Koalas hug trees to stay cool

The Reading / Listening - Level 4

Scientists have unlocked the koala's secret of staying cool and avoiding dehydration in intense heat. They hug trees. The cuddly animals do not cling to trees just to sleep. Researchers cast new light on why they hug trees. A tree trunk is 5 degrees cooler than the air around it. Koalas spread themselves out on the cooler surfaces of large branches or the trunk. Trees can save koalas half the water they would need to keep cool on a hot day.

Researchers studied the behaviour of 37 koalas to find out how they might survive global warming. The results were surprising. Koalas sat up in cool weather, hugged branches when it became warmer, and wrapped themselves around tree trunks when it got hot. They moved to trees with cooler trunks. Trees are cooler because they suck up water from the ground. The koala's cooling technique could help people survive hotter summers.

Try the same news story at these levels:

Level 5 or Level 6

Sources

http://www.smh.com.au/national/cool-koalas-are-treehuggers-for-a-reason-study-finds-20140603-39gxj.html
http://www.livescience.com/46073-why-koalas-hug-trees.html
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25668-overheated-koalas-show-treehugging-is-cool-man.html

Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice, drag and drop activities, crosswords, hangman, flash cards, matching activities and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

The Activities

MATCHING

PARAGRAPH ONE:

1.	Scientists have unlocked	a.	in intense heat
2.	staying	b.	cooler
3.	avoiding dehydration	c.	the koala's secret
4.	cast new light on	d.	they would need
5.	5 degrees	e.	cool
6.	save koalas half the water	f.	why they hug trees

MY e-BOOK

ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers

See a sample

PARAGRAPH TWO:

1.	Researchers studied the	a.	global warming
2.	how they might survive	b.	surprising
3.	The results were	c.	technique
4.	They moved to trees	d.	behaviour of 37 koalas
5.	they suck up water	e.	with cooler trunks
6.	The koala's cooling	f.	from the ground

LISTEN AND FILL IN THE GAPS

Scientists have unlocked the koala's (1) ___________________ cool and avoiding dehydration in intense heat. They hug trees. The cuddly animals do not (2) ___________________ to sleep. Researchers cast new light on why they hug trees. A tree trunk is (3) ___________________ than the air around it. Koalas spread themselves out (4) ___________________ of large branches or the trunk. Trees can save koalas (5) ___________________ would need (6) ___________________ hot day.

Researchers (7) ___________________ of 37 koalas to find out how they might (8) ___________________. The results were surprising. Koalas sat up in cool weather, (9) ___________________ it became warmer, and wrapped themselves around tree trunks (10) ___________________. They moved to trees with cooler trunks. Trees are cooler because (11) ___________________ from the ground. The koala's (12) ___________________ help people survive hotter summers.

KOALAS SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about koalas in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.

Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

WRITE QUESTIONS & ASK YOUR PARTNER(S)

Student A: Do not show these to your speaking partner(s).

a)	________________________________________________________
b)	________________________________________________________
c)	________________________________________________________
d)	________________________________________________________
e)	________________________________________________________
f)	________________________________________________________
g)	________________________________________________________
h)	________________________________________________________

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Student B: Do not show these to your speaking partner(s).

a)	________________________________________________________
b)	________________________________________________________
c)	________________________________________________________
d)	________________________________________________________
e)	________________________________________________________
f)	________________________________________________________
g)	________________________________________________________
h)	________________________________________________________

FREE WRITING

Write about koalas for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner's paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Answers

(Please check your answers against the article above.

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