Speed Reading — Plastic Pollution - Level 4 — 200 wpm 

This is the text (if you need help).

The BBC made a worrying film about the terrible impact plastic is having on seabirds near Australia. The team was on Lord Howe Island for a new documentary. They filmed dead birds with stomachs full of plastic. The birds starved to death because there was no room in their stomachs for food. Marine biologists are working to save the birds. They removed plastic from the stomachs of hundreds of chicks to increase their chance of survival.

A marine biologist explained that the birds were predators that eat anything. She said: "They have no ability to detect...non-plastic, so they eat it." Adult birds then feed the plastic to their chicks without knowing the harm. She said the plastic is "entirely preventable" and could easily be swapped for things like aluminium or wood. She said: "My own toothbrush is made of bamboo." A BBC presenter said: "We saw...90 pieces of plastic come out of one of the chicks."

Back to the plastic pollution lesson.

More Activities