Summary Paragraph Exam

1. Read the passage, Giant Manta Rays below.
2. Take notes about key ideas on the graphic organizer/brainstorm. 
3. On the page after the graphic organizer, write a summary based on your notes. 
4. Don't forget the correct summary title, topic sentence, and paragraph format!
5. Submit your graphic organizer/brainstorm and summary paragraph page to this assignment, all in one document. 

Giant Manta Rays   (by Ann Russell Gregory in Defenders)

❡ A

When a giant manta ray weighs as much as a Toyota Prius and has a 23-foot-wide wingspan, which is twice the size of the largest bird, it is truly a giant among Earth’s creatures. These fish are intelligent and gentle and do not attack people. The rays can recognize individual divers by sight, and people love to be near them. Manta Rays live all over the world’s seas in warm and mild waters. Unfortunately, their populations have dropped by 30 percent in recent years. In the United States, environmental groups are asking the National Marine Fisheries Service to protect giant manta rays under the Endangered Species Act, and the world’s governments must establish protections for these sea creatures. 

❡B

Amazing Sea Creatures

Giant manta rays are amazing in many ways. Each manta ray is recognizable by the unique pattern it has on its underside, which is like a human fingerprint. They can live up to 50 years, and some scientists speculate even much longer. Since manta rays are fish, they do not breathe air. Instead, they use their gill plates to breathe underwater. Manta rays must swim in order to keep water flowing over their gills, so they can never sleep or rest on the seafloor. They also use their gill plates to eat because they have no teeth. By using their gill plates, they filter out tiny sea creatures and small fish. They are acrobatic and graceful, and they can leap out of the water despite weighing up to 5,000 pounds. Even though they are related to sharks, they are harmless, and unlike some other kinds of rays, their short tail has no poison hook. 

❡ C

Endangered Sea Creatures

Sadly, some people in China are now catching giant manta rays. They are claiming that crushed and dried manta ray gill plates can be used as medicine and that these gill plates can cure everything from chicken pox to cancers. However, there is no medical evidence of this ability. As a result, these gentle giants are dying because of their gill plates, which are small but valuable body parts. Moreover, the body meat of a manta ray is not eaten as a food, but one pound of manta ray gill plates can be worth more than $300. As fishermen wipe out shark species, they are targeting manta rays as a substitute for shark fin soup. Additionally, the homes of manta rays are threatened by climate change because climate change is destroying the coral reefs that the manta rays use as homes. In the coral reefs, they feed and breed their young. If the coral reefs disappear, the manta rays will have no protection for their families.

❡ D

What We Must Do

In conclusion, the lives of these fascinating creatures will be ended too soon unless we act intelligently. We must end the thoughtless and uncontrolled killing of these wonderful animals. We must protect the giant manta rays and the places in the oceans that are their homes. If we do not try to save the giant manta rays, we will lose these amazing creatures forever.

Now you will fill out the graphic organizer for this passage. You will write your summary paragraph on the second page of the graphic organizer. You should plan to work for about 45 minutes on the graphic organizer and about 45 minutes to write the summary paragraph. 

When you finish your summary paragraph, submit the single document: Graphic Organizer and Paragraph Page to this assignment. 

Graphic Organizer and Paragraph Page - Google Doc (click to copy) Links to an external site.