Asian carp in North America

High school (ages 12+)
Animals & Nature

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/asian-carp-in-north-america

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the lifespan?Typically 10-15 years in the wild, with some individuals potentially living longer
2. What are Asian carp?Asian carp are big fish that originally live in rivers in East Asia. In the U.S., two common types are the Bighead Carp and the Silver Carp. They were brought here to eat algae in fish farms.
3. Why are Asian carp a problem in North America?They eat a lot of tiny plants and animals that other fish need, so the food chain gets upset. They also grow very fast and can outgrow native fish, hurting the whole river ecosystem.

Trophic Levels: The position an organism occupies in a food chain, from producers to top predators.
Phytoplankton: Microscopic marine or freshwater algae that form the base of the aquatic food web.
Zooplankton: Microscopic animals that drift in bodies of water, feeding on phytoplankton and other zooplankton.
eDNA: Environmental DNA; genetic material shed by organisms into their environment, used for detection.