Coral Reef Biome PDF

Agrupamento de Escolas Gardunha e Xisto, Fundão EB Serra da Gardunha 5th Grade – Bilingual Class Coral Reef biome Location: Corals live in shallow warm tropical waters, in the oceans. They live in groups call...

Agrupamento de Escolas Gardunha e Xisto, Fundão EB Serra da Gardunha 5th Grade – Bilingual Class Coral Reef biome Location: Corals live in shallow warm tropical waters, in the oceans. They live in groups called colonies. These colonies are called reefs. Coral Reefs are located in East Africa, South Asia, Australia, America (Florida, Caribbean) and in Brazil. The largest coral reef is called the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. It is 1900km long. What are corals? Corals are tiny sea animals called polyps (POL-ips). They are marine invertebrates. They attach themselves to a surface and build a protection, an exoskeleton called coral. The polyps have got a mouth surrounded by tentacles. The tentacles bring the food to the polyps’ mouth. They eat very tiny sea animals called plankton. When the corals die, new corals build up a colony on top of the dead coral’s skeletons. Corals have different sizes, shapes and colours. They can look like a star, a brain, a column, a cactus, a cauliflower or a finger. They can be white, red, pink, green, blue, orange and purple. Water temperature: Coral reefs live in shallow warm waters between 20° and 28°C. The water has got waves. The waves bring food, nutrients and oxygen to the reefs. The coral need calcium from the water to grow. Plants: The plants that live in the coral reefs are sea grass, algae and mangroves. Mangroves are small trees or shrubs. They have their roots in the water. The waters are shallow so the sea grass and algae get food from sun. These plants give the animals that live in the coral reefs food, oxygen and shelter. Animals: The coral reefs have got lots of different kinds of animals like sponges, starfish, anemones, cucumbers, jellyfish, snails, turtles, clams, lobsters, shrimps, seahorses and mussels. There are also lots of fish like cuttlefish, sharks, lionfish, clownfish, rays, octopuses and eels. The animals that live in the coral reef are very colourful. They camouflage themselves among the different coral colours and they find shelter in the corals. In the Great Barrier Reef, in Australia, there are 1500 species of fish and 400 species of coral. You can also find lots of different species of birds. They get their food from the water, for example fish. Find out how these animals are called. ………………………………. ………………………………. ………………………………. ………………………………. ………………………………. ………………………………. ………………………………. ………………………………. ………………………………. ………………………………. ………………………………. ………………………………. ………………………………. ………………………………. ……………………………….