The Great Barrier Reef By Daphne
The Great Barrier Reef By Daphne
To my parents and my teachers for teaching me how to read and write.
Introduction We live in cities above ground such as New York,
San Francisco and Shanghai. But there are also
cities under the sea. To find out more about one of the most famous reefs in the world turn the page to start the adventure‌
Table of Contents Description ---------------------- 1 The Reef ------------------------- 2 History ---------------------------- 3 Corals ----------------------------- 4 Glossary -------------------------- 5 Cited Sources ------------------ 6 About the Author ------------- 7
Description Location The Great Barrier Reef is a series of small reefs growing underwater. It is one of the seven wonders of the natural world. It is located in Queensland, Australia. Coral reefs are found in the shallow, clean and warm waters. The Great Barrier Reef contains over 300 individual reef system and coral cays.
Appearance Although there are many reefs found in the tropical waters throughout the world, the Great Barrier Reef is the longest, largest and most famous one. This tremendous reef stretches to over 1250 miles (2000 km) long. It also forms a natural dam, or a barrier in between the pounding wave of the Pacific Ocean and Australian coastline. The reef lies in the Coral Sea, which is part of the Pacific Ocean near the northeast coast of Australia.
One of the coral cays on the Great Barrier Reef 1
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The Reefs About the Reef The Great Barrier Reef contains the largest collection of diverse corals with over 400 different species of corals. And it is made up of over 2900 individual
Habitat
reefs part of The Great Barrier Reef. It is located on
The Great Barrier Reef also contains almost 1500
because a coral has to grow under water, whatever the
around 20 types of reptiles including sea turtles and
The Australian Government protects some reefs of The
whales, dolphins and porpoises have been sighted at
Barrier Reef)
species of sea snake live on the Great Barrier Reef.
reefs. Quicksilver has made a station on one of the
Agincourt Reef. All reefs are different sizes and shapes
species of tropical fish, over 200 types of birds,
water level is; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the height of the coral growing there.
giant clams over 120 years old. Thirty species of
Great Barrier Reef. (The green sections of The Great
the Great Barrier Reef. As well as that seventeen
Some fish live in the corals and some just live near the reefs. For example a clownfishâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; s habitat is in a coral
called an anemone coral, it has stinging tentacles to scare away predators.
This is a picture showing a clownfish
swimming out of itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coral habitat that has stinging tentacles to protect them from predators.
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History History of the Reef The history of The Great Barrier Reef is a long and different story, where many generations of corals have built a habitat and then eventually discovered and claimed by humans. It is an extremely ancient and immense area of living things, made up of living corals growing on dead corals dating back perhaps as much as twenty million years ago. Many generations of dead corals have built great walls of stone covered with a range of living organisms such as coral, algae, anemones sponges, fish, worms, starfish and an extraordinary collection of thousands of species of plants and animals. Although there is no evidence for the first human contact with the reef but it mustâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve occurred sometime. We all know that the Aboriginals have claimed huge parts of Australia for around 40,000 years. Aboriginal people have fished and hunted in the waters of The Great Barrier Reef.
From May to August 1770 James Cook and his crew sailed the length of the Great Barrier Reef.
Did you know that the earliest documentary of evidence of the Europeans sighting the The Great Barrier Reef existed was in
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Corals The Growth of a coral First an adult polyp gives birth to a baby polyp. Then the baby polyp grows and becomes and adult and gives birth to another baby polyp and that cycle goes on and on...
How a Reef is formed A coral polyp is a small, soft organism related to corals. A reef begins when a coral polyp sticks itself to a rock on the sea floor, then it reproduces and produce thousands of clones. As a coral colony grows, after hundred and thousands of years the colony joins other colonies and then it forms a reef.
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Glossary
Reef- Groups of jagged rock, corals or sand just above or below the surface of the sea. Reproduce- To produce again
Aboriginals- People who lived in Australia thousands of years ago.
Shallow- The opposite of deep
Algae- A large group of plants underwater including seaweed.
Species- A group of living things or organisms.
Anemones- A type of brightly colored flowers.
Tentacles- A flexible bone usually on underwater creatures.
Ascidians- A sea squirt.
Tropical- A place that is hot and humid.
Coast- Land near/next to a body of water. Coral Cays- A place made of sand or corals. Dam- A barrier to block water and raise itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s level. Diverse- Being Different Habitat- A natural home for a plant or an animal. Organism- A single-celled form of life. Predators- An animal that naturally hunts for other smaller animals. Polyp- A colonial stationary like a sea anemone. Porpoises- A type of whale with small teeth and a blunt snout. Produce- To make or come up with something.
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Cited Sources Johnson,  Sylvia  A.,  ShĹ?hei  Shirai,  and  ShĹ?hei  Shirai.  Coral  Reefs.  Minneapolis:  Lerner  Publications,  1984.  Print. Arnold,  Caroline,  Arthur  Arnold,  and  Marty  Snyderman.  A  Walk  on  the  Great  Barrier  Reef.  Minneapolis:  Carolrhoda,  1988.  Print.
 http://www.hdewallpaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/School-of-Fish-Thailand.jpg  http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/fbeinecke/Healthy.coral.reef.No.Title.jpg http://title5feeholiday.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/the-great-barrier-reefanimalsgreat-barrier-reefs-of-australia-77sum4l6.jpg http://www.stormhoek.com/archives/Eric's%20Clownfish.jpg
"Coral."  National  Geographic.  N.p.,  n.d.  Web.  22  Jan.  2014.
http://globalconnection.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Great-Barrier-Reef-
"The  Great  Barrier  Reef."  Great  Barrier  Reef,  Australia's  Great  Natural  Wonder.  N.p.,  n.d.  Web.  21  Jan.  2014.
http://www.cairnsunlimited.com/images/i/green_island.jpg
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http://godoaustralia.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/hero-shot-turtle-resized-11.jpg http://static.trunity.net/files/113401_113500/113425/Coralreefsandclimatechange.JPG
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http://www.picture-newsletter.com/corals/coral-22.jpg
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About the Author
Daphne likes to do sports, play her friends and doodle. She wrote this book on the Great Barrier Reef because she likes snorkeling and exploring different places. The Great Barrier Reef also helped her overcome her fear of fish and one of the most dangerous predators lurking around in the ocean, the shark.
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The Great Barrier Reef By Daphne
Every wanted to explore the world underneath the surface of clear waters? Corals grow and form colonies which form a reef. One of the Seven Wonders Of the Natural World was also formed like this. It is The Great Barrier Reef