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Coral Reefs Animal Themes

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Coral Reefs
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 6 to 8
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	8.02

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		biodiversity, photosynthesis, further, relationship, disrupt, critical, survival, Kwajalein, chalky, merely, jeopardize, formation, volcanic, extremely, homeless, anatomy
	content words:		Caribbean Sea, Red Sea, Great Barrier Reef, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands, Pacific Ocean

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Coral Reefs

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¹     Coral reefs are home to more than 25% of all marine life. Yet they only cover a very small fraction of the ocean floor – less than 0.2%, to be exact! The degree of biodiversity we see in coral reefs is not unique. On land, at least 50% of all the plant and animal species can be found in an ecosystem that represents merely about 7% of Earth's surface area. That ecosystem is called a rainforest. It's no wonder that we often call coral reefs "rainforests of the sea."
 
²     Coral reefs are made of corals (also called polyps). Corals are animals, not plants. There are microscopic plants that live within the animal tissues in a symbiotic relationship. The animals benefit from the energy that the plants provide through photosynthesis. The plants are protected within the coral tissues and gain nutrients from animal wastes. These tiny plants are called zooxanthellae ("zoo-zan-THEL-lee"). They are responsible for much of the color seen in reef corals.
 
³     There are two types of corals – hard corals and soft corals. Hard corals secrete calcium carbonate that later becomes limestone. When they die, they leave their chalky, hard skeletons behind to form the framework of coral reefs. Over time, as living polyps grow on top of dead ones, coral reefs get bigger and taller. They expand at a rate of 0.16-7.8 inches a year.

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Animal Themes

Animal Themes

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Oceans

Oceans

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Animals

Amphibians         Birds         Deserts         Fish         Freshwater         Grasslands         Insects

Invertebrates         Mammals         Oceans         Polar Regions         Rain Forest         Reptiles

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