According to the report, what happens to a kelp forest when there are too many sea urchins?
Listen to an Oral Presentation · ELPAC Grades 3–5 listening. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.
A presentation on an academic topic, followed by three or four questions.
Listen to Jasmine give her report to the class. Then answer the questions.
Sea Otters and Kelp Forests
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Show transcript
Good morning. My name is Jasmine, and my report is about sea otters.
Sea otters matter to the ocean because they protect kelp forests. Kelp is a tall seaweed that grows in thick underwater forests along the California coast.
Sea urchins eat kelp, and when there are too many urchins, the forest disappears. Sea otters eat urchins all day long. One otter can eat about a quarter of its own body weight in food every day.
Where otters live, the kelp grows back, and fish and crabs come back with it. That is why people call the sea otter a keystone animal.
The question
Choose the best answer.
According to the report, what happens to a kelp forest when there are too many sea urchins?
- The forest disappears, because the urchins eat the kelp.Correct answer
- The kelp grows back thicker than before.
- The forest moves to another part of the coast.
- The forest fills with fish and crabs.
Why “The forest disappears, because the urchins eat the kelp.” is correct
This is a supporting-detail question about a cause and its effect. The report says, "Sea urchins eat kelp, and when there are too many urchins, the forest disappears." The wrong answers describe what happens in the opposite situation — where otters are keeping urchin numbers down — so a student has to keep the two halves of the talk apart.
Why the other answers are wrong
- The kelp grows back thicker than before. — The kelp grows back where sea otters live and eat the urchins, not where urchins are plentiful.
- The forest moves to another part of the coast. — Nothing in the report says a kelp forest moves; it disappears.
- The forest fills with fish and crabs. — Fish and crabs return after the kelp recovers, which happens when there are fewer urchins.
Practice more of this
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