Whales and Elephants

The blue whale is the biggest animal in the world. They are the biggest animals on the planet. Whales live in the oceans. There are five oceans: The Pacific Ocean, The Atlantic Ocean, The Indian Ocean, The Arctic Ocean and The Southern Ocean. Whales swim around the world.

Big in Every Way

Blue whales are the biggest creature (animal) to have lived on earth—they are even bigger than the biggest dinosaurs!

1. Blue whales are the largest animals to ever live on the planet, whales reach maximum lengths of 33.5 meters and weigh 150,000 kilos.

 

2. Blue whales can live for 80 to 90 years on average.

 

3. Blue whales are the loudest animals on the planet capable of making sounds that can be heard by other blue whales up to 1,600 kilometers away. Whale are very noisy.

 

4. Blue whales can eat up to 5,400 kilos of krill (small shrimp -gambas) in a day.

 

5. Blue whales swim 8 kilometers per hour on average but can swim more than 32 kilometers per hour in short distances.

A baby whale is called a calf. A baby cow is also called a calf. One calf, two calves. Other baby mammals are called calves: elephant, camel, bison, elk, giraffe, gnu, hippopotamus, moose, ox, reindeer, rhinoceros, and yak.

Elephants

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African elephants are the largest land animals on Earth. They are larger than Asian elephants and have bigger ears than their Asian cousins.

 

Herds (manadas)

Elephants are matriarchal, meaning they live in female-led groups called herds. The matriarch is usually the biggest and oldest. Elephants eat plants. They eat grass and leaves from trees. 

 

A baby elephant, an elephant calf, can weigh 100 kilos. They are big babies. Mother elephants have one baby every four or five years.

 

 

Vocabulary 

Female – hembra

Male – macho, varón

Herd – manada – Elephants live in herds.

Calf, Calves – cría, ballenato

To Weigh – pesar - An elephant weighs 6,000 kilograms.

Work It

Spoilers! Watch the movie first.

 Work It

Quin lives with her mother. Her father died when she was 12 years old. Quin wants to go to a very good university after high school. Quin is the best student in her class. She has the best grades (marks). She is very smart. However, the university wants students who have hobbies and do things outside of school. Before, she worked the lights for the dance team. The dance team is called The Thunderbirds.

Quin has a terrible accident and ruins (destroy) the lights for the stage. The top dancer of the team is called Julliard. He has pink hair. He tells Quin that she can’t be a part of the dance team because she destroyed the lights.

The woman at the university says that Quin is not passionate about anything. Quin lies to the woman at the university. She says that she is part of her school’s dance team.

Quin’s best friend is called Jas. Jas is a great dancer. Quin asks Jas to help her join the dance team. Jas laughs at Quin.

 “You don’t dance,” Jas says to Quin.

 “I don’t dance yet*,” Quin answers. “I need you to teach me how to dance.”

 Quin only has two weeks to learn how to dance.

Jas begins to teach her best friend. At first, Quin is terrible, but she works very hard. She practices everywhere: in the library, in her house, and in the park.

Finally, it’s time for the audition. Quin is the first in the audition. Julliard doesn’t think she is a good dancer. Quin decides make another dance team, and her best friend Jas is the captain.

Quin and Jas look for dancers in their school. They find some crazy kids. They need someone to be their choreographer. The boy Quin finds is very good, but he doesn’t want to help her. His name is Jake Taylor. Jake says that he will help the team if they qualify at Work It.

Work It is a dance competition. There are three judges at the qualifying competition. The team isn’t bad, but they aren’t very good. At the end of the competition, the team qualifies. Jake becomes the choreographer for the team. He lets the team practice for free at the dance studio where he works. They don’t have to pay to practice there.

When Jake’s boss learns (discovers) that Jake lets the team practice in the studio without paying, he fires Jake. Now Jake doesn’t have a job.

 Jake quits the team.

 Quin gets bad grades at school, and she quits the team, too. She doesn’t have time to dance. She doesn’t have time for a boyfriend. Jas returns to The Thunderbirds.

 Quin is working one day and she starts dancing. She understands the dancing makes her happy. The team starts practicing again. Jas returns to Quin’s team.

 At last, it is time for the final competition for Work It. Who will win the contest? The Thunderbirds are the champions, but Quin and her team have worked very hard.

Julliard and The Thunderbirds dance first. The three judges give them a score of 9.0. Quin’s team begins to dance. Quin arrives late. She goes on stage and dances with the team. When they finish, everyone shouts and claps. They were very good, but what will the judges think?

Their score is 9.3. They win the contest!

* Yo no bailo todavia

Karen and Luke and the Rabbit

Karen and Luke and the Rabbit

Vocabulary

To Bark – ladrar

To Bite – morder

Friendly – amable, amistoso  A friendly match (Partido amistoso)

Leash - correa

To Chase – perseguir

To Follow – seguir

To Look for – buscar

To Find – encontrar

To Shout – gritar

Karen is 9 years old. She lives in New York City in the United States of America. Karen has one brother. His name is Joe and he is 12 years old. Karen and her family live in a big blue house. Karen’s family has one pet. They have a dog. The dog’s name is Luke. He is a small, white dog.

 

Luke is a good dog. He doesn’t bark and he doesn’t bite. Luke is a friendly dog. He sleeps a lot. He likes to go for long walks in the park. Karen takes Luke for a walk every day. Karen likes to walk in the park, too. The park is near her house.

 

Before Karen leaves her house to take Luke for a walk, she puts on his leash. They go to the park. Luke likes to run. Karen can run fast, but Luke is faster. Karen takes off the leash. Luke sees a rabbit in the park. He chases the rabbit. Karen follows, but Luke and the rabbit are too fast.

 

Where is Luke? Karen looks for her dog, but she can’t find him. At first, Karen is angry with Luke because he ran away, he escaped. Later, she is sad because she is afraid that someone will take her dog.

 

“Luke, where are you?” Karen shouts in the park.

 

Karen looks for her dog for two hours in the park. Finally, she sees Luke. Luke and the rabbit are playing together. They are friends.

 

Karen tells Luke, “Dogs don’t play with rabbits! Luke, you are a very crazy dog.”

 

Luke is crazy, but he is very friendly. He is a good dog.

 

The rabbit comes home with Karen and Luke. Now Karen and her brother have two pets, a rabbit and a very crazy dog called Luke.

The End

 

Questions

1.   Does Karen have a sister?

2.  Where does Karen live?

3.  How many pets does the family have at the beginning?

4.  What is the name of Karen’s dog?

5.  Does Luke bark?

6.  Does Luke bite people?

7.  Where do Karen and Luke go for a walk?

8.  Does Karen live far from the park?

9.  What does Luke chase in the park?

10.               Are Luke and the rabbit faster than Karen?

11.                Is Luke a crazy dog?