1. Available at http://planet.uwc.ac.za/nisl Reading

2.   It is important to be able to read and ingest information   The following are a series of exercises to help you, when faced with a passage of information Introduction

3.   Read the passage on Rattle snakes, write the main idea or concept for each paragraph   Note any supporting ideas and any examples given in each paragraph Task one

4. Read this passage and put the concepts into diagrams “The sun’s rays cause fresh water to evaporate from seawater and the salts are left behind. Vaporised fresh water rises into the atmosphere, cools, and falls as rain over the oceans and the land. A lesser amount of water also evaporates from bodies of fresh water. Since land lies above sea level, gravity eventually returns all fresh water to the sea, but in the meantime, it is contained within standing waters, flowing water, and groundwater. ” Task two

5.   Take the following points and describe what you understand as the big picture   Divide the points into paragraphs (example, paragraph 2 = point numbers 3 to 6) 1. 1.Environmental pollution is a possible cause for the decline of some populations of amphibians 2. 2.Amphibians may serve as biological indicators 3. 3.Their skin absorbs toxic substances 4. 4.A major form of pollution in some areas is atmospheric acid deposition 5. 5.Acid rain lowers the pH of water below the tolerance level of eggs and larvae of many amphibians 6. 6.Frogs with multiple, missing or twisted legs have been turning up in high numbers in Canada and the USA 7. 7.Investigators are trying to find a possible chemical contaminant in the water 8. 8.Another type of pollution is solid waste 9. 9.24,000 metric tons of plastic packaging material is dumped into the world’s oceans each year 10. 10.Sea turtles encounter it and inadvertently eat it Task three

6.   Read and understand the following passage   Explain the passage to your partner   Write the passage in your own words   Give your passage a heading   Expand the heading into a sentence Task four “The living components of the ecosystem can be categorised as either producers or consumers. Producers are autotrophic organisms with the capability of carrying on photosynthesis and making food for themselves. In terrestrial ecosystems, the producers are predominantly green plants, while in freshwater and marine ecosystems, the dominant producers are various species of algae. Consumers are heterotrophic organisms that use preformed food. It is possible to distinguish four types of consumers, depending on their food source; herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, and decomposers. ”