Posts under "Biology & Animals"

Reading Comprehension: Lizards

Posted by Rachel No Comments
May 14 2010

Today we’re going to look at an article about lizards and global warming. Have a read and try to answer the questions.

Aquecimento global já leva populações de lagartos à extinção, Estadão

Excerpt: “O aquecimento global está inviabilizando a sobrevivência de várias populações de lagartos, reduzindo o tempo em que os animais  se mantêm ativos para buscar comida e gerar filhotes, diz estudo internacional publicado a revista Science. Pelo menos 5% das espécies existentes já estão comprometidas, afirma o pesquisador brasileiro Carlos Frederico Duarte Rocha, um dos autores do estudo. Rocha é professor do Departamento de Ecologia do Instituto de Biologia da UERJ.”

Questions

1. Where does the scientist in the article work? Where did the study take place?

2. Why is global warming contributing to lizard extinction?

3. The scientist studied the Liolaemus lutzae species, found in Rio de Janeiro. How many populations used to exist, and how many have disappeared?

4. What does the Science article predict will happen in 2080?

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The Ariranha

Posted by Rachel 1 Comment
Mar 18 2010

Today we’re going to learn about the ariranha, or giant otter, a mammal native to the Pantanal region and Amazon river basin in Brazil.

The ariranha, a mammal with an amphibious lifestyle, lives most of the time on land but also lives in freshwater rivers and streams. It has large eyes and small ears, and is typically between 1.5 and 1.8 meters long. Males weigh between 32 and 45 kilograms, and females weigh between 22 and 26 kilograms.

They are highly social, and do everything in groups of between 2 and 20 otters, though a typical group consists of 3 – 8. They also hunt together, consisting on a diet of mostly fish, including piranhas. Allegedly, during times of scarcity ariranhas will even hunt small alligators and snakes–even small anacondas. The ariranha eats with its head out of the water while swimming backwards, giving human onlookers an interesting sight. When the ariranha gives birth, the babies are raised by the group and taught how to hunt.

Unfortunately, the ariranhas are endangered due to poaching and habitat destruction, especially due to logging. Water pollution from mining and agriculture also pose a threat to the ariranha.

To learn more about the ariranha in Portuguese, click here.

Insects in Portuguese

Posted by Rachel 6 Comments
Mar 5 2010

Today we’re going to learn some vocabulary for creepy crawlers. If you want, we’ve created a Byki flashcards list that you can easily download to test yourself on either Windows, Mac, or .b4u:

bug =inseto             

cockroach = barata

ladybug = joaninha

butterfly = borboleta

ant = formiga

bee = abelha

wasp = vespa

grasshopper = gafanhoto

caterpillar = lagarta

tick = carrapato

Can you think of any others?

Pico do Jaraguá

Posted by polyana No Comments
Feb 22 2010

Yesterday was a gorgeous sunny day in São Paulo.  This hasn’t been the case recently, so my friend and I decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and do something outdoorsy.  We decided on the Pico do Jaraguá, São Paulo’s city’s highest peak, since we’d never been and figured the view would be gorgeous.

Lying at a far western point in one of the largest cities in the world, the 1,135 meter (3,724 feet) peak certainly has nothing less than breathtaking views:

jaragua-sao-paulo

jaragua-sao-paulo-bandeirantes

What’s even more fun is the peak’s history!  Apparently it was first “discovered,” in the late 16th century because there were gold mines in the mountain.  This gold was explored and extracted until there wasn’t anymore towards the end of the 19th century.

At the peak, there are tons of satellite dishes which belong to media giants such as Globo and Bandeirantes. The mountain today also still has a Guarani indigenous community living there right at the entrance to the park (on the way up to the peak), where the members of the community live off their art and craft work, and begging.

Jaraguá is a Guarani name meaning, por onde a gente passou, or “through where we have been.”

Sources: visit to Jaraguá and Pico do Jaraguá website.

Reading Comprehension: Endangered Species

Posted by Rachel No Comments
Jan 14 2010

Today we’re going to work on a reading comprehension exercise about an endangered species in the Amazon.

The article is entitled, “Pesca excessiva ameaça maior peixe da Amazônia, diz pesquisa,” on Globo’s Amazon section. Here’s the first part:

“A captura descontrolada pode fazer com que o maior peixe da Amazônia – e um dos maiores peixes de água doce do mundo – desapareça do mapa. Em pesquisa divulgada no “Journal of Applied Ichthyology”, cientistas afirmam que a maior parte da carne de pirarucu comercializada na Amazônia tem origem ilegal, e é difícil controlar a pesca predatória da espécie.”

1) What is the name of the endangered fish?

2) What are the two main reasons this fish is highly sought by fishermen?

3) What legal efforts have been made to control fishing for this species?

4) What’s the good news mentioned in the end?

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