z WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2015
Manatees are the
state marine
mammals of Florida
© 2015 by Vicki Whiting, Editor Jeff Schinkel, Graphics Vol. 31, No. 6
In 1981 singer/songwriter
Jimmy Buffet and Bob
Graham, who was then
governor of Florida, started
the Save the Manatee Club
because manatees were put on
the international endangered
wildlife list.
n shallow salty waters and rivers, a large, slow-moving
creature swims and grazes. It is called a manatee. A shy and
very gentle herbivore, it is completely harmless.
For almost 50 million years, manatees have grazed the earth’s
tropical lagoons, rivers and bays. In Florida alone, there were
once thousands of manatees. But now there are less than
3,000 in Florida. They are in danger of becoming extinct.
All too often the people who like to go
boating in these same waters ignore the Caution signs.
Manatees get cut by the sharp propellers and many die
from these run-ins.
The warm, shallow waters where manatees live are
disappearing or becoming polluted. This loss of habitat is
another reason manatees are endangered.
On their website you can
watch manatees on their web
cam during the season. The
scars on their bodies identify
individual manatees.
ute s
ri b
da
rd
When manatees
accidentally eat trash left
behind by humans,they
can die. Help clean the
lagoon by finding all of
the things that don’t
nk
ts
belong.
: S
je c
a tt
Sta n
Manatees are mammals. To what
animal is the manatee related?
Complete the maze to discover
the answer.
.
Standards Link: Life Science; Living things depend on one another and the environment
for survival; the physical conditions of the environment can change and these changes
can be detrimental.
s
Li
by
You can also adopt a real
manatee through the club and
help protect those manatees at
one of three locations in
Florida. On registration you
get a full biography and a
picture of “your” manatee.
cie
n t i fi
c m eth o d s; S o r
t o
b
For more information go to
savethemanatee.org/coolstuff
and to adopt call
1-800-432-5646.
Standards Link: Life Science; Diversity and genetic variation
exist among organisms that share similar features.
Long ago, sailors told tales of lovely sea creatures called mermaids.
When early European explorers first saw manatees, they thought
they were mermaids. Christopher Columbus wrote in his log book
that they were not as beautiful as he had thought they would be.
Standards Link: Literary Analysis; Understand the origin and format of legends.
Find at least
five differences
between what
Pirate Pete
thinks he sees
and what is
really there.
Look through
the newspaper
for numbers
that add up to
the length and
weight of
manatee calves
and adults.
Standards Link: Math;
Compute sums.
… taking time to
appreciate the world’s
natural beauty.
Complete the grid by using all the letters
in the word WAVES in each vertical and
horizontal row. Each letter should only
be used once in each row. Some spaces
have been filled in for you.
Standards Link: Visual discrimination; Find similarities and differences in common objects.
Adult manatees eat over
Manatees come up for air
every
to
pounds of water
minutes.
Manatee calves are
plants each day.
feet (
are born and weigh about
to be about
about
meter) long when they
pounds. They grow
-feet-long and weigh
,
pounds.
Standards Link: Life Science; When the environment changes because of natural or
man-made forces some animals struggle to survive or become extinct.
MANATEE
GENTLE
GIANTS
DANGER
MERMAIDS
CALVES
TRASH
WARM
WATERS
SWIMS
SALTY
TEAM
CLEAN
FACE
TALES
Find the words in the puzzle,
then in this week’s Kid Scoop
stories and activities.
S R E T A W S G A V
G E F A C E I S T S
H E S D I A M R E M
S E N H N I L L E A
A T M T W A A V N E
R A S S L T A W E T
T N T C L E A N E S
D A N G E R E C L U
B M A I M S A L T Y
Standards Link: Letter sequencing. Recognizing identical
words. Skim and scan reading. Recall spelling patterns.
Animals in Sports
Dinosaurs have been
extinct for millions
of years.
Use the word extinct in a
sentence today when
talking with your friends
and family members.
I Met a
Mermaid!
Look at the sports pages of your newspaper.
How many teams are named for animals?
Why do you think each team chose that
animal name? If you were to name a team the
Manatees, what kind of sport would they play?
Finish this story.
ANSWER: Nothing. There are no alliators in the ocean!
Standards Link: Social science; Connecting current events to
students' lives.
EXTINCT
The adjective extinct
means to no longer exist.
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
The goal of the club is to
protect the habitats where
manatees live and reduce
manatee deaths due to human
interaction.