Effective Communication

Procedure

Divide the class into pairs. Give each student a copy of either the A or B reading sheets. The students read the short articles silently by themselves and use a dictionary or consult the teacher if they don’t understand a word or phrase. After the students have read and understood the articles, the teacher takes the articles away. Then student A will communicate what was in A’s article to student B, and student B will communicate what was in B’s article to A. Then all of the students take a test to see how much information they were able to communicate.

A: The desert may seem like a difficult place for crocodiles to live, but, in the year 2000, some German scientists researched some crocodiles living in the Sahara Desert. The scientists were researching reptiles in another area when they heard rumors about crocodiles living on a plateau. So they went to the area to see if the rumor was true. The rumor was true and they found a small crocodile. The crocodiles are a kind of Nile crocodile that have adapted to living in the desert. Their bodies are much smaller so they are called dwarf crocodiles. Being small helps them save water in the dry desert. Local people had known about the crocodiles all along and treat the animals with great respect. They protect the animals from poachers and believe if the crocodiles go, the water will go too. Thousands of years ago, the Sahara Desert was actually grassland, where many Nile crocodiles lived. The grassland, however, eventually dried up and became a desert and most of the crocodiles died out.

B: Have you heard of the Galapagos Islands? These are the islands where Charles Darwin found different species of rare giant tortoises on each island. Did you know that the Galapagos islands are also famous for another reptile: the marine iguanas, or iguanas that live in the sea. These iguanas are remarkable because they shrink in size when there is not enough food, especially during El Nino. Scientists have found that they can shrink by as much as 20% of their body length. In fact, scientists have found that the iguanas can shrink and grow repeatedly throughout their lives. During El Nino, the main food for the iguanas, which is red and green algae, disappears because the water becomes too warm. During this time, up to 90% of the iguanas can die of starvation. Only the ones that shrink survive. The ones that shrink the most are the most likely to survive.

Test to be given after reading and information gap activity:

Questions from A’s Article Who researched the crocodiles? Where do the crocodiles live? When were they researched? What kind of crocodile did they find? How have they adapted to living in the desert? Why did the scientists go to look for crocodiles there? What was the Sahara Desert like thousands of years ago? How do the local people treat the crocodiles? Who do local people protect the crocodiles from? What do local people believe?

Questions from B’s article: What two reptiles does the article mention? What islands does the article talk mention? Which famous scientist did research on the islands? Why are the iguanas remarkable? What do the iguanas usually eat? When do the iguanas have very little food? Why do they have little food at this time? How much can their body shrink? Do the iguanas shrink only one time? Which iguanas usually survive during El Nino?

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Reptile-and-Amphibians Download

Reptile and Amphibians – Information Gap Activity