“THE AMAZING PENGUIN RESCUE”

BY: LAUREN TARSHIS

JULIANA BECHT, LAUREL MESKILL, ALLY GEORGOULIANOS, KEVIN SHARKEY

GROUP #2

ENGLISH 6

WRITING PROMPT

• Sometimes the problems of the world can seem hopeless and overwhelming. How did the people in the two articles solve their problems? How do these stories bring hope to readers?

•

Write an essay that explains how the people in the two articles solve their problems in seemingly hopeless and overwhelming situations. Be sure to include evidence from both of the texts to support your ideas.

“THE AMAZING PENGUIN RESCUE”BY: LAUREN TARSHIS

Summary

• This story “The Amazing Penguin Rescue” is about the oil spill in 2000 that affected thousands of penguins on the coast of Africa. The biggest breeding place for penguins. This story also tells about the struggles of the people willing to help these creatures. This story is very descriptive on telling how these penguins were treated and healed. Overall, the author Lauren Tarshis was showing and telling the perspective of the terrified birds and what was going on in those few weeks.

“THE AMAZING PENGUIN RESCUE”BY: LAUREN TARSHIS

Vocabulary

• Agonizing- accompanied by, filled with resulting in distress.

• Waterlogged- excessively saturated with.

• Monumental- historical or enduring significance.

• Permeates- to diffuse through; pervade; saturate.

• Elated- very happy or proud.

“ THE AMAZING PENGUIN RESCUE”

Evidence

The first article is called “The Amazing Penguin Rescue” by Lauren Tarshis. The problem in this article is that, a cargo ship called, “Treasure”, suffered severe damage to its hull in the rough winter seas”. The water where penguins swim is “thick, and as you swim, it burns your eyes you try to swim away, but suddenly your wings have become too heavy to lift, your body wobbles and rolls. You feel bitterly cold you shiver, and gasp for breath.” “The oil surrounds your breeding ground, and your home.” This shows how much a catastrophe can affect a species.

“Later the beach is filled with enormous creators. They are humans, but you don’t know that. Some of these people have dedicated their lives to helping birds like you, birds imperiled by oil spills, and other human made disasters.” This shows how much these people were willing to sacrifice for these creatures.

This can bring hope to readers because in the article, it states that, “as the humans swarm the beach, you are overcome with panic. When a man catches you, you viciously fight him off with your powerful jaws and beak. This brings hope to readers, because capturing the penguins is saving their lives, to keep their species alive.”

In the article, “The Amazing Penguin Rescue” the rescue center workers saved 40,000 penguins. Although the pain from capturing them “You bite his arm ripping his skin through the fabric of his thick coat”. This brings hope to the readers because, capturing the penguins is saving their lives, to keep their species alive.

“SAVING PENGUINS ONE SWEATER AT A TIME”BY: KRISTIN LEWIS

Summary:

In the article, “Saving Penguins, One Sweater at a Time” by Kristin Lewis, she explains how much people around the world care about these effected penguins and help them. Another big part of this article is how people around the world made mini sweaters to help the penguins that suffered after the oil spill tragedy. In the article, it also talks about the ample amount of sweaters they have now, and how they “kindly ask volunteers to refrain from sending sweaters.” Lastly, this story tells about oil-spill awareness, because it could kill many sea-life animals and destroy habitats. Overall, this passage tells you about the devastating things that can happen just from one oil spill.

“SAVING PENGUINS ONE SWEATER AT A TIME”BY: KRISTIN LEWIS

Vocabulary

• Preen- trim, dress animals.

• Decimate- to select by a lot and kill every tenth.

• Contaminate- the render harmful by adding radioactive materials.

“SAVING PENGUINS ONE SWEATER AT A TIME”BY: KRISTIN LEWIS

Evidence:

The people in the two articles solved their problems in the article “The Seabird Chronicle, Saving Penguins One Sweater at a Time.” The article basically is about how an oil spill, dangers the lives of the penguins, “It was September 1998, and the rescue workers at Phillip Island Nature Park in Australia had a big problem. An oil spill near the island was threatening the little penguins that lived there.” The workers were scrambling to save the oil slicked birds, but the penguins were in bad shape. They couldn’t keep warm. To make matters worse, they were trying to preen their feathers to get rid of the oil. Then the workers had an unusual idea, sweaters! Teeny tiny penguin sweaters. But would this idea work?

“Volunteers got busy with their knitting needles, and within days the first penguins at Phillip Island, were outfitted in their new wool sweaters.” This kept the penguins warm enough to survive. The sweaters helped them stay healthy. Without the sweaters, the penguin could have suffered from hypothermia. Hypothermia is a fatal condition, that can kill the penguins.