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Animal Themes
Reptiles
Freshwater

Anacondas

Anacondas
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 4 to 9
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   10.55

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    accomplishment, ambush, carnivorous, coils, existence, killers, oval-shaped, python, belief, hence, environment, species, meat-eating, size, shortly, vegetation
     content words:    Southeast Asia, South America

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Other Languages
     Spanish: Las Anacondas

Anacondas   
1     "Size matters!" must be a belief embraced by anacondas wholeheartedly, because their impressive weight -- up to 550 pounds -- wins them the title of the world's heaviest snakes! Aside from this accomplishment, anacondas are also the leading contenders for the world's longest snakes. While some scientists consider the anaconda the longest of all snakes, others prefer the reticulated python of Southeast Asia. Amazingly, even if a reticulated python manages to beat an anaconda in body length, the reticulated python can never defeat the anaconda in weight. For instance, a 33-foot reticulated python weighs about the same as a 20-foot anaconda.
 
2     Of all four species of anacondas inhabiting South America and the Caribbean island of Trinidad, the green anaconda is the biggest and the most famous. In fact, the green anaconda is so well known that many people are not even aware of the existence of the other three anaconda species (the yellow anaconda, the Deschauense's anaconda, and the Barbour's anaconda.) Hence, the green anaconda's olive-green skin and oval-shaped black markings have become the symbol of all anacondas.
 
3     Nocturnal (active at night) and carnivorous (meat-eating), anacondas are members of the boa family. Usually in or near water, they love hiding in marshes, swamps, or any areas with plenty of water vegetation. Because anacondas' eyes and nostrils are high on their heads, they can conceal their massive figures by submerging while keeping tabs on their surroundings. Furthermore, anacondas' skin pattern blends in well with the environment, so an animal that comes near their hideouts to drink water has no idea that it is under surveillance.

Paragraphs 4 to 6:
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