Kia Orana! I just finished reading a book on estuaries. An estuary is a place where freshwater and seawater combine together. There will be a ton of information about plants, animals, habitats, and much more in this reading response. I really hope you find the information about estuaries, their functions, and daily life at an estuary interesting and educational.
- What information do we have?
- In this book, we have information about animals, trees, plants, estuary habitats, wastelands and much more. An estuary is a place where fresh water from a river or stream combines with salt water from the sea. Estuaries are quite different from lakes and rivers because they have tides and salty water. Apparently there are more than three hundred estuaries in Aotearoa New Zealand. Estuaries are similar to a mixing bowl. Ingredients like sediment and nutrients from the land and rivers mix with sea water. An estuary has a large variety of habitats, where plants, fish, and birds live, feed and breed. Most plants or animals need to find the right food and type of environment it prefers to live in. Plants that grow in estuaries are fit to living in salty water that rises up and down. Manawa is a tree that grows in salt water. Its roots have breathing holes, which poke out of the mud so the tree can get air – like we need snorkels to breathe underwater. Like plants, animals that live in an estuary are adapted to living there, and share similar traits. Many birds that fly from place to place often stop at estuaries to rest and search for food. Every year, kuaka fly non-stop for days from Alaska to Aotearoa New Zealand. That’s a whopping 12,000 kilometers! They spend their time feeding from our estuaries, mostly on sea worms and crabs. Estuaries are important because they keep our oceans, rivers and streams squeaky clean.
- What information do we need?
- Half of the book’s information is absolutely necessary, 100% of it. Reading this book felt like learning a valuable lesson in life, especially since it contained so much information about plants, animals, estuaries, and their ecosystems. It’s also critical to educate yourself on the risks included in the book. Reading about animals and their adaptations is also a great thing.
- What information is missing?
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- In this book, I was a bit disappointed by how the dangers of estuaries weren’t exactly included. There are great, fun and safe facts about estuaries, but there weren’t many risks in the book either. According to research, “The greatest threat to estuaries is, by far, their large-scale conversion by draining, filling, damming, or dredging. These activities result in the immediate destruction and loss of estuarine habitats.”
- I think that the learning was educational, and I personally enjoyed researching about estuaries and reading facts about estuaries. It improved both my reading, and thinking. I’m also slowly starting to learn how to think critically, and think deeper.
- Questions: What do you think about estuaries? Did you find any of this information helpful? Please share your answers.