Oceans

An ocean is a big body of water. It is the biggest one on the Earth.

Oceans surround the land on the planet. There are 5 oceans in the world: Pacific, Atlantic, Arctic, Southern and Indian Oceans.

There is more water on the Earth’s surface than land.

Oceans were formed before the dinosaurs were alive when the planet was very hot and there was no sign of life.

Ocean water is not fresh water it is salty.

People have not explored all of the world’s oceans.

The largest ocean is the Pacific Ocean.

Oceans produce a large amount of the oxygen we breathe.

The deepest point in the ocean which we know about is called Mariana trench and is 11 km deep.

Oceans are full of life and amazing creatures.

They are home to whales, dolphins, sharks, crabs, lobsters, clown fish, corals, flying fish, octopus, oysters, squids, shrimps, starfish, jellyfish and so on and so forth.

Oceans are the largest habitat on earth.

JELLYFISH

STARFISH

SHRIMP

SQUID

OYSTER

OCTOPUS

FLYING FISH

CORALS

CLOWN FISH

LOBSTER

CRAB

SHARK

DOLPHIN

WHALE

habitat – the natural home of an animal or a plant

SHARKS

   Sharks are a family of fish that has something very special in common – their skeletons are not made of bones but cartilage. Cartilage is a tissue much lighter and more flexible than bones. This is the same kind of flexible protein that makes our noses and ears. Since sharks live in the water, they breathe through 5-7 gills on each side of their body. They need to move at all times which forces water to go through the gill and supply them with oxygen. The iconic fin, called a dorsal fin, is situated on their back. Sharks have multiple rows of teeth, this means that if a shark loses a tooth, another one moves forward from a back row to replace it.

  Although there is evidence that sharks existed as early as 450 million years ago, modern sharks have been swimming around for 100 million years. This makes them older than dinosaurs!!! Sharks have evolved very little during that time but despite that, they are very intelligent and have adapted very well to the conditions of their habitat. Nowadays, there are more than 500 different species of sharks!

  Sharks generally live in oceans and seas although there are some species that are able to live in fresh water as well. Most sharks are night animals – they hunt predominantly in the evening and at night. A mother sharks gives birth to babies called pups. Even though they are small, they already have teeth and they are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves. Other sharks lay eggs like birds.

   It is true that the occasional encounter of a shark with a human can have fatal consequences for the person but unfortunately we are much bigger threat to the sharks than they to us. The pollution of ocean water affects sharks’ food so chemicals slowly build up in their system; sharks try to eat the garbage thrown away in the water or they get accidentally caught up in fishing nets. However, the biggest threat is the ‘finning’ – sharks get their fins cut off and are thrown back in the water alive. But of course, they can not survive without fins. This practice is illegal and it causes the shark population to decline rapidly.

GALLERY

BLUE SHARK

LEOPARD SHARK

REEF SHARK

SHARK

SHARK PUPS

SHARK’S TEETH

SHARK

SHARK

GREAT WHITE SHARK

GLOSSARY

gill – an organ of a fish for obtaining oxygen from water

predominantly – generally, mainly, mostly

AUSTRALIA – THE LAND DOWN UNDER

  Australia is a country consisted of the Australian continent and the island of Tasmania, together with some smaller islands. Australia is very big – it is the 6th largest country in the world! Its territory is bigger than the whole of Europe. It is often called ‘the land down under’ because it is situated south of the Equator – the Southern Hemisphere. Australia’s capital is Canberra, although the biggest city there is Sydney. A strange fact – Australians do not have their own official language – they use English as one!!!

  Just because Australia is so big – it is sometimes referred to as ‘the biggest island or the smallest continent’, it offers a variety of landscapes to its visitors. Very famous is the coastline, with beautiful beaches and a great diversity of sea life – whales, dolphins, sharks, enormous number of fish species, but also turtles and corals. A must-see is the Great Barrier Reef. That is the world’s largest coral reef, it is so enormous that it can be seen from space!!! Very well-known is also Ayers Rock. It is a giant rock formation – 348 m high, 3, 6 km long and it took millions of years for it to be formed. The biggest part of the territory of Australia is dry and desert-like and is called outback. There are almost no people who live there but it gives home to a lot of animals and different bird species. One of the most famous is the kangaroo. Kangaroos are marsupial which means that the mothers carry their babies in a pouch on their belly until they are ready to come out and take care of themselves. The other very popular animal in Australia is the koala. Those cute little bears love eating eucalypt leaves, sleep up to 20 hours a day and have become the symbol of Australia.

  One of the most important features of Australia is Sydney Opera House. It has a really strange shape, is situated in the Sydney Harbour and because of that is yet another famous tourist attraction of the country. And if you say tennis, you immediately think of Australian Open. It is one of the biggest tennis tournaments in the world and it is held in Melbourne.

GALLERY

AYRES ROCK

BARRIER REEF

CORALS

EUCALYPT

KANGAROO

KOALA BEAR

SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE

GLOSSARY

marsupial – a mammal typically carried in a pouch on the mother’s belly

pouch – a small flexible bag