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Amelia Earhart to Her Former Flight Instructor, Neta Snook, 1929

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Amelia Earhart to Her Former Flight Instructor Neta Snook, 1929

This text is provided courtesy of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

The first decades of the twentieth century brought a golden age of aviation. During this exciting period, many pioneering women defied traditional female roles to become pilots. Amelia Earhart is the most famous of this group of aviatrixes, but Neta Snook, the woman who taught Earhart how to fly, is often overlooked.

Snook had been flying for four years, having made a living as a test pilot and a barnstormer, when she met Earhart in December 1920 at California’s Kinner Field, where Snook was a flight instructor. Snook later described her first impression of Earhart: “I’ll never forget the day she and her father came to the field. I liked her on sight.”1 On January 3, 1921, Earhart took her first flying lesson with Snook. Already equipped with an impressive knowledge of aviation and an eagerness to fly, Earhart became Snook’s most famous student.

The two women grew close and discussed not only aviation but also philosophical matters. In her autobiography, I Taught Amelia to

Fly (1974), Snook recounted an instance when Earhart, who was interested in world religions and cultures, had asked her to read the Koran. Snook refused, declaring that there was no mention of Mohammed in the Bible.2 The two women remembered their disagreements fondly rather than bitterly, however, and nearly a decade after they first flew together, Earhart sent this friendly letter to her former instructor remembering their time together. On January 26, 1929, Earhart wrote, “My dear Neta: It is long ago that we flew together at Kinner Field, California. Yes, I do remember discussions of the Koran, and cold boiled potatoes.”

1 [1] Neta Snook Southern. I Taught Amelia to Fly. (New York: Vantage Press, 1974), 101.

2 [2] Snook Southern, 105.

Neta Snook with plane, ca. 1920 (Gilder Lehrman Collection)

Amelia Earhart to Her Former Flight Instructor, Neta Snook, 1929

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At the time this letter was written, Earhart was aviation editor at Cosmopolitan and was responsible for writing about the popularity and trends of aviation. She was involved in co‐founding the Ninety‐Nines, an organization of woman pilots still active today. Her career was full of “firsts”; she was the first woman passenger on a transatlantic flight, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, and the first woman recipient of the flying cross. What would have been her greatest feat became her last adventure, however, as she set out to become the first person to fly around the world at the equator in 1937. Having completed 22,000 miles of the 27,000‐mile trip, Earhart and her navigator, Frederick Noonan, disappeared over the Pacific on July 2, 1937.

By the time of Earhart’s disappearance, Neta Snook Southern had been retired from flying for fifteen years. (She had left aviation in 1922 after her marriage to William Southern.) The two women never had the chance, as Earhart wrote in 1929, to “have a few words about the old days.” In 1977, forty years after Earhart’s disappearance and fifty‐five years after her own last flight, Snook Southern took to the air again when she was invited to pilot a replica of Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis.

TRANSCRIPT

January twenty‐sixth 1 9 2 9

My dear Neta:

It is long ago that we flew together at Kinner Field, California. Yes, I do remember discussions of the Koran, and cold boiled potatoes.

Flying has meant much to me, and I am happy in being associated with aviation in any capacity. Sometime our paths may cross again, and we may be able to have a few words about the old days.

Sincerely yours, Amelia Earhart

Blueprint of the Curtiss Jenny airplane, the type flown by Snook and Earhart during their lessons. (Gilder Lehrman Collection)

Amelia Earhart to Neta Snook Southern, January 6, 1929. (Gilder Lehrman Collection)

Dancing Ganesha

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Dancing Ganesha

This text and image are provided courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

c. 750

Sandstone

Height: 50 inches (127 cm)

Indian Purchased with the New Members Fund,

1971, 1971‐154‐1

Dancing Ganesha

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This is a sculpture of Ganesha (Guh‐NESH‐uh), a beloved Hindu god who is believed to bring good fortune and success in all daily activities. In India, people who visit temples often pray to Ganesha before they worship the main temple god or goddess. Ganesha is easy to recognize because he has an elephant’s head, a round belly, several arms, and is often depicted as having something sweet to eat. Although he is often shown sitting or standing, here he is dancing, which shows his joyful side. In some parts of India he has an adult’s body, in other parts, a child’s body. This image of him was carved from sandstone over a thousand years ago and was probably placed in the south exterior wall of a temple, which still exists in the city of Gwalior in north‐central India. Some parts of the sculpture surrounding the figure of Dancing Ganesha were broken a long time ago when it fell off of the temple. Have you noticed that both his tusks are missing? Ganesha is believed to have broken one of them off and thrown it at the moon because the moon laughed at his potbelly! In another story, his broken tusk is thought to be the pen used to help write the Mahabharata. This ancient Indian poem, about a war between cousins, describes every aspect of Hindu life and thought. Why does Ganesha have more than two arms? Hindu gods are often represented with multiple arms as a sign of their supernatural powers. Here, two of Ganesha’s arms accent the “S” curves of his dancing body: his upper‐right arm extends out from his shoulder as the hand points to his swaying trunk, echoing its graceful bend; his lower‐left arm leads our eyes down to the hip that juts out to the right. The hand of his lower‐right arm holds a large battle‐ax to protect his worshippers from trouble and to cut away bad thoughts. In his upper‐left hand Ganesha grasps a cone‐shaped object that has been interpreted in several different ways: it might be his broken tusk, or a daikon (large white radish)—a great treat for elephants! Like his father, Shiva, he wears a snake around his large belly. Have you noticed that Ganesha holds a round sweet cake (called a modaka) in the end of his trunk? Because he is dancing, his crown has shifted slightly to one side. On his feet are ankle bells, also worn by dancers and elephants in India. He dances on top of a flat pedestal decorated with petals of a lotus flower, a type of water lily. The lotus symbolizes the purity and divine energy of life because, although rooted in the mud of ponds and rivers, its flower rises up out of the water and opens, completely clean, each morning. Every aspect of Ganesha’s round, rhythmically swaying figure is full of such contrasts: he is both heavy and graceful, mischievous and serious, and he seems to embody deep wisdom as well as the joy of a young child.

Dancing Ganesha

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ABOUT THE GOD GANESHA Ganesha is a Hindu god who loves to dance. His name means “Lord of the Ganas” (GAH‐nahz)—small, mischievous dwarfs with round bellies who serve Ganesha and his famous father, Shiva (SHE‐vah or SHIH‐vah). Shiva is one of the three great male gods of Hinduism (HIN‐doo‐ism). Today, Ganesha is worshipped widely by people of different faiths throughout India, Southeast Asia, and around the world. Also called the Lord of Beginnings and the Lord of Obstacles, Ganesha can create challenges, but even more, he can remove them or help people overcome them. People pray to Ganesha to bring them good luck, especially when starting something—such as a journey, a business, a marriage, or a new year—or when facing something difficult, like taking an exam or performing a dance. Ganesha is also known both as the Lord of the Harvest and the Lord of Learning and the Arts. His large elephant’s head symbolizes strength and wisdom. Indian rulers used elephants to win wars, build palaces, and show off their wealth in royal ceremonies. Ancient Indian poets compared elephants spraying water from their trunks to rumbling rain clouds. People today value elephants for their cooperative nature. In the wild they live in family groups headed by females and help one another when calves are born or when a group member is in danger. They also work hard for people to remove trees and do other construction work. There are many stories about why Ganesha has an elephant’s head. One explains how Ganesha’s mother, the goddess Parvati (PARH‐vah‐tee), created him to keep her company while her husband, Education | Shiva, was away from home. She formed Ganesha using clay from the riverbank or, some stories say, a skin softener made of tumeric (a yellow spice) that she scraped off her body. Parvati used her goddess powers to bring her son to life and was so delighted with him that she kept him always by her side. One day before her bath, she asked Ganesha to guard the doorway. When Shiva arrived home unexpectedly, he heard his wife in her bath and found a young stranger who would not let him in. Shiva became so angry that he cut off Ganesha’s head in a fit of rage! When Parvati heard all the commotion, she ran out to find that her son was dead. She explained to Shiva who Ganesha was, and Shiva promised that he would bring the boy back to life with the head of the next creature that came along—which happened to be an elephant! Parvati was happy and Shiva rewarded Ganesha by making him the leader of his army of ganas. Images of Ganesha have been placed above doorways ever since.

Dancing Ganesha

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THE FESTIVAL OF GANESHA CHATURTHI There is a special festival in India dedicated to Ganesha during August and September called Ganesha Chaturthi (chah‐TOUR‐tee). Over one hundred years ago when the country was still under British colonial rule, an Indian freedom fighter promoted the festival to unite the Indian people through pride in their own culture. Today, millions of people celebrate for as many as ten days at home and in the streets. Families buy brightly painted clay sculptures of Ganesha for temporary shrines, which they create in the kitchen or living room. The sculptures are bathed with sacred oils and rubbed with vermilion (a red powder, called kumkum in India), then dressed and presented with rice, fruits, flowers, and lamps that provide sacred light. After these rituals, Ganesha is believed to inhabit the statues, and he is treated as an honored guest and worshipped each morning and evening. Communities in India also create public shrines with statues of Ganesha—some as tall as thirty feet—made of unfired clay by local sculptors. They may include his parents, or even feature Elvis and Madonna! The statues are paraded with music to public spaces where pujas (worship ceremonies) are held for crowds of devotees. On the last day of the festival, all the statues of Ganesha are brought to the sea (or nearby body of water), stripped of their flowers, and carried into the waves, where they dissolve and return to nature.

This sculpture is included in The Arts of Asia, a set of teaching posters and resource book produced by the Division of Education and made possible by a generous grant the from Delphi Financial Group and Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company.

Expedition to a Modern Pompeii

Expedition to a Modern Pompeii Museum Geologist on the Scene of a 1902 Disaster

This article is provided courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History.

On May 14, 1902, Museum geologist Edmund Otis Hovey boarded the U.S. cruiser Dixie, bound for the Caribbean. He had been sent by Museum President Morris K. Jesup to investigate volcanic eruptions that had killed nearly 30,000 people in less than 24 hours the previous week. The first came on the afternoon of May 7, when Mt. Soufrière, on the island of St. Vincent, erupted in a boiling mudflow of steam and ash, killing 1,565 people. The next morning, 75 miles to the north on Martinique, Mt. Pelée exploded in a cloud of hot gases, volcanic ash, and rocks. Traveling at a speed of 300 miles an hour, the searing mass rushed down the mountainside, incinerating everything in its path, including the picturesque seaside town of Saint‐Pierre and nearly all the ships in the harbor. Within two minutes, some 27,000 people were dead. On May 20, the day before Hovey’s arrival in Martinique, a second equally powerful eruption covered the now uninhabited town of Saint‐Pierre again. The scene he encountered defied words. “The devastation wrought by the eruption cannot be appreciated from a verbal description,” Hovey wrote in The American Museum Journal of 1902, “and even photographs do not convey an adequate idea of what has happened” to a city that had enjoyed a reputation as the Paris of the Caribbean. Once a hub of trade in rum, sugar, cocoa, and coffee, its boulevards lined with handsome homes and showy shops, Saint‐Pierre, as Hovey found it, was now a smoldering ruin with barely a brick left standing. Lying as the city did in a cul‐de‐sac in the path of incandescent volcanic discharge, Hovey wrote, Saint‐Pierre and its residents had been “as helpless as an animal in a trap.”

Left: Rubble covers a side street in northern Saint‐Pierre in 1902. Right: Museum geologist Edmund Hovey, second from right, at Mt. Soufrière volcano in 1902.


The eruptions were of a type called nuée ardente, French for “glowing cloud.” Magma or molten rock, supercharged with gases, is less dense than rock and so rises to the surface through cracks and crevices. If the gases can boil off gradually at the surface, the potential force is diffused, sometimes creating the effusive flow of lava we tend to associate with volcano eruptions. But in a nuée ardente, the gaseous magma is blocked and pressure builds until it is eventually released as a dense, swirling mass of hot gas, incandescent dust, and rock fragments known as a pyroclastic flow. The explosive cloud can first rise high into the air and then collapse downward, as Pliny the Younger observed in what is thought to be the earliest recorded description of a volcanic eruption. In letters written years after the AD 79 eruption of Vesuvius, the Roman magistrate gave a remarkably detailed description of what he had seen as an 18‐year‐old across the bay. Vesuvius is sited east of what is now Naples, Italy, and the AD 79 nuée ardente killed some 20,000 people in the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Add water to the mix—as at Mt. Soufrière, which was known for its beautiful crater lake—and the result is the addition of a mudflow, or lahar. The mass of gaseous magma also can create chemical changes that eat away at rocks, weakening them, until the cloud of ash and gas blows out the mountainside before rushing fast and furiously downward. This was documented firsthand at Mount St. Helens in 1980 and is believed to have happened at Mt. Pelée in 1902. “This type of volcano is the most explosive, literally analogous to twisting off the top of a soda bottle,” explains geologist James Webster, curator in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. “When the mountain is ripped open, the volcanic blast is faster and potentially more deadly because it has less distance to travel to reach the surface… What Hovey observed about trees at Mont Pelée is consistent with Mount St. Helens.” Hovey described an odd sight. “The line between scorched and unscorched areas was strikingly sharp,” he wrote. “In many places the line of demarcation passed through single trees, leaving one side scorched and brown while the other side remained as green as if no eruption had occurred.” During his Martinique expedition, Hovey also collected and sent back to the Museum invaluable specimens, molten household objects, pulverized street signs, and lumps of half‐melted lava—called “bread‐crust bombs” for their cracked tops— which had been thrown out of the volcano during the eruption. [A number of these artifacts are on view in the Museum’s special exhibition Nature’s Fury: The Science of Natural Disasters.]


Left: A stack of café glasses were fused together by the heat of the deadly volcanic cloud. Right: This “bread‐crust bomb” was formed when a partly molten mass of lava cooled and contracted causing the solid exterior to crack.

Left: Heat and pressure softened and twisted this champagne bottle. Right: A glass doorknob melted on one side, just as trees observed by Hovey were scorched on one side and, on the other, “green as if no eruption had occurred.”


At the time, volcanology was still in its infancy. A crude seismometer was first introduced in 1840, but even with that technology, scientists simply lacked a clear understanding of how volcanoes erupt. “Since that time we have learned much more about gases, the relationship between seismic activity and magma movement, even about gas opening the rock and providing a pathway for magma to follow,” says Dr. Webster. Hovey’s research was part of that long, steady progression toward a better understanding of volcanoes, of which better prediction is the goal and in which the Museum continues to play an important role. Webster, for example, has explored Vesuvius eight times and teaches a course in Naples every fall. The Museum’s collection of samples from Vesuvius is among the best in the world, after the University of Naples Federico II and the University of Pisa. With little knowledge of how volcanic eruptions occurred, the residents of Mt. Pelée woefully underestimated the risks of living in its vicinity and ignored signals that it was still active. Occasional spewings of steam and ash were taken less as a warning than an occasion for picnics near the mouth of the volcano. As J. Chatenay of Seaboard National Bank, who had lived in Saint‐Pierre until shortly before the 1902 eruption, told The World newspaper on May 10, 1902: “No one ever thought of fearing the volcano, which all thought to be extinct…The people wandered about by thousands, never dreaming that there was any danger.” Even ominous signs in the months and weeks before the May 8 eruption failed to raise adequate alarm. On April 23, earthquakes dislodged dishes from shelves in Saint‐Pierre. The next day, fine ash fell for two hours on a town nearby. On May 2, a lightning‐lit column of ash and fumes rose nearly two miles high above the mountain, and an inch of ash covered Saint‐Pierre. On May 5, a mudflow from the volcano killed 23 people north of the city, and a tsunami reached the harbor 15 minutes later. On May 6, the mountain flung huge molten rocks in the air. Given the state of the science in the 1900s, the people of Saint‐Pierre couldn’t possibly have foreseen what was to befall them. But even today, with better science to back up predictions, an estimated half a billion people live within range of an active volcano, including more than 4,000 townspeople of the rebuilt Saint‐Pierre and, perhaps more strikingly, roughly 4 million people who live in and around Naples. In fact, Naples recently built an emergency response hospital on the slopes of Vesuvius. “It’s a strange concept,” says Webster. “The first place you’d go is the first place that would be destroyed.” Bear in mind that as natural disasters go, the risks worldwide associated with earthquakes and hurricanes are orders of magnitude greater in loss of life and property damage than those


associated with volcanic eruptions. Earthquakes alone affect the lives of some five million people a year. And where volcanoes are being monitored, scientists can generally predict eruptions in advance. Still, the prospect of evacuating a population as dense as that around Vesuvius is daunting. In modern history, Vesuvius had relatively large eruptions in 1631 and 1944, with smaller ones in between—so it is by no means dead. But complicating the assessment of actual risk is the difficulty humans have appreciating geological timescales in which patterns are measured not in decades but in thousands and tens of thousands of years. In addition, even scientists disagree. Vesuvius operates on a very long cycle of major eruptions every 500 to 1,000 years, says Webster, and there is one camp that theorizes a large eruption is not imminent and another that believes Vesuvius could erupt catastrophically soon. Asked which side he falls on, he says, “I don’t know enough. But it definitely warrants heavy monitoring.” ThisreadingwasadaptedfromRotunda,themembermagazineoftheAmericanMuseumofNaturalHistory.Fall2014.

Questions: Expedition to a Modern Pompeii

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Name: Date: 1. Why did geologist Edmund Hovey travel to the Caribbean in May 1902?

A to investigate recent volcanic eruptions on the islands of St. Vincent and Martinique B to investigate the historic volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius C to try and predict when the next eruption of Mt. Pelée would occur D to try and help any survivors of the volcanic eruptions of Mt. Pelée and Mt. Soufrière

2. Towards the end of the article, the author draws comparisons between the risks of which two volcanoes?

A Mount St. Helens and Mount Vesuvius B Mt. Pelée and Mt. Soufrière C Mt. Pelée and Mount Vesuvius D Mt. Soufrière and Mount St. Helens

3. Mt. Pelee and Vesuvius both had nuée ardente eruptions, the most explosive and deadly type of volcanic eruption. In this type of eruption, a cloud of hot ash and gas blows out of the volcano, then rushes very quickly down the volcano’s side. What conclusion can be drawn from this evidence?

A People living near Mt. Pelée and Vesuvius should have known that these volcanoes were active and likely to erupt.

B The nuée ardente type of volcanic eruption is less dangerous to humans than other types of volcanic eruptions.

C The nuée ardente type of volcanic eruption is incredibly dangerous to humans living near a volcano.

D The areas surrounding Mt. Pelée and Vesuvius are unlikely to be damaged by future nuée ardente eruptions.

4. Based on the text, why might predicting volcanic eruptions be an important goal of scientists studying volcanoes?

A because knowing when volcanoes might erupt will allow scientists to help warn people to leave the area in time to save their lives

B because knowing when volcanoes might erupt will allow scientists to gain more information about how volcanoes work

C because knowing when volcanoes might erupt will allow scientists to better understand past eruptions

D because knowing when volcanoes might erupt will allow scientists to collect helpful samples for museums



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5. What is a main idea of this article?

A The eruption of Mt. Pelée in 1902 was similar to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, and should have been better predicted.

B The eruption of Mt. Pelée in 1902 caused massive destruction and death, partly because people at the time did not know much about volcanoes.

C It can be very exciting to live near an active volcano, which is why people currently live near volcanoes that may erupt in the near future.

D A geologist went to study volcanic eruptions in the Caribbean in 1902 to see how they compared to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

6. Read the following sentence from the text.

“With little knowledge of how volcanic eruptions occurred, the residents of Mt. Pelée woefully underestimated the risks of living in its vicinity and ignored signals that it was still active.”

Based on this sentence, what does the word underestimate mean?

A to predict correctly B to analyze completely C to take something too seriously D to not take something seriously enough

7. Choose the answer that best completes the sentence below. Thousands of people lived near Mt. Pelée in 1902 _______ the volcano’s signals that it was still active.

A in spite of B because of C as a result of D resulting in

8. Describe three warning signs of the 1902 eruption in Saint-Pierre that people ignored at the time. Use details from the text to support your description.

______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________



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9. Scientists today hope that their knowledge of volcanoes can help save human lives from future volcanic eruptions. What is one problem that might make it difficult to save lives from a future eruption?

______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ 10. Can scientists’ current understanding of how volcanoes work prevent another terrible loss of human life like the ones in Pompeii and Saint-Pierre? Why or why not? Use evidence from the text to support your argument.

______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________

The Life Line

The Life LineThis text and image are provided courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

1884 Oil on canvas 28 x 44 inches (72.7 x 113.7 cm) WINSLOW HOMER American, 1836-1910

This painting depicts a suspenseful moment during a heroic rescue. Crashing waves, dark threatening skies, and fierce winds surround the two figures in the center. Remnants of a sinking ship are barely visible in the upper left. Only a thin rope supports the weight of the man and woman, who are suspended above the turbulent sea. The woman's clothing and hair are soaking wet, her head hangs back, and her right arm dangles above the water. She holds onto the rope with her left hand, indicating that she is conscious. Perhaps the figures on the distant cliff on the right wait to help the man and woman as soon as they reach the shore.

One year before he painted The Life Line, American artist Winslow Homer witnessed a demonstration of a lifesaving device like the one shown in this picture. He included details that show how it worked. For example, the slack of rope in the water on the left indicates that the people are being pulled to safety by the lower rope on the right. In addition, notice how only the right half of the upper rope has water droplets along its bottom edge. The left half was wrung dry as the pulley moved from left to right.

Homer left some details of this story a mystery. A red scarf flaps in the wind and hides the man's face. Why could this be? Homer also left the conclusion of the story unclear. It is up to us to imagine how this adventure ends.

Philadelphia Museum of Art: The George W. Elkins Collection, E1924-4-15

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The Life Line - Comprehension Questions

Name: ___________________________________ Date: _______________

1. Which artist painted The Life Line?

A. Edward Hopper

B. Winslow Homer

C. Thomas Moran

D. James Whistler

2. What does the first paragraph of this text describe?

A. The first paragraph describes the artist's reasons for creating this painting.

B. The first paragraph describes how a lifesaving device works in real life.

C. The first paragraph describes what is happening in the painting.

D. The first paragraph describes the mysteries left in the painting by the artist.

3. Read this sentence from the text:

"Crashing waves, dark threatening skies, and fierce winds surround the two figures in

the center."

What evidence from the painting supports the author's description of the wind as fierce,

or powerful?

A. The skies look dark and threatening.

B. The rope on the left side is slack in the water.

C. The red scarf looks like it is blowing in the man's face.

D. The woman's hair looks like it is soaking wet.

4. How could the weather in the painting best be described?

A. hot and humid

B. stormy and dangerous

C. calm and rainy

D. bright and windy

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5. What is this text mostly about?

A. the painting The Life Line

B. Winslow Homer's inspiration

C. a heroic rescue at sea

D. how lifesaving devices work

6. Read these sentences from the first paragraph of the text: "Crashing waves, dark

threatening skies, and fierce winds surround the two figures in the center. Remnants of

a sinking ship are barely visible in the upper left. Only a thin rope supports the weight of

the man and woman, who are suspended above the turbulent sea."

Why might the author have used the word "only" in the third sentence of this excerpt,

when mentioning the thin rope?

A. to emphasize that the rope was strong, even though it was thin

B. to make the situation seem even more dangerous

C. to suggest that most rescues like the one in the painting require one rope

D. to imply that the scene in the painting is not realistic

7. Read these sentences from the text.

"One year before he painted The Life Line, American artist Winslow Homer witnessed a

demonstration of a lifesaving device like the one shown in this picture. He included

details that show how it worked."

What phrase could replace the word "it" in the second sentence without changing the

sentence's meaning?

A. the artist

B. the demonstration

C. the picture

D. the lifesaving device



8. According to the text, this painting depicts a suspenseful moment during what?

9. Winslow Homer left some details of the story in the painting a mystery. For instance,

he hid the man's face with the red scarf. What is another mystery that Homer left for the

viewers of the painting?

10. The text says that the painting depicts a "suspenseful" moment. What elements of

the painting create the feeling of suspense? Support your answer with evidence from

the text and the painting.


Excuse Me, You're Blocking My Sun

Excuse Me, You're Blocking My SunAustralians seethe as new apartment towers cast long shadows over their solar panels

By Rob TaylorJune 14, 2017

CANBERRA, Australia-In the shadows of a solar-energy boom here, temperatures are on the rise.

Australia's rapid embrace of rooftop panels-now installed on one in four homes in some areas-has collided with another hot spot of investment, construction of apartments and homes. With many new high-rise buildings casting shade for much of the day, more households want the courts to intervene to prevent potential blockages.

"There needs to be rules, some process in place over how to deal with this," said Jenny Port, a gallery owner who has waged a seven-month battle to block construction of a 16-story apartment tower beside her inner city art space and home in Melbourne. "Right now there's just nothing, no rights at all to the sun."

It is a problem reflected globally as adoption of solar technology outpaces regulators' ability to keep up.

Governments for a long time have offered subsidies to stimulate demand for solar panels-a move that helped developers to reduce costs-among broader policies to curb greenhouse-gas emissions. Now, prices of photovoltaic panels have fallen far enough for many households to attempt going off grid.

Globally, the solar-power industry is expected to achieve a 10th straight year of expansion. IHS Markit expects capacity to grow to 79 gigawatts this year from 77 GW, despite lower demand in China and the U.S., the two biggest markets. The industry is worth an estimated 17 billion Australian dollars in Australia, where renewable-energy investors' dream of creating the "Saudi Arabia of solar."

Australia has more panels on homes than anywhere else, even though it ranks sixth behind countries like Germany and Italy for overall installed capacity due to large takeup by offices and industry there. According to the Australian Energy Council, there are panels on 15% of households. Denman Prospect, a housing project near Canberra, Australia's capital, aims to become the first suburb to mandate panels on every new home.

The fast adoption has attracted entrepreneurs. Tesla Inc. two years ago chose Australia for the global launch of its power-storing batteries.

To operate effectively, solar panels require access to the sun during peak hours.ReadWorks.org · © 2017 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved.

© 2017 Dow Jones. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

Excuse Me, You're Blocking My Sun

But Ms. Port and her partner spent nearly US$3,000 installing eight PV panels atop their art space and home, only for their sunshine to be threatened by the proposed apartment tower.

"I realized we were going to get no sun. A lot of other local people have objected to these developments, but they still get built," she said.

California introduced laws almost 40 years ago that protect homeowners' access to the sun, partly in response to the 1970s energy crisis. Now, 36 U.S. states and the U.S. Virgin Islands protect solar access to some degree, although only 15 have so-called easement laws that stop overshadowing.

One of the most sophisticated solar-rights protection programs is in Boulder, Colo., where an ordinance sets limits on shading with a hypothetical "solar fence" extending up to 25 feet around a boundary in summer, shielding neighbors.

But other countries have been slow to act. Germany, which has added around 7 GW of solar-energy capacity annually in recent years, doesn't guarantee unfettered access to sunlight.

"You simply have to make sure your plot of land is so large new buildings can't block light for your solar cells," said Olaf Reidt, partner at Berlin-based law firm Redeker Sellner Dahs.

Adrian Bradbrook, an expert in energy law at the University of Adelaide, said solar-rights disputes mostly occur outside equatorial latitudes, where the sun passes overhead in peak hours. Consequently, it hasn't triggered problems in crowded Asian cities like Bangkok and Jakarta.

"It's a continual battle between development and other interests, particularly in temperate latitudes," he said. "The U.S. is really the leader. You can't just leave it to courts. At the very least [Australia] could have laws requiring municipalities to take [solar rights] into account."

In Victoria state, Planning Minister Richard Wynne said overshadowing was a problem in areas where homes and offices competed for land. Lawmakers were open to improving solar rights guidance to municipalities to help achieve a target for 40% of electricity needs coming from renewables by 2025, he said.

Australia's Housing Industry Association fears additional red tape, however.

"How can regulations deal with it without overly complicating it and leading to even more disputes?" said Graham Wolfe, deputy managing director of the association, which represents developers.

In smaller cities like Adelaide in South Australia, Mr. Wolfe said solar regulation could inhibit new projects that offer new jobs to offset factory closures.

A group of Adelaide residents recently banded together in a court challenge to block successfully a four-story apartment complex that would have overshadowed 27 homes and a local community garden.

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Excuse Me, You're Blocking My Sun - Comprehension Questions

Name: ___________________________________ Date: _______________

1. What do solar panels require to work properly?

A. access to the sun during peak hours

B. access to heat during the warmest part of the day

C. access to light from the sun or the moon

D. access to the sun only during the summer

2. What problem are households in Australia with rooftop solar panels facing?

A. Many solar fences are being built to prevent different parties from accessing the sun.

B. Many regulations are being implemented to support big construction companies in blocking the sun.

C. Many high-rise buildings are being developed and blocking the households' access to the sun.

D. Many solar panels are too big and expensive for individuals to install and maintain by themselves.



3. Please read these sentences from the text.

"Australia's rapid embrace of rooftop panels-now installed on one in four homes in

some areas-has collided with another hot spot of investment, construction of

apartments and homes. With many new high-rise buildings casting shade for much of

the day, more households want the courts to intervene to prevent potential blockages.

'There needs to be rules, some process in place over how to deal with this," said Jenny

Port, a gallery owner who has waged a seven-month battle to block construction of a

16-story apartment tower beside her inner city art space and home in Melbourne. "Right

now there's just nothing, no rights at all to the sun.'"

What conclusion can be drawn about the issue of 'rights to the sun' in Australia based

on these sentences?

A. It has been an important issue in Australia for a very long time, but no one has understood it fully till recently.

B. It is a relatively new issue in Australia, and people have not properly addressed it yet.

C. It is a bigger issue for developers of high-rise buildings than it is for households with solar panels.

D. It is a bigger issue in Australia than it is in other places in the world.

4. Based on the text, who is most likely to be against laws or regulations in Australia

that protect people's access to the sun?

A. building developers and construction workers

B. lawmakers and the court system

C. residents of the sunniest parts of Australia

D. residents of countries other than Australia



5. What is the main idea of this text?

A. In Australia, a group of residents have banded together in a court challenge to block a four-story apartment complex from being built by their homes.

B. In Australia, there is an ongoing struggle between households and building developers over the households' right to access the sun for solar power.

C. Lawmakers in Australia are open to creating guidance and regulations to help protect people's solar access and boost their usage of renewable energy.

D. While it is possible to create regulations to protect solar access, they often come with red tape and complications that lead to more disputes.


Time for Jazz

Time for Jazzby ReadWorks

Lina had been at it for an entire hour. Her fingers were poised on the shiny white keys of her piano. Old and crinkled sheet music sat in front of her, the black notes blankly staring at her. She stared at them for so long, her vision started to blur. Lina had been working on this piece for the past week, trying to master the tricky rhythm and memorize the movements required by her long fingers. She loved the piano; she always had, ever since she started playing at the age of six. But something was beginning to bother her. She was growing tired of the pieces her teacher assigned her week after week. They were all classical music pieces, and even though Lina loved them, she was itching to try something new.

She decided to take a break. She got up from the piano bench and stretched her stiff limbs. She walked into the kitchen, grabbed some celery and peanut butter out of the fridge, and turned on the radio. The room was suddenly filled with the sound of blaring trumpets, beating drums, a singing saxophone, and trilling piano keys. She assumed her dad had been listening to this station earlier in the day-he had always been a big fan of jazz music. Lina had never really joined in on her father's passion for that type of music, but something about this particular song made her listen more carefully.


Time for Jazz

Lina's trance was broken by the sound of the back door opening.

"Helloooo!" her dad called out.

"Hey dad, what's the name of this song?" she asked him, eagerly.

He stopped in his tracks and listened for a few seconds.

"I think this one is called 'Things Ain't What They Used to Be' by Duke Ellington and his big band," he said. "Isn't it beautiful?"

Lina nodded her head in agreement. "I wish I could play the piano like that," she told him.

"Why not?" he asked. "All your classical piano training will help a lot if you want to learn jazz piano."

"All right, I'll ask Mr. Wilson next week at class if we can start doing some jazz lessons!" she said excitedly.

Lina continued to listen to the jazz radio station for the rest of the evening. While she and her dad prepared dinner, they were serenaded by the sounds of crooning saxophones and beating cymbals. The two didn't talk; they just swayed back and forth to the rhythm of the music while chopping vegetables and waiting for pasta to boil.

Just as they were setting the dinner table, Lina's mom rushed through the door.

"Sorry I'm late!" she said. "I had to stay longer at work than I had planned."

"You're just in time for dinner!" Lina replied and pulled out a chair for her mom to sit down.

As she plopped down onto her seat, she caught the melody of the tune that was playing on the radio. "Ohhhh, I love this song. My father used to play this on our piano when I was little," she said with a smile.

Lina asked if her mom listened to jazz while growing up.

"Oh, all the time!" she exclaimed. "My dad was a huge fan. He was a pianist himself. He learned how to play from his father-my grandfather-who was around when swing music was just becoming popular," she explained.

"When was that?" Lina asked.

"Well, swing music-a type of jazz style with a strong beat that really makes you want to dance-was played for a long time by the African-American community before it really became popular. My grandfather and his father were playing swing long before it was heard on the radio. When the Great Depression hit in the 1930s, many Americans were out of jobs and money. So of course they needed something to cheer them up. When people heard swing music, they forgot about their problems. The music was just so uplifting. So big bands, like the one led by Duke Ellington, started to play at famous ballrooms and theaters all across the United States and even Europe," her mom explained.

"And so that's when your grandpa was around?" Lina asked. She was so excited to learn that she had a connection to this music.ReadWorks.org · © 2013 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved.

Time for Jazz

"Yes, he loved to go dancing. He even saw Duke Ellington and his band play once! His favorite song was 'It Don't Mean a Thing if It Ain't Got That Swing,'" her mother replied.

Mr. Wilson had played that song for Lina at one of her weekly classes. He had told her that it was a revolutionary piece of music and is still listened to by jazz audiences today all around the world. Lina loved the way music could be passed down through generations. She wished she could have seen Duke Ellington's band play live.

"Well, it sounds like you're interested in jazz history all of a sudden. What's making you ask all these questions?" Lina's mom asked.

Lina explained that she wanted to learn something new. She had learned enough classical music and wanted to move on to something else.

"Then start improvising!" Lina's mom told her. "Jazz is all about improvising. So many solos you hear on these records are just musicians playing what their heart feels."

Lina thought about improvising. She could hardly imagine just sitting down at the piano and playing anything that came to her mind, just piecing together notes in a way that would captivate her listeners. She remained silent for a while, concentrating hard on what she could possibly play off the top of her head.

Her mom noticed Lina's brow furrow. "The only way you're going to learn how to improvise is if you try," she told her daughter. She walked over to the piano and pulled out the bench. She patted it and looked over to the dinner table at Lina.

"Let's start now!" she said with excitement in her eyes.


Time for Jazz - Comprehension Questions

Name: ___________________________________ Date: _______________

1. What instrument does Lina play?

A. the saxophone

B. the trumpet

C. the piano

D. the drums

2. Throughout the story, Lina asks her parents lots of questions about jazz music. What

motivates Lina's questions?

A. Lina wants to learn something new.

B. Lina is preparing for a music history test.

C. Lina's homework is to interview her parents.

D. Lina needs help with her piano homework.

3. Lina is anxious to learn a different type of music. What evidence from the passage

best supports this conclusion?

A. "Old and crinkled sheet music sat in front of her, the black notes blankly staring at her. She stared at them for so long, her vision started to blur."

B. "She loved the piano; she always had, ever since she started playing at the age of six. But something was beginning to bother her."

C. "Lina had been working on this piece for the past week, trying to master the tricky rhythm and memorize the movements required by her long fingers."

D. "They were all classical music pieces, and even though Lina loved them, she was itching to try something new."

4. What conclusion can be made about Lina's family and their relationship to jazz?

A. Lina is the first person in her family to be interested in jazz.

B. Jazz has been important to many people in Lina's family.

C. Lina's family used to like jazz, but now they think it is too popular.

D. Lina is the only person in her family who doesn't like jazz.



5. What is this story mostly about?

A. Lina learns about jazz and her family's ties to the music.

B. Lina is tired of playing the piano and wants to learn something new.

C. Lina learns how to play jazz piano and improvise new melodies.

D. Lina discovers that both of her parents enjoy jazz music.

6. Read the following sentences: "Lina thought about improvising. She could hardly

imagine just sitting down at the piano and playing anything that came to her mind, just

piecing together notes in a way that would captivate her listeners. She remained silent

for a while, concentrating hard on what she could possibly play off the top of her head."

As used in this sentence, what does the word "improvising" most nearly mean?

A. performing from sheet music

B. making something better

C. inventing new music while performing

D. playing music for an audience

7. Choose the answer that best completes the sentence below.

___________, swing music was played in African-American communities before it

became popular in ballrooms across America.

A. However

B. Finally

C. Obviously

D. Initially



8. What is swing music?

9. Where did swing music originally come from?

10. How was music passed down through generations in Lina's family? Use information

from the passage to support your answer.


Why Do Cave Fish Lose Their Eyes?

Why Do Cave Fish Lose Their Eyes? How evolution can lead to losing abilities as well as gaining them

This article is provided courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History. Deep underground there are caves where the sun never shines. The only light that enters these subterranean spaces is from the headlamps of occasional cave explorers. If you found yourself in one of these caverns and turned off your headlamp, you would see nothing at all; no shadows, no shapes, just total blackness. In some of these underground caves, there are fishes, crustaceans, salamanders and other organisms that have evolved to live without light. For example, more than one hundred species of cave fishes live their lives in perpetual darkness. They depend on senses other than sight to hunt, eat and reproduce. Many of these species of fishes are blind or nearly blind—some don’t even have eyes. Yet they all evolved from fishes that could see. Somehow, over millions of years, these fishes not only acquired the ability to live without sight—they lost the ability to see altogether. How did that happen? How can evolution cause a species to lose a trait? It’s a mystery that evolutionary scientists have been struggling to unravel, and the search for an answer gives us a fascinating look at how evolution works. Regressive Evolution We usually think of evolution in a positive sense, that is, as a process in which species acquire new traits. But in cave fishes we have an example of regressive evolution, a process in which species lose a trait —in this case, the ability to see.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Blind cave fish, Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky


A common assumption is that the ancestors of cave fishes went blind in their evolution because they didn’t use their eyes. Though at first this idea might seem to make sense, it actually has no basis in science. Genes determine the inheritance of traits. For example, the fact that you have five fingers on each hand is because of the genes you inherited from your parents. However, if you have an accident and lose a finger, your children will still be born with five fingers on each hand. If you lift weights and become a body builder, it doesn’t mean your children will be born with bulging biceps. In each case, your genes haven’t changed—even though your body has. Darwin Is Stumped The fact that cave fishes’ ancestors didn’t use their eyes had absolutely no effect on the DNA in their chromosomes. Yet clearly, at some point in the past something happened to their genes that stopped the development of their eyes. This new condition passed on from parent to offspring. How can this sort of regressive evolution be explained? Charles Darwin himself, the scientist who first established a modern understanding of evolution, had trouble answering this question. Darwin lived in the 19th century when DNA hadn’t been discovered and so he didn’t know about genes or their role in heredity. But he understood that traits were inherited and that differences within a species give some individuals an advantage over others. Animals with traits that make them more successful at having offspring will pass on those traits to succeeding generations. He called this process evolution by natural selection. However, Darwin had trouble applying his theory of natural selection to the problem of why some cave fishes are blind. He could not explain how being blind gave those cave fishes an advantage. And if being blind is not an advantage, then how did natural selection lead to a species of blind cave fish? Surprisingly, Darwin was convinced that the loss of eyes could be explained entirely to disuse, which is in fact a Lamarckian explanation. Today, scientists know that this explanation is unfounded.

Lamarck’s Mistake Jean‐Baptiste Lamarck was a French naturalist who lived from 1744 to 1829. He was a pioneer developing theories of evolution at a time when the very idea of evolution was not accepted. Lamarck tried to explain how species evolved but came to an incorrect conclusion—that traits acquired during an organism’s lifetime could be passed down to its offspring. For example, he suggested that giraffes stretched their necks to reach higher leaves, and as a result their offspring were born with longer necks. The idea that cave fishes lost their eyesight because generations of fish didn’t use their eyes is a Lamarckian mistake.


Two Hypotheses Most of what we know now is based on the study of the blind Mexican tetra (Astyanax mexicanus). Scientists have two competing explanations for blindness in the Mexican tetra, which likely apply in other cave fishes as well. The first hypothesis assumes that blindness gives the fish some sort of evolutionary advantage. For example, it’s possible that changes in the gene or genes that cause blindness are also responsible for some other seemingly unrelated change in the fish that is beneficial. Scientists call this pleiotropy—when multiple effects are caused by the same mutation in one gene. To support this hypothesis, scientists would have to look for some advantage to the cave fish that is linked to the same mutation that causes blindness. The second hypothesis that could explain blindness in the cave fish is based on the fact that natural selection does not just reward success, it also weeds out failures. In a lake, where there is sunlight, a fish born blind would have trouble competing with other fish that can see. It probably would not survive to have offspring. But a fish born blind in a dark cave would not be at a disadvantage, since in the darkness eyes are useless. In those conditions, natural selection will not work to weed out the mutation for blindness. Over one to two million years, many more mutations disrupting the development of the eyes will accumulate and eventually the entire population of fish will be blind. This is called the neutral mutation hypothesis, based on the idea that the mutations for causing blindness have no effect (or have a neutral effect) on the survival of the fish living in a dark cave. An Eye‐Opening Experiment A group of scientists at the University of Maryland set out to investigate the developmental causes of blindness in the cave fish. They carried out an experiment with two varieties of the same species of Mexican tetras. One variety lives in bodies of water near the surface where there is sunlight and can see. The other variety of tetras lives in dark caves and is blind. The scientists transplanted a lens from the eye of a surface tetra embryo into the eye of a cave tetra embryo. The result was striking—the surface tetra lens transplanted into the cave tetra caused all of the surrounding tissues to develop into a healthy eye. This experiment demonstrated that despite the degeneration of the eye in the tetra, the genes involved in eye

Mexican tetra (Astyanax mexicanus).


development were still totally functional. This would seem to rule out the neutral mutation theory because, if blindness were caused by an accumulation of many neutral mutations over time, the transplant would not have resulted in the development of a healthy eye. The scientists knew that there are many genes responsible for the development of each part of an eye (for example, the retina, iris, cornea and lens), which develops independently. However, the results of the experiment showed that blindness in the Mexican tetra was not due to mutations in all those genes. Instead, it suggested a small number of mutations in genetic “master switches.” These master switches are genes that control the function of many other genes, including, in this case, those responsible for eye development. These “master switches” have the ability to disable the eye genes so that these remain intact, but inactive. Putting a healthy lens into the cave tetra embryo seems to trigger master switches to send a signal to the inactive eye genes, allowing cave tetras to develop eyes.

If scientists could find the genetic “master switches” that made cave tetras blind, they could discover if the same switches had effects on other traits of the fish that do give it an evolutionary advantage for surviving in caves.


The researchers did indeed find one of those genes. It is nicknamed Hedgehog or the Hh gene. They discovered that the Hedgehog gene does more than cause blindness in cave tetras—when the fish develops without eyes, the skull bones move into the empty eye socket, which at the same time enlarges the nose. Unlike other vertebrates, fishes use their nose only for smelling. It could be that the same control gene (Hh) that stops eye development in the fish also is responsible for enhancing its sense of smell. An enhanced sense of smell would be a definite advantage for a fish that lives in darkness. As a result of these and other experiments, it now seems highly likely that blindness in cave tetras is in part the result of pleiotropy—one mutation that causes blindness in the fish and at the same time, gives them an enhanced sense of smell. Evolution Works Scientists are still studying cave fishes, and new discoveries are sure to be found. But one thing is already clear—the answer lies in the basic processes of evolution that are already well understood. With new tools that give scientists the ability to map genes, find specific mutations, and understand the development of embryos, we are increasing our understanding of how evolution works.

Questions: Why Do Cave Fish Lose Their Eyes?


1

Name: Date: 1. What ability have many cave fishes lost?

A the ability to swim B the ability to smell C the ability to see D the ability to hear

2. To organize this text, the author divides it into sections with subheadings. What is described in the section with the subheading "Darwin Is Stumped"?

A Darwin's understanding of evolution and his explanation of blindness in cave fishes

B Darwin's daily life in the 19th century and the places where he studied blindness in cave fishes

C the animals Darwin studied as a young man that led him to develop his theory of evolution

D the objections that have been raised to the theory of evolution developed by Darwin

3. An organism's genes determine which traits it inherits. What evidence in the article supports this statement?

A "In some of these underground caves, there are fishes, crustaceans, salamanders and other organisms that have evolved to live without light. For example, more than one hundred species of cave fishes live their lives in perpetual darkness. They depend on senses other than sight to hunt, eat and reproduce."

B "We usually think of evolution in a positive sense, that is, as a process in which species acquire new traits. But in cave fishes we have an example of regressive evolution, a process in which species lose a trait—in this case, the ability to see."

C "...if you have an accident and lose a finger, your children will still be born with five fingers on each hand. If you lift weights and become a body builder, it doesn’t mean your children will be born with bulging biceps. In each case, your genes haven’t changed—even though your body has."

D "Jean-Baptiste Lamarck... suggested that giraffes stretched their necks to reach higher leaves, and as a result their offspring were born with longer necks. The idea that cave fishes lost their eyesight because generations of fish didn’t use their eyes is a Lamarckian mistake."



2

4. Based on the information about evolution in this text, what effect does the trait of blindness have on a fish living in a dark cave?

A The trait of blindness has a positive effect; it gives the fish an evolutionary advantage.

B The trait of blindness has a negative effect; it puts the fish at an evolutionary disadvantage.

C The trait of blindness has a neutral effect; it is neither an advantage nor a disadvantage.

D The trait of blindness has a mixed effect; it is an advantage for the fish at certain times and a disadvantage at other times.


A There are caves deep underground where the sun never shines, and in some of these underground caves, there are fishes, crustaceans, salamanders, and other organisms that have evolved over many years to live without light.

B Charles Darwin was a scientist living in the 19th century who was convinced that cave fishes lost their eyesight because they did not use their eyes.

C The neutral mutation hypothesis about the blindness of cave fishes is based on the idea that the mutations that cause blindness have no effect (or a neutral effect) on the survival of a fish living in a dark cave.

D Many cave fishes are blind, and an experiment carried out by scientists suggests that blindness in these fishes is the result of a mutation that also improves their sense of smell.

6. The title of this text is "Why Do Cave Fish Lose Their Eyes?" Why might the author have written the title as a question?

A to encourage readers to answer the question on their own before they read the article

B to prepare readers for a discussion of possible answers to this question in the article C to criticize scientists for not having reached a definite answer about why cave fishes

lose their eyes D to praise scientists for the effort they have put into understanding the cause of

blindness in cave fishes 7. Choose the answer that best completes the sentence. Many species of cave fishes are blind or nearly blind. _______, they all evolved from fishes that could see.

A Consequently B Primarily C However D For instance



3

8. Describe the first hypothesis that scientists have about blindness in the Mexican tetra. Be sure to discuss pleiotropy in your answer. ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ 9. One effect of the Hedgehog gene is to make cave tetras go blind. What is another effect it might have?

______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ 10. As a result of the experiment scientists did with Mexican tetras, it seems likely that their first hypothesis about blindness in the tetras is right. Explain how the result of the experiment supports their first hypothesis. Support your answer with evidence from the text. ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________

An Unwelcome Newcomer

AnUnwelcomeNewcomer

ThisarticleisprovidedcourtesyoftheAmericanMuseumofNaturalHistory.InvasionoftheZebraMussels

Thezebramusselisasmallaquaticanimalwithtwo

shellslikeaclam,namedforitsstripedshell.Thistiny

creaturemaylookharmless,butitcancausebig

problems.Thezebramusselisaninvasivespecies,a

speciesthat’sbroughtfromitsnativeareatoanewplace

whereitthrivesandcauseschangesinthelocalhabitats

andcommunities.

Zebramusselsoncelivedonlyinfreshwaterlakesand

riversofEuropeandAsia.Butinthe1980s,they

appearedintheGreatLakesbetweentheUnitedStates

andCanada.Scientiststhinkthetinyanimalswere

carriedacrosstheoceaninsideofcargoships.Withina

fewyears,themusselswerefoundalongwaterways

fromWisconsintoArkansas.

Howdothesemusselsspreadsoquickly?Asingle

femalecanlayuptoonemillioneggseachyear.Then

theyoungmusselsfloateasilyalongwatercurrents.

Whenthey’reolder,theyattachthemselvestohard

surfaceslikerocksontheriverbedsandthebottomof

boats.Theyformdensecolonies,withasmanyas

10,000musselsinasinglesquarefoot.Eachmussel

clingswithamassofthread‐likestrands,makingthese

coloniesnearlyimpossibletoremove.

ZOOMINZebramusselspumpwaterthroughtheirgillstofilteroutparticlesoffood(primarilyphytoplankton).

AshippassingunderabridgeontheHudson.


Zebramusselscanclingtoanyhardsurface—

includingnativemusselsandothershelledanimals.

Theseanimalsdiebecausetheycan’tfeed.Zebra

musselscanupsetfoodwebsinotherways,too.

Thesefilterfeederspumpwaterthroughtheirgills

andstrainoutmicroscopicorganismscalled

plankton.Zebramusselscanquicklyclearouthuge

bodiesofwater,removingfoodforthenative

invertebratesandsmallfish.

Zebramusselscanalsoaffecthumans—andcause

millionsofdollarsindamage.Themusselsclog

waterpipestobusinessesandpowerplants.They

damageboats,docks,buoys,andotherstructures.

Andtheirshellswashupinhugenumberson

beaches.

TheHudsonRiverInvasion

TheHudsonRiverflowssouththroughNewYork

State,fromthemountainstoNewYorkCity.The

scientistsdescribedinthisstudybeganmonitoring

theriver’secosystemin1986.Atthattime,nozebra

musselslivedintheriver.Butaseriesofwaterways

andcanalsconnecttherivertotheGreatLakes,so

scientistspredicteditwasjustamatteroftime

beforethezebramusselwouldarriveintheHudson.

TheHudsonRiver’secosystemisverydifferent

fromtheGreatLakes.Lakewatersettlesintolayers,

withcoolwaternearthebottomandwarm,clear

STICKTOIT

JUSTTHEFACTS…

Zebramusselsusuallygrowtoaboutthesizeofyourthumbnail.

Cargoshipscarryextrawater(calledballast)tohelpbalancetheboatinoceansandrivers.Zebramusselscanbetransportedinthisballastwater.Zebramusselscantypicallylivefor2‐5yearsandstartreproducingbytheirsecondyear.Zebramusselslovetoeatplankton(microscopicorganisms)andsurviveinbothcoldandwarmwater.

Zebramusselshavetinytentacle‐likeappendagescalled“byssalthreads”thatarecoatedinastickyfoamthathelpthemusselsticktoalmostanyhardsurface!


waterabove.ButwaterintheHudsonisaffectedbytidesfromtheAtlanticOcean.Thesetidalcurrents

mixthewaterfromtoptobottom.Tidesalsostirupsiltfromtheriverbed,makingthewaterturbidor

cloudy.Littlesunlightcanpassthroughthemurkywater.Lesssunlightmeansfewerplantsand

phytoplankton.

ScientistswonderedhowzebramusselsmightaffecttheHudsonRiverecosystem.Soontheywouldfind

out.

UPTHERIVERTheHudsonRiverconnectstheAtlanticOceantotheGreatLakesthroughaseriesofartificialwaterways,includingtheErieCanal.Hundredsofcargoshipsusethis“waterhighway”totransportimportantmaterials,likegasoline,metal,andwood.

Questions: An Unwelcome Newcomer


1

Name: Date: 1. What is a zebra mussel?

A a small striped fish found in rivers and lakes B a small animal with two shells that lives in water C a large animal with one shell that lives in water D a large plant with striped leaves that lives in water

2. How can zebra mussels cause native mussels and other shelled animals to die?

A The zebra mussels feed on the native mussels and other shelled animals. B The zebra mussels rest on top of native mussels and shelled animals and crush

them. C The zebra mussels force native mussels and shelled animals to move out of the

habitat. D The zebra mussels cling to native mussels and shelled animals and prevent

them from eating. 3. Scientists predicted that the zebra mussel would arrive in the Hudson River. What evidence supported their prediction?

A Zebra mussels cling to hard surfaces, forming colonies that are almost impossible to remove.

B Zebra mussels came to the Great Lakes from the freshwater lakes of Europe and Asia.

C Zebra mussels are able to survive in cold and warm water, and the Hudson River has both.

D Zebra mussels were in the Great Lakes, and waterways connect the Great Lakes to the Hudson River.

4. The scientists wondered how zebra mussels might impact the Hudson River ecosystem. What is one example of information that might help them understand the zebra mussels’ impact?

A the amount of plankton in the river before and after zebra mussels arrive B the number of boats traveling on the river before and after zebra mussels

arrive C the amount of time it takes for zebra mussels to travel to the Hudson River D the strength of the tides that come from the Atlantic Ocean after zebra mussels

arrive



2

5. What is the main idea of this article?

A Zebra mussels are the most dangerous invasive species because of the effects they can have on humans.

B Zebra mussels are an invasive species that can affect food webs and new habitats, and were expected to arrive in the Hudson River.

C Zebra mussels can upset food webs by clinging to shelled animals and removing food from large bodies of water.

D Scientists started monitoring the Hudson River’s ecosystem in 1986, even though the river had no zebra mussels at the time.

6. Read the following sentence from the text. “The zebra mussel is an invasive species, a species that’s brought from its native area to a new place where it thrives and causes changes in the local habitats and communities.” What does the phrase “native area” mean in this sentence?

A the food source of a species B the animals or plants related to a species C the new habitat to which a species moves D the place where a species is naturally found

7. Choose the answer that best completes the sentence. Zebra mussels can affect humans and cause millions of dollars in damage. _____, the mussels clog water pipes to businesses and power plants.

A For example B Consequently C However D Therefore

8. What do zebra mussels feed on? ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________



3

9. The Hudson River has murky water, which means that only a little sunlight can pass through. How does this affect the things that live in the river? ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ 10. How might the number of fish in the Hudson River be impacted by the arrival of zebra mussels? Use evidence from the text to support your answer. ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________

The Short-Term Impact of the Zebra Mussel Invasion

TheShort‐TermImpactoftheZebraMusselInvasion

ThisarticleisprovidedcourtesyoftheAmericanMuseumofNaturalHistory.ZebramusselsfirstappearedintheHudsonRiverinMay1991.

Withinayear,scientistsestimatedtheirnumbershadreached

500billion,anenormousamount!Infact,ifyouhadahuge

balanceandputzebramusselsononeside,theywould

outweighalltheotherconsumersintheecosystemcombined:

allthefish,zooplankton,worms,shellfish,andbacteria.

Phytoplanktonandzooplanktonpopulationsdropsharply

Beforetheinvasion,scientistsdevelopedcomputermodelsto

predicttheeffectofthezebramussels.Buttheywerestill

surprisedbywhathappened.By

1992,thereweresomanyzebra

mussels,scientistsestimate

theywerefilteringavolumeof

waterequaltoallofthewater

intheestuaryevery1–4days

duringthesummer.Intheyears

rightaftertheinvasion,

phytoplanktonfellby80

percent.Zooplankton(which

eatphytoplankton)declinedby

half.Andthesmallest

zooplankton(calledmicro‐

zooplankton),fellbyabout90

percent.

Anestuaryisadynamicbodyofwaterwherefreshwaterandsaltwatermeet.TheHudsonRiverismorethanariver:it’satidalestuary,wherethesaltwaterfromtheAtlanticOceanmeetsthefreshwaterrunningofftheland.

WATCHWHATHAPPENSThisgraphshowsthechangeintheamountofphytoplankton(representedbytheblueline)over18yearsintheHudsonRiver.(Theamountofphytoplanktonismeasuredbytheamountofchlorophylltheycontain.)Lookatthegraylineabove:there’sabigchangeinthebluelinewhenthezebramusselsfirstarrivedintheriver.Whatdoyouthinkhappened?


By1994,scientistshypothesized

thatzebramusselswere

responsibleforthesechanges.

Themusselswerefilteringhuge

amountsofphytoplanktonfrom

thewater.Lessphytoplankton

meantlessfoodforzooplankton,

sotheirnumberswereshrinking

too.Competitionwastaking

placeandthezebramussels

seemedtobewinning.

Thefoodwebchanges

Inthenextfewyears,thedatasupportedtheirhypothesis.Scientistsmadeotherfindingstoo.They

observedthatthedecreaseinphytoplanktonandzooplanktonhadeffectsthatrippledthroughoutthe

foodweb.Withlessfoodavailable,therewerefewer—andsmaller—fishintheopenriver.The

populationofnativemussels,whichalsoeatplankton,shrankfrommorethanonebilliontoalmostnone.

Butsomepopulationsincreased—likelyduetothechangeintheriver’sturbidity,orcloudiness.Withfar

lessphytoplankton,thewatergotclearer.Duringthesummertime,visibilitywentfrom3–4to4–8feet.

Sincesunlightreacheddeeperintothewater,rootedaquaticplantssuchaswaterceleryincreasedbyup

to40percent.Populationsoffishlivingintheseshallowweedsincreased.Anothersurprisingresultwas

thatdissolvedoxygenintheriverfellbyabout15percent.Thedropwasn’tenoughtoendangerany

ABIGCHANGEThisbargraphshowsthechangeintheaveragenumberofrotifers(atypeofzooplankton)intheHudsonRiverbeforeandafterthezebramusselsbecameestablishedin1992.

ALONGTHERIVERTheHudsonRiverflows315miles(507km)throughNewYorkwithover1,000cubicfeetofwaterpassingbyeverysecond(or600cubicmeterspersecond).Scientistswanttounderstandhowtheriverchangesovertimeandspace.


aquaticanimals,butitwasstillahugeamountofoxygen.Scientiststhinktheenormouszebramussel

populationswereconsumingalotofoxygenveryquickly.Atthesametime,themusselswereremoving

thephytoplanktonthatproduceoxygen.

Questionsaboutthelong‐termimpact

Whathappensonceaninvasivespeciesbecomesestablishedinanecosystem?Theinvader’spopulation

mightevolvetoadapttoitsnewhome.Ornativespeciesmightevolvetobettertolerateorevenfeedon

theinvader.Orotherspeciesmightarrivethataremoreresistanttotheeffectsoftheinvasion.Once

scientistshadaclearpictureoftheinvasion’simmediateimpact,theystartedtowonderaboutlong‐term

consequenceslikethese.

Questions: The Short-Term Impact of the Zebra Mussel Invasion


1

Name: Date: 1. How many zebra mussels were there in the Hudson River within a year of their first appearance?

A 500 billion B 500 million C 500 thousand D 500

2. This text explains a cause-and-effect pattern in the Hudson River ecosystem that began with the zebra mussel invasion. What effect did the zebra mussels have on the phytoplankton in the Hudson River?

A The number of phytoplankton in the river rose by a little. B The number of phytoplankton in the river fell by a little. C The number of phytoplankton in the river rose by a lot. D The number of phytoplankton in the river fell by a lot.

3. Phytoplankton are one of the most important parts of the food web in the Hudson River. What evidence supports this conclusion?

A The population of phytoplankton dropped sharply soon after zebra mussels invaded the river.

B The decrease in phytoplankton caused a decrease in the river’s zooplankton, fish, and native mussel populations.

C The decrease in phytoplankton meant that the river’s turbidity, or cloudiness, decreased.

D Zebra mussels caused oxygen levels in the river to drop, partly by removing the phytoplankton that produce oxygen.

4. Which population was helped by the invasion of the zebra mussels?

A phytoplankton B zooplankton C water celery D native mussels


A In the years right after the invasion, zebra mussels evolved and adapted to the Hudson River ecosystem.

B In the years right after the invasion, zebra mussels caused a number of changes in the Hudson River ecosystem and food web.

C In the years right after the invasion, zebra mussels did not have a major impact on the Hudson River ecosystem or food web.

D At first, zebra mussels did not have any impact on the Hudson River ecosystem, but their impact increased over time.



2

6. Read these sentences from the text. “In the years right after the invasion, phytoplankton fell by 80 percent. Zooplankton (which eat phytoplankton) declined by half. And the smallest zooplankton (called micro-zooplankton), fell by about 90 percent.” Based on these sentences, what does the word “decline” most nearly mean?

A to drop in number B to fall over C to increase D to stay the same

7. Choose the answer that best completes the sentence. With far less phytoplankton, the water got clearer. ______, rooted aquatic plants such as water celery increased by up to 40 percent.

A In contrast B However C As a result D Similarly

8. What are two populations that decreased as an immediate result of the zebra mussel invasion? ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________



3

9. One direct effect of the zebra mussel invasion was a decrease in the cloudiness of the water. How did this affect species in the Hudson River ecosystem? ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ 10. Once scientists understood the short-term impact of the zebra mussel invasion, they started to wonder about the invasion’s long-term impact on the ecosystem. Why might the Hudson River ecosystem look different many years after the zebra mussel invasion than it did just a few years after the invasion? Use evidence from the text to support your answer. ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________

Human Microbiome: The Role of Microbes in Human Health


by American Museum of Natural History This article is provided courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History.

You Are an Ecosystem

An ecosystem is a community of living things that interact with each other and with the non-living things in their physical environment. Forests, lakes, and caves are ecosystems. Each contains a unique mix of living components, like plants and animals, and non-living ones, like air, sunlight, rocks, and water. The human body is also an ecosystem. We are home to thousands of kinds of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other microscopic organisms, which number in the trillions. These organisms are called microbes. Together they form communities that make up the human microbiome. Like fingerprints, no two human microbiomes are the same. That makes each person not just an ecosystem, but a unique ecosystem.

Photo Credit: AMNH

The human body is an ecosystem. We are home to trillions of microbes.

Microbes first appeared over 3.5 billion years ago, making them the oldest form of life on Earth. Over the past six million years, humans and microbes have coevolved to form complex relationships. Humans need a microbiome to stay healthy, and the microbiome needs environments provided by the human body in order to survive.

Just like larger organisms, the species that make up a microbiome interact with each other and rely on these interactions to thrive. Different species live in different places in and on our bodies, and are adapted to these environmental conditions.

Scientists are studying how these microorganisms work in our bodies, and learning about the balance among different bacterial communities. Products like antibacterial hand sanitizers can wipe out all bacteria on a patch of skin, good and bad alike. Antibiotic drugs also destroy helpful bacteria along

ReadWorks.org · © 2017 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved.© 2016 American Museum of Natural History. All rights reserved. Used by Permission


with their targets. Fungi evolved the ability to produce anti-bacterial chemicals as they competed with bacteria over millions of years of evolution. By studying these fungi, scientists learned how to manufacture these anti-bacterial chemicals and turn them into antibiotic drugs, which have saved millions of lives. At the same time, studies suggest that rapidly increasing antibiotic use in the United States has reduced the diversity of our microbiomes.

Supporting Players

Do the bacteria in your body act as friend or foe? As pathogen or protector? It depends.

Thousands of species of bacteria inhabit our bodies, and researchers are only beginning to understand the complex interrelationships among them-and between microbial cells and human ones. We know that some are pathogens and cause disease. Scientists are increasingly finding that the majority of bacteria are not harmful. Rather, many benefit us in a variety of ways, from aiding digestion to protecting our teeth.

Scientists are just beginning to understand what roles these organisms play in human health. It's a complicated dynamic and the effects on human health depend on the population size of the microorganisms and on conditions in their ecosystem, the human body. The key? Balance. Here are some of the species that play an important part in maintaining a healthy equilibrium-bacteria that, you might say, have your back.

Skin Deep

Photo Credit: iGEM

Bacillus subtilis releases toxic chemicals to kill fungus, possibly including Trichophyton interdigitale

and other species that cause athlete's foot.

Perhaps not surprisingly, skin-our interface with the world-supports a large number of the body's most diverse populations of bacteria. There are at least 1,000 different species of skin bacteria, along with dozens of fungi and other microbes. Most aren't harmful, and many protect us. They live among the dead skin cells that make up our skin's outer layer, and defend their own turf against other microbes. One strain of the bacterium Bacillus subtilis, which can be found on the skin, produces bacitracin, a toxin that helps it fight off other microbes. Scientists have taken advantage of bacitracin's antibiotic properties, using it in over-the-counter antibiotic ointments.

Gut Feeling



Photo credit: AMNH

H. pylori can cause diseases like gastritis. It also helps protect against diseases that include asthma, allergies, and even cancer.

In the mid-1980's, internist Barry J. Marshall infected himself with the corkscrew-shaped bacterium Heliobacter pylori. This earned him not only the nickname "guinea-pig doctor" but also the Nobel Prize, which he shared in 2005 with pathologist J. Robin Warren for their discovery that this common organism was a pathogen. H. pylori caused gastritis (irritation or inflammation of the stomach lining) and peptic ulcers, diseases long thought to be caused by excess acid resulting from stress. Treatment with antibiotics led to the near-eradication of stomach ulcers in developed countries, as well as to a drop in stomach cancers, for which gastritis is a risk factor. But as welcome as these cures are, researchers now think H. pylori also serves a positive role in human health. New diseases related to the loss of H. pylori are on the rise. Studies strongly suggest that it is essential to the prevention of asthma, allergies, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and esophageal cancer.

Look, Ma, No Cavities!

Who isn't familiar with the dreaded strep throat? An extremely painful inflammation of the back of the throat, it's caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes, which gave strep throat its name. The same bacterium causes rheumatic heart disease. But there are more than 50 recognized species of Streptococcus, many regularly found in the human mouth, respiratory tract, and other organs. Some, like S. pyogenes, are proven pathogens, causing conditions that range from cavities (S. mutans) to pneumonia.

(S. pneumonia). But others seem to do no harm, and may even work against troublesome strains of fellow Streptococci. Streptococcus salivarius, for example, which is found in the human mouth and respiratory tract, can be dangerous to people with weakened immune systems if it escapes outside the oral cavity. But in the mouth it appears to help prevent both gum disease and tooth decay.



Colon Colony

Photo Credit: AMNH

Bacteroides are by far the most numerous bacteria in the human body. They help the human body digest food.

Far more bacteria live in the colon than anywhere else in the human body. Most species are anaerobic, which means they don't require oxygen. That includes species that belong to the genus Bacteroides, which are among the most predominant. Outside of the gut, strains of Bacteroides can cause abscesses in the abdomen, brain, liver, pelvis, and lungs, as well as bacteremia, an infection of the bloodstream. But in the colon they break down carbohydrates, produce enzymes that target specific foods, and extract energy from those foods. One species, B. fragilis, appears to stimulate immune cells called regulatory T-cells, which restrain aggressive inflammatory T-cells that can trigger colitis and other disorders. Researchers are also beginning to tease out the possible relationship between the overall makeup of a person's gut microbiome and a propensity toward obesity. Studies have even found that microbiomes have an effect on the moods of mice, suggesting that the bacteria in our gut could play a role in conditions like depression. It's probably impossible to overstate the usefulness of bacteria in the colon.

Being Healthy Means Having a Balanced Microbiome

We're covered in bacteria and other microorganisms from the time we are born. Our microbiome grows and changes with us over the course of our lives. It reflects the places we go, the things we do, and the food we eat. We now understand that a diverse and balanced microbiome is essential for a strong immune system. Some scientists think that infants who lack exposure to microorganisms develop a higher rate of allergies, asthma, eczema and other health problems. In fact, the microbiome is so important that it is like an additional organ-a part of the body that serves a vital function, like the skin or kidneys. Nurturing it helps keep our bodies functioning properly.


Human Microbiome: The Role of Microbes in Human Health - Comprehension Questions

Name: ___________________________________ Date: _______________

1. What is the human microbiome?

A. all of the communities of microbes in and on the human body

B. a drug that destroys helpful bacteria along with harmful bacteria

C. a species of bacteria that helps protect humans against asthma

D. a group of people in developed countries who are infected with Heliobacter pylori

2. To organize this text, the author divides it into sections with subheadings. What

contrast does the author make in the section with the subheading "Look, Ma, No

Cavities!"?

A. The author contrasts the harmful effects of Heliobacter pylori with the positive role it may play in human health.

B. The author contrasts the number of bacteria on our skin with the number of bacteria in our colon.

C. The author contrasts harmful species of Streptococcus with a species of Streptococcus that can be helpful.

D. The author contrasts the effects of Bacteroides inside the colon with the effects of Bacteroides outside the colon.

3. Some species of bacteria benefit humans.

What information in the text supports this statement?

A. S. mutans is a bacterium that causes cavities, and S. pneumonia is a bacterium that causes pneumonia.

B. Fungi evolved the ability to produce anti-bacterial chemicals as they competed with bacteria over millions of years.

C. The bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes causes strep throat and rheumatic heart disease.

D. Species of bacteria belonging to the genus Bacteroides help the human body digest food.



4. Bacteria that are helpful in one place may be harmful in another.

What information in the text supports this statement?

A. Heliobacter pylori is a bacterium that causes gastritis (irritation or inflammation of the stomach lining) and peptic ulcers, diseases which were once thought to be caused by too much acid.

B. Streptococcus salivarius appears to help prevent tooth decay in the mouth but can be dangerous to people with weakened immune systems if it gets outside the mouth.

C. Bacillus subtilis releases toxic chemicals to kill fungus, possibly including Trichophyton interdigitale and other species that cause athlete's foot.

D. Skin, which is our interface with the world, supports a large number of the human body's most diverse populations of bacteria, including Bacillus subtilis.


A. Microbes first appeared over 3.5 billion years ago and have coevolved with humans over the past six million years.

B. Studies suggest that rapidly increasing antibiotic use in the United States has reduced the diversity of our microbiomes.

C. Bacteroides are the most numerous bacteria in the human body and help it digest food.

D. The human body is an ecosystem made up of microbes that play a variety of roles in human health.



6. Read these sentences from the text.

"Perhaps not surprisingly, skin-our interface with the world-supports a large number

of the body's most diverse populations of bacteria. There are at least 1,000 different

species of skin bacteria, along with dozens of fungi and other microbes. Most aren't

harmful, and many protect us."

Based on this information, what does the word "diverse" probably mean?

A. having a lot of variety

B. being harmful to others

C. being helpful to others

D. moving from one place to another

7. Read this sentence from the text.

"In fact, the microbiome is so important that it is like an additional organ-a part of the

body that serves a vital function, like the skin or kidneys."

What word or phrase could replace the second "like" in this sentence without changing

the sentence's meaning?

A. instead

B. such as

C. except

D. later on

8. What is a species of bacteria that causes disease?

9. What is a species of bacteria in your body that helps protect you? Support your

answer with evidence from the text.ReadWorks.org · © 2017 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved.


10. Describe the different roles that bacteria play in human health. Support your answer

with evidence from the text.


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