The Wonders of the Galápagos
What is that?
By: Audrey G, Ryan M, Josh S
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Introduction..........................................................................................................3
Who is Charles Darwin?.......................................................................................6
How were the Galápagos Islands formed?...........................................................7
How its like to live in Galápagos Islands..............................................................8
Animals on the Galápagos....................................................................................9
References...........................................................................................................10
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Introduction
Have you ever wondered what the Galápagos Islands are, how they formed or who studied them? What it's like
to live on the islands.What animals you can find on the islands?Did you know that The Galápagos Islands are home
to some of the rarest animals on earth?If you don't, then this is the book for you!
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Animals on the Galápagos Islands!
By Audrey
How did the animals get on to the Galápagos
Islands.? After the islands formed sea birds dropped
seeds and droppings that carried seeds onto the
islands,
P.U grouse.The plants grew over the years
and land birds found and came to the islands. After
the birds came, some land and sea animals appeared
on the islands. Scientist think most of the animals
flouted to the islands on rafts torn from the mainland
in fierce storms! Most of the animals that appeared on
the islands could not fly or swim to get to the
islands.The nearest pice of land was the coast
of
Ecuador 600miles away from the islands."now that's
far away!"All the islands belong to Ecuador. There are
13 major islands,6 smaller islands and dozens of
islets.Out of all the islands only 4 belong to people. "
Only 4 islands?"Human-beings have also accidentally
http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/03_03/tortortoDM1903_800x554.jpg
A marine iguana warming up in the sun
and intentionally brought new Animals to the islands.
These include cats, dogs, fire ants, goats, pigs and rats.
These animals compete with native animals for food!
In some cases they even feed on the native animals!
"Ouch! They really need to put an end to that!"
"Hurray!" In 1959 Ecuador made the Galápagos
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National Park to help protect the environment there.
The park includes 90% of the islands land area.
"Wow! That's a lot of land!" In 1998 Ecuador
established the Galápagos Marine Reserve to help save
the marine life. Ecuador extended the protected waters
to 40 miles (65 kilometers) offshore. I guess it's people
vs. animals on the Galápagos!
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Who is Charles Darwin?
By Josh
don't appear anywhere else in the world like the Giant
Tortuses! Wow! Wasn't Charles Darwin a genius!
Before 1835 no one studied the Galápagos Islands
until Charles Darwin came around. Charles Darwin
researched the islands in 1835 he was a famous
English researcher who researched the islands and its
wildlife he mostly studied Giant Tortuses because they
are the most common animals. He published the
origin of species book and it had the Galápagos in it
and a whole section on Giant Tortuses! He stayed on
the island for five weeks and he made very important
discoveries on the islands like rare animals. There are
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/45/
Charles_Darwin_1880.jpg/220px-Charles_Darwin_1880.jpg
Researcher of the Galápagos Islands
many types of finches he discovered 13 different types
of finches and he believes the finches have evolved
over time from other bird spicies He saw animals that
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How were the Galápagos Islands
formed?
By Ryan
Do you ever wonder how the Galapagos islands
were formed? The Islands were created 5 to 9 million
years ago. They are just groups of volcanos. Volcanos
are about 3.5 million years old. Volcanos are formed
by the earths surface when it's
pushed together.
Volcanos rise from the water and form an island.
Magma dries and it turns into solid and can build
higher and higher. Rocks break down and turns into
soil then plants can grow. Now you have to wonder
how the Galápagos Islands was formed!
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How its like to live in Galápagos
Islands
By Ryan
The Galapagos Islands are a great place to live.
They have beautiful and interesting plants, animals
and eye catching views . But sometimes it can be a
difficult place to live. Over 25,000 people live there.
People only live on four islands. The islands weren't
settled until 1807 and it became part of the ecuador
in 1832. People who live in the Galapagos Island earn
there living from tourism People visit the Galapagos
national park to see the giant tortoise , marine iguanas
and many beautiful plants. People of the Galapagos
http://www-staff.it.uts.edu.au/~jenny/photos/galn/slides/
Galapagos%20National%.20Park.JPG
island rely on the ocean . Many people fish for a living
but it has become extremely difficult because of the
many restrictions put in place by the government .
Even though Galápagos Island can be difficult place
to live on tourists still come for its beauty , interesting
wildlife and variety of plants.
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Animals on the Galápagos
By Audrey
There are many,MANY animals in the Galapagos
Islands. Three of the most common animals are Giant
Tortise, Sea Lions and Marine Iguanas.The Giant
Tortise sleeps under bushes or in craters and can
weigh up to 500 lbs. The Sea Lion pups sound like
lambs and mothers like sheep. The Marine Iguanas
the only lizards that feed in the sea. Swallow Tailed
Gulls are another animal. They are the only night
gulls in the world! There eyes glow in the dark to help
them see at night. There chicks feed the same way as
Boobies have 6 inch long beaks. Marine Turtles, my
http://ak1.abmr.net/is/images.nationalgeographic.com?U=/wpf/media-live/
photos/000/006/cache/ridley-sea-turtle_687_600x450.jpg&V=3rPKd9tRnweVuvL+gSDEld2QnPHthEi8hE%2f90RMY%2fO31T%2fObO89XPo
% 2 f V D h i e x 5 U O Q P I e D z 1 x 0 b K E
%3d&I=3EAB36E81FF23F4&D=nationalgeographic.com&01AD=1&
favorite, can also be found at the Galapagos. They lay
This is what baby Marine turtles look like if they survive.
penguin chicks. Another example is blue -footed
between 70-100 eggs but not all of them survive.
Penguins can also be found in the Galapagos. These
Penguins can travel 20 miles per hour in the water.
"That's fast!" The animals of the Galapagos are very
unique.
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References
The Galápagos Islands By: Greg Roza
Galápagos Islands: Natural Wonders By: Erinn
Banting
Dawn to Dusk in the Galápagos By: Rita Golden
Gelman
Galápagos Islands by Cynthia Kennedy henzel
www. Galapa guide
www. Konicaminolta .com
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