The Reading / Listening - Bald Eagles - Level 2

Dog owners in Alaska are buying special vests to protect their pets from bald eagles. In recent weeks, pet dogs have been taken away by the birds of prey. The number of bald eagles has risen greatly in Alaska because of conservation efforts. Conservationists estimate there are now around 30,000 of the eagles in Alaska. Bird lovers are happy about this, but pet owners are worried. The eagles are strong enough to pick up and fly away with a 6-kilogram animal. The eagles are a nuisance for farmers because they kill their chickens.

The vest is called the CoyoteVest. It is a protective jacket designed to protect small dogs from coyotes. A coyote is a wild dog, similar to a wolf. It is common in North America. The CoyoteVest has spikes and other sharp things on it to protect the pet. Some vests have brightly coloured whiskers to scare birds away. It is made of a material called Kevlar, which is used in bulletproof vests. This protects dogs from the teeth of larger dogs. The CoyoteVest company said its vest helps to, "prevent a surprise attack and give you enough time to react before serious injury occurs" to a pet.

Try the same news story at these levels:

    Bald Eagles - Level 0 Bald Eagles - Level 1   or  Bald Eagles - Level 3

Sources
  • https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/coyote-vests-a-trend-among-small-dog-owners-in-vancouver
  • https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9580945/Pet-owners-putting-dogs-cats-spiked-body-armour-protect-bald-eagles.html
  • https://people.com/pets/coyote-vest-for-dogs/


Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice activities, drag and drop activities, sentence jumbles, which word activities, text reconstructions, spelling, gap fills and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Phrase Matching

Paragraph 1

  1. Dog owners in Alaska are buying
  2. protect their pets from
  3. pet dogs have been
  4. birds
  5. The number of bald eagles
  6. conservation
  7. Bird lovers are happy
  8. The eagles are a nuisance
  1. about this
  2. taken away
  3. for farmers
  4. has risen greatly
  5. of prey
  6. special vests
  7. efforts
  8. bald eagles

Paragraph 2

  1. It is a protective
  2. protect small dogs
  3. It is common
  4. The CoyoteVest has spikes and
  5. It is made of a material
  6. its vest helps to prevent a
  7. give you enough time
  8. serious
  1. surprise attack
  2. in North America
  3. injury
  4. called Kevlar
  5. to react
  6. jacket
  7. other sharp things
  8. from coyotes

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

Dog owners in Alaska (1) ___________________ vests to protect their pets from bald eagles. (2) ___________________, pet dogs have been taken away by the (3) ___________________. The number of bald eagles has risen greatly in Alaska because of conservation efforts. Conservationists (4) ___________________ now around 30,000 of the eagles in Alaska. Bird lovers are happy about this, but pet (5) ___________________. The eagles are strong enough to pick up and fly away with a 6-kilogram animal. The eagles are a nuisance for farmers because they (6) ___________________.

The vest is called the CoyoteVest. It (7) ___________________ jacket designed to (8) ___________________ from coyotes. A coyote is a wild dog, similar to a wolf. It is common in North America. The CoyoteVest has spikes and (9) ___________________ on it to protect the pet. Some vests have brightly coloured whiskers to (10) ___________________. It is made of a material called Kevlar, which is used in bulletproof vests. This protects dogs from the (11) ___________________ dogs. The CoyoteVest company said its vest helps to, "prevent a surprise attack and give you enough time to react before (12) ___________________" to a pet.

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

DogownersinAlaskaarebuyingspecialveststoprotecttheirpetsfromba
ldeagles.Inrecentweeks,petdogshavebeentakenawaybythebirdsofp
rey.ThenumberofbaldeagleshasrisengreatlyinAlaskabecauseofcons
ervationefforts.Conservationistsestimatetherearenowaround30,00
0oftheeaglesinAlaska.Birdloversarehappyaboutthis,butpetownersa
reworried.Theeaglesarestrongenoughtopickupandflyawaywitha6-
kilogramanimal.Theeaglesareanuisanceforfarmersbecausetheykillt
heirchickens.ThevestiscalledtheCoyoteVest.Itisaprotectivejacketde
signedtoprotectsmalldogsfromcoyotes.Acoyoteisawilddog,similarto
awolf.ItiscommoninNorthAmerica.TheCoyoteVesthasspikesandoth
ersharpthingsonittoprotectthepet.Somevestshavebrightlycoloured
whiskerstoscarebirdsaway.ItismadeofamaterialcalledKevlar,whichi
susedinbulletproofvests.Thisprotectsdogsfromtheteethoflargerdog
s.TheCoyoteVestcompanysaiditsvesthelpsto,"preventasurpriseatta
ckandgiveyouenoughtimetoreactbeforeseriousinjuryoccurs"toapet.

Student survey

Write five GOOD questions about this topic 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.

(Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

Discussion — Write your own questions

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

(a) ________________

(b) ________________

(c) ________________

(d) ________________

(e) ________________

(f) ________________

(g) ________________

(h) ________________

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

(i) ________________

(j) ________________

(k) ________________

(l) ________________

(m) ________________

(n) ________________

(o) ________________

(p) ________________

Free writing

Write about this topic for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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Answers

(Please check your answers against the article above.

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