EXTINCT! A HELPING HAND RIO MOVIE STAR GONE FOREVER FRONT PAGE. Article Analysis

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1 Article Analysis FirstNews Issue September 2018 FRONT PAGE The stars of Rio and Rio 2 were Spix s macaws Getty. Rio pic: TM and 2013 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved. EXTINCT! RIO MOVIE STAR GONE FOREVER THE Spix s macaw the star of Rio is one of eight bird species that is almost certainly extinct in the wild, says a new study of endangered birds. The Spix s macaw became famous in 2011 when the animated film Rio was released. The film follows Blu s attempts to find the last female of his species, but the new report says that Blu was probably 11 years too late, as the last female in the wild probably died in Experts at BirdLife International say that the cryptic treehunter, Alagoas foliage-gleaner and poo-uli are extinct, and that four other species are highly likely to be extinct. However, the scientists say that some bird surveys are difficult to carry out. For instance, the Semper s warbler is only found on the island of St Lucia, but huge numbers of poisonous snakes and illegal drug plantations are some of the obstacles that prevent scientists from working there. Loss of habitat is behind a lot of these extinctions, as well as invasive species and diseases like malaria. Trapping for the pet trade is also to blame, and this is partly what wiped out the Spix s macaw. Although the species is extinct in the wild, there are around 80 individuals in captivity, so it s possible that some could be released into the wild in the future. Four of the extinctions occurred in Brazil, whereas most bird extinctions in recent centuries have been on islands. Our results confirm that there is a growing wave of extinctions sweeping across the continents, driven mainly by habitat loss due to agriculture and logging, says Dr Stuart Butchart, the lead author of the study. A HELPING HAND All seven marine turtle species around the world are classified as endangered or vulnerable. But thanks to conservation efforts, sea turtle numbers have stabilised and in some cases even gone up. Turkey is one of the most important nesting sites in the Mediterranean Sea for two of the seven species: the loggerhead turtle and the green sea turtle. Turkey has 22 beaches that are home to sea turtle nesting sites, and lots has been done to help protect the females and their nests. The WWF has been running a programme that sees staff and volunteers protect the nests, check for new hatchlings and rescue any babies that are unable to make it to the sea by themselves. Getty CONSERVATIONISTS have been working to save Turkey's green turtles.

2 Questions on: EXTINCT! & A HELPING HAND GLOSSARY Birdlife International a global partnership of international organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity. There are currently 121 Birdlife Partners worldwide one per country or territory. The WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) an international non-governmental organisation founded in 1961, working in the field of the wilderness preservation, and the reduction of human impact on the environment. Questions on: EXTINCT! Part A: Find and explain the facts A1. What does a new study of endangered birds say about Spix s macaw? A2. What made the Spix s macaw famous? A3. According to the experts at Birdlife International, which other bird species are extinct? Part B: Deduce and infer information B1. What is meant by the statement: Blu was probably 11 years too late? B2. Why are some bird surveys difficult to carry out? B3. Why is it significant that four of the bird extinctions occurred in Brazil? Part C: Analyse the writing and presentation C1. Look at the inset picture. What is the effect of the use of an image from Rio? Questions on: A HELPING HAND Part A: Find and explain the facts A1. Identify whether the following statements are true or false. Provide the correction if necessary. Statement True or false? Correction (if applicable) There are two marine turtle species. All of the marine turtle species around the world are classified as endangered or vulnerable. Turkey is one of the most important nesting sites in the Mediterranean Sea for the Alagoas turtle and the green sea turtle. A2. Which organisation has been running a programme to help conserve marine turtles? Part B: Deduce and infer information B1. Why are 22 of Turkey s beaches mentioned in the article? B2. Explain why sea turtle numbers have stabilised. Part C: Analyse the writing and presentation C1. How do the headline and the picture work together to create meaning? Part D: Writing task Write a blog for the BLOGS, NEWS, SUCCESS STORIES section of the WWF website in which you report on the work that has been done to save Turkey s sea turtles. Use the information to persuade your reader that the WWF is a charity worth supporting.

3 Questions on: EXTINCT! & A HELPING HAND GLOSSARY Birdlife International a global partnership of international organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity. There are currently 121 Birdlife Partners worldwide one per country or territory. The WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) an international, non-governmental organisation founded in 1961, working in the field of the wilderness preservation, and the reduction of human impact on the environment. Questions on: EXTINCT! Part A: Find and explain the facts A1. What does a new study of endangered birds say about Spix s macaw? A2. What made the Spix s macaw famous? A3. According to the experts at Birdlife International, which other bird species are extinct? Part B: Deduce and infer information B1. What is meant by the statement: Blu was probably 11 years too late?

4 B2. Why are some bird surveys difficult to carry out? B3. Why is it significant that four of the bird extinctions occurred in Brazil? Part C: Analyse the writing and presentation C1. Look at the inset picture. What is the effect of the use of an image from Rio?

5 Questions on: A HELPING HAND Part A: Find and explain the facts A1. Identify whether the following statements are true or false. Provide the correction if necessary. Statement True or false? Correction (if applicable) There are two marine turtle species. All of the marine turtle species around the world are classified as endangered or vulnerable. Turkey is one of the most important nesting sites in the Mediterranean Sea for the Alagoas turtle and the green sea turtle. A2. Which organisation has been running a programme to help conserve marine turtles? Part B: Deduce and infer information B1. Why are 22 of Turkey s beaches mentioned in the article? B2. Explain why sea turtle numbers have stabilised.

6 Part C: Analyse the writing and presentation C1. How do the headline and the picture work together to create meaning? Part D: Writing task Write a blog for the BLOGS, NEWS, SUCCESS STORIES section of the WWF website in which you report on the work that has been done to save Turkey s sea turtles. Use the information to persuade your reader that the WWF is a charity worth supporting.

7 Teacher Answers AIM OF THE NEWS COMPREHENSIONS: News reports are unique non-fiction texts. Being real, they naturally engage students, and with the range of topics that are covered, help to develop pupils knowledge and understanding of the wider world outside the classroom.the reports are ideal for short, focused comprehension or discussion activities. Along with the opportunity to find fascinating facts and appreciate the opinions of those involved, there is plenty to be inferred and deduced to understand in more depth what is being reported. Like authors, journalists play with language, so news stories are rich nuggets of text to investigate and provide the opportunity for literacy programmes. TEACHER ANSWER GUIDE: The teacher answers are intended to provide a guide to the reading skill each question is practising. Suggestions are given for a starting point for responses that students would be expected to give at the start of KS3. Further suggestions then give fuller, more developed responses that students will work towards by the end of KS3, in preparation for the non-fiction elements of GCSE English language. Questions on EXTINCT! Part A A1. What does a new study of endangered birds say about Spix s macaw? READING SKILL- Find and explain information It says that the Spix s macaw is one of eight bird species that is almost certainly extinct in the wild. Although, there are around 80 individuals in captivity, so it s possible that some could be released into the wild in the future. A2. What made the Spix s macaw famous? READING SKILL - Find and explain information The Spix s macaw became famous in 2011 when the animated film Rio was released. The stars of Rio and Rio 2 were Spix s macaws. A3. According to the experts at Birdlife International, which other bird species are extinct? READING SKILL - Find and explain information Experts at Birdlife International say that the cryptic treehunter, Alagoas foliage-gleaner and poo-uli are extinct. They also say that four other species are highly likely to be extinct. Part B B1. What is meant by the statement: Blu was probably 11 years too late? READING SKILL- Infer information and justify with evidence from the text Blu is the male Spix macaw in Rio and the first film follows his attempts to find the last female of the species. However, the film was released in 2011 and according to the new report, the last female Spix macaw in the wild probably died in Therefore, if Blu was looking for a female Spix macaw in the wild in 2011 then he was probably 11 years too late! The adverb probably is used in the statement because bird surveys can be difficult to carry out. Therefore, although it is most likely that the last female in the wild died in 2000 and that the whole species is now extinct in the wild, there is a tiny margin of doubt. B2. Why are some bird surveys difficult to carry out? READING SKILL - Infer information and justify with evidence from the text Some bird surveys are difficult to carry out because of the environment in which the birds live. For example, the Semper s warbler is only found on the island of St Lucia. However, there are huge numbers of poisonous snakes and illegal drug plantations on the island, and thus it is very difficult for scientists to access the area in order to conduct a bird survey.

8 B3. Why is it significant that four of the bird extinctions occurred in Brazil? READING SKILL - Infer information based on own knowledge It is significant that four of the extinctions occurred in Brazil because most bird extinctions in recent centuries have been on islands. It is more common for extinctions to occur on islands because the native species there tend to evolve without natural predators. Therefore, when an invader does arrive, they are defenceless. The fact that so many extinctions have occurred in Brazil is worrying because the species on a mainland are usually more resilient. According to the new study, loss of habitat is behind a lot of these extinctions, as well as invasive species and diseases like malaria. Indeed, Dr Stuart Butchart, the lead author of the study blames agriculture and logging. Part C C1. Look at the inset picture. What is the effect of the use of an image from Rio? READING SKILL - Identify benefits of text organisation and presentation -simple comment Developed response-detailed explanation of the effect of the inset picture. Rio is a well-known film and the fact that there is a sequel is testament to its popularity. Therefore, readers are likely to be familiar with the characters from the film and to recognise them in the inset picture. In the film, the animated Spix s macaws have very definite personalities and the members of the audience are willing them to succeed in their fight against extinction. The real Spix macaws in the main picture look so similar to Blu and Jewel that it is hard to tell the difference at a glance. This helps the reader to associate the real birds with the characters from the film and it might make them take more of an interest in the plight of the species. Questions on A HELPING HAND Part A A1. Identify whether the following statements are true or false. Provide the correction if necessary. READING SKILL - Find and explain information - Some statements correctly identified as true or false. Developed response - All statements correctly identified as true or false and the correction made if applicable. Statement True or Correction (if applicable) false? There are two marine turtle species. False There are seven marine turtle All of the marine turtle species around the world are classified as endangered or vulnerable. Turkey is one of the most important nesting sites in the Mediterranean Sea for the Alagoas turtle and the green sea turtle. True False species around the world. Turkey is one of the most important nesting sites in the Mediterranean Sea for the loggerhead turtle and the green sea turtle. A2. Which organisation has been running a programme to help conserve marine turtles? READING SKILL - Find and explain information Expected response The WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) has been running a programme to help conserve marine turtles in Turkey. Part B B1. Why are 22 of Turkey s beaches mentioned in the article? READING SKILL - Infer information and justify with evidence from the text 22 of Turkey s beaches are mentioned in the article because they are home to sea turtle nesting sites. That is a high number of beaches containing nests and thus it supports the assertion that for marine turtles, Turkey is one of the most important nesting sites in the Mediterranean Sea. Through the use of the figure, there is the implication that the WWF were right to concentrate their conservation efforts in Turkey.

9 B2. Explain why sea turtle numbers have stabilised. READING SKILL - Infer information and justify with evidence from the text Sea turtle numbers have stabilised - and in some cases gone up - because of the conservation efforts of the WWF. This is because a lot has been done to protect the females and their nests. Staff and volunteers have been guarding them. They have also been checking for new hatchlings and rescuing any babies unable to make it to the sea by themselves. Part C C1. How do the headline and the picture work together to create meaning? READING SKILL - Identify benefits of text organisation and presentation - simple comment Developed response- detailed explanation of how the image and headline work together. If it had been written as a stand-alone headline then A HELPING HAND would have seemed too vague. It is a well-known phrase referring to assistance being given so in all likelihood readers will be familiar with it. However, there is no information about who is receiving the assistance or who is proffering it. However, the addition of the picture works well with the headline to make the meaning clear. The close-up of a hand with the tiny marine turtle shows that it is the creature that is being helped. It also shows that the phrase is being meant literally; the person is offering assistance using their hand! The fact that the headline is alongside the picture and not above it, also makes it serve more like a label or caption and helps the two to work together effectively. Part D- Writing task Write a blog for the BLOGS, NEWS, SUCCESS STORIES section of the WWF website in which you report on the work that has been done to save Turkey s sea turtles. Use the information to persuade your reader that the WWF is a charity worth supporting. READING SKILL - Develop personal ideas from reading news stories Turtle y fantastic news in Turkey! 14 September 2018 Marine turtles provide a vital role in marine and coastal ecosystems, and for some time we ve been blogging about the plight of these ancient mariners and calling for urgent global action to ensure their future. For our part, we at the WWF have been running a programme to protect the nests of sea turtles in Turkey, one of the most important nesting sites in the Mediterranean Sea. Staff and volunteers have been working tirelessly to keep the nests safe. They ve been guarding the nests. They ve been checking for new hatchlings. They ve even been rescuing any babies unable to make it to the sea by themselves. Turkey has 22 beaches that are home to sea turtle nesting sites and so, as you can imagine, it has been a mammoth task. We couldn t have done it without the dedication of our wonderful staff and volunteers. And we are delighted to be able to share with you some fantastic news about the progress that we ve made. Thanks to our conservation efforts, sea turtle numbers have stabilised, and in some cases gone up. We are truly delighted that our sea turtle friends are starting to rally. Although we can t afford to be complacent, this is a real step in the right direction. It just goes to show that together we can do so much. Our combined efforts DO make a difference. Can you do more to help? Join WWF now and help us to fund the future of our planet.