port of call: georgetown, grand cayman! - abcteach.com€¦ · · 2018-02-01port of call:...

Integrated Unit / Cruising the Caribbean – Part 2

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Port of Call: Georgetown, Grand Cayman!

Where are the Cayman

Islands Located? The black dot on the map shows

the area where the Cayman Islands

are located. There are three Cayman

Islands in the Caribbean Sea. If we

drew them on the map they would

look like tiny dots! Grand Cayman is

the largest. The two smaller islands

are Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. What is an island? An island is a body of land

that is surrounded by water on all sides. It is different from a peninsula. A

peninsula is a piece of land that is surrounded on 3 sides by water. The fourth side

is land. The map shows the large Yucatan Peninsula. It includes part of Mexico and

Guatemala and all of the country of Belize. There are other small peninsulas shown

on the map. See if you can locate them all!

A Short History of the Cayman Islands

Last night, Morris and I decided to read more about the Cayman Islands.

We found out that they were “discovered” by Christopher Columbus on May 10, 1503,

on his last journey to the “New World.” He called them Las Tortugas, which means

“the turtles” because there were a lot of sea turtles that lived near the islands. After

this many sailors stopped at the islands to get turtle meat. Very few people stayed

on the islands because pirates often attacked ships that sailed near them. Famous

pirates such as Blackbeard and Sir Henry Morgan liked to stop at the Cayman Islands.

The islands were renamed on maps as the Caimanau, which was the Caribe Indian

word for crocodile. Finally, people started living there. The first person who stayed

there was Isaac Bodden who was born on the island in 1661.



England took control of the islands in 1670. People came and lived on the island,

building small towns beginning in the 1730s. At this time, the Cayman Islands

became a colony of England along with the island of Jamaica. This meant that they

belonged to England even though they were very far away from it. The King and

Queen of England were the rulers of the colonies. The King and Queen of England

sent a governor to the colony to rule it for them. Jamaica stopped being a colony in

1962. They chose to join the British Commonwealth, which is a group of 54

countries that used to be colonies of England. These countries now have their own

governments, but work together so they can achieve common goals. In the

Caribbean, the Bahamas, Belize, and Jamaica are all members of the British

Commonwealth. The Cayman Islands chose to remain a colony of England. Today,

they are called a British Overseas Territory instead of a colony. The Queen of

England is their ruler. She chooses a prime minister to rule the Caymans for her.

The island of Grand Cayman is 22 miles long. Its area is 76 square miles.

About 39,335 people live on the island. Yankee Stadium holds a little more than

54,000 people. This means that the whole island of Grand Cayman has a smaller

population a capacity crowd at a baseball game there! The biggest industries, or

businesses, on the island of Grand Cayman are banking and tourism. Cruise ships

bring many tourists to the Grand Caymans! People on Grand Cayman speak English,

like we do. English is their official language!

There is no fresh water on the Grand Caymans. The people of Grand Cayman

get drinking water in three different ways. One way they get fresh water is by

changing sea water into drinking water. This is called desalination. This word means

“taking the salt out”. There are two desalination plants on Grand Cayman that

make fresh water for people to drink. This meaning of the word plant means “a

building/place where something is made”. For example, a power plant is a place

where electricity is made. The second way they get drinking water is by catching rain

water in large barrels. The final way to get drinking water is to buy bottled water!

This water has to be brought to the island by an airplane or ship.



Name: ___________________________

Directions: Use the information on pages 1-2 to answer the questions below:

1. Look at the map on page 1.

The Cayman Islands are closest to Cuba and _________? A. Bahamas

B. Haiti

C. Jamaica

D. Belize 2. Explain how an island is different from a peninsula:

______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ 3. Use the map to help you answer the following question:

Which of the following is NOT an island?

A. Bahamas

B. Cuba

C. Honduras

D. Dominican Republic 4. Why did Christopher Columbus name the islands “Las Tortugas?” ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ 5. Why did many sailors stop at Las Tortugas? ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________



6. What was one reason that people didn’t want to stay and live on Las

Tortugas before 1661?

___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________

7. Who were two famous pirates that liked to stop at Las Tortugas?

___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________

8. Which of the following best tells what a colony is?

A. A country that is owned and ruled by another country.

B. A country that cooperates and works with another country.

C. A country that is very far away from another country.

D. A country that is ruled by a king and queen.

9. Explain two ways that Grand Cayman is like Florida:

______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________

10. Read this sentence from the text: ”There are two desalination plants on

Grand Cayman that make fresh water for people to drink.” Which

sentence below has the same meaning of “plants” as this sentence?

A. The farmer plants corn in his field in April.

B. My mother’s favorite plants are violets and roses.

C. The power plants make electricity.

D. He watered the plants so they wouldn’t die.



Exploring Grand Cayman: The Coral Reef!

We can’t wait until 9:00!

That’s when our ship will drop its

anchor and tender off the shore

of Grand Cayman.

We get to go ashore here and

take a tour of the island!

Georgetown is the first stop on

our journey. We will get in a small boat called a tender boat and travel from our ship

to the shore.

Finally it was time to

go. Everyone was loaded

into one of the ship’s tender

boats. This is a picture

showing what the town of

Georgetown looks like as

your tender boat comes

towards the shore of the

island. The buildings are

either white or brightly-

colored. People in the

islands like to paint their

houses bright colors!

Georgetown is the capital of Grand Cayman. It has a lot of shops where you can

buy jewelry, crafts, clothing and many other items. We got on our tour bus to explore

the island. Our guide told us that in the Cayman Islands everybody drives on the left



side of the road! This is opposite of the way we drive in the United States. The

reason they drive on the left side is because that is how people drive in England!

The first part of our tour is underwater! We got into a semi-submersible boat.

This boat has a deck below water with large windows in it. Morris and I found a great

seat by the largest window. Mom and dad sat behind us. We saw fish and a shipwreck

that was under water as our boat traveled toward the coral reef.

We stopped when we reached the coral reef. Our captain got into scuba gear and

fed the fish, so they would come close to the windows and we could see them. We

saw parrot fish, blue tang, tarpon, and many other brightly-colored fish. There were

too many fish to remember all their names!

Blue Tang: The Blue Tang mom saw were Atlantic Blue Tang. They are a darker blue than this one.

Tarpon: This shows the head of a Tarpon. Tarpon are large fish. They can grown to be 5 to 8 feet long!

Parrot Fish: Parrot Fish can be green or blue. They have a mouth that looks like a beak.

The fish know that the boats will come several times a day, and the captains will

go into the water and feed them. Because of this, the fish get very excited when the

boats come and swim after them! The captain has a special glove that has bread in

it. When he waves his hand in the water, the bread comes out of the glove and the

fish eat it. The captain says fish are very smart. Every night large fish called tarpon

swim to the restaurants that are near

docks. The chefs save them scraps and feed

them! Our captain said the chefs have

trained the tarpons!



Mom went snorkeling on the reef. Dad stayed on the boat. We wanted to

snorkel, too, but the captain didn’t have any masks and fins that were our size. We

stayed on the boat and watched mom snorkel!

Mom said the coral reef was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen! She

told us about a school of fish she had seen. She said they glided over the corals like

butterflies! She saw grunts, parrot fish and blue tangs. Mom told us that the water

was so clear, you could see the bottom 15-20 feet down from the surface of the

water!

Dad talked to us about corals. He collects fossil and modern shells and corals, so

he knows many interesting facts about them. Corals look like rocks but they are living

animals. Each coral head is made up of many tiny soft-bodied animals called polyps.

(pronounced: pol-lips) Polyps look like tiny flowers. They have many tiny arms

called tentacles that they use to catch food. Each polyp gives off a mineral called

calcium carbonate, which is what limestone is made of. This makes a hard

exoskeleton (outside-skeleton). The exoskeleton protects the polyp’s soft body.

Many polyps that live together form a coral head. There are many different kinds of

corals.

This drawing shows the coral polyps living in

their limestone skeletons. The exoskeletons

are like rooms that they live in. They call these

calicles (cal-ih-kuls) or little cups! You can see

why in the picture. They really look like little

cups! The polyps can stretch out of their “little

cup” or go back into it.

This picture shows living polyps that

are stretching out of their

exoskeletons. When sea creatures

come too near to coral heads, the

polyps hide in their calicles. Many

sea creatures eat polyps.



Large numbers of coral heads that live together in an area form a reef. A barrier

reef is a large reef near the shore of a continent or islands. The Caribbean Sea has

the second largest barrier reef in the world! It is called the Mesoamerican Barrier

Reef System. It is 1,000 kilometers, or 621 miles, long. It stretches from the tip of

the Yucatan Peninsula to the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras!

Corals belong to the group of animals called invertebrates. Invertebrates are

animals with soft bodies. Many invertebrates have hard shells or exoskeletons to

keep their soft bodies safe. Fish belong to a different group of animals called

vertebrates. Vertebrates are animals that have backbones. Vertebrates that you

might find on or around a coral reef would be tropical fish, stingrays, sharks, sea

turtles, and humans! Invertebrates that live on a reef include the corals, sea shells,

sponges, sea anemones (pronounced: uh-nem-on-eez), crabs, shrimp, starfish,

jellyfish, and many other sea creatures.

The picture below shows fish swimming on the coral reef. Dad took the picture

from the underwater window on the semi-submersible boat!



Name: ___________________________

Directions: Use the information on pages 5-8 to answer the questions below:

1. Read this sentence from the story: “Georgetown is the first stop on our

journey

Another word that means almost the same as

.”

journey

is _____.

A. tender

B. trip

C. island

D. location 2. Why do people in Grand Cayman drive on the left side of the road? A. Everybody in the Grand Caymans drives on the left side of the road.

B. It is opposite of how people drive in the United States

C. People in England drive on the left side of the road.

D. It allows people to explore the island on tour buses. 3. Explain why a semi-submersible boat a good way to see things under water: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ 4. Why did the captain feed the fish when they stopped at the coral reef?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Explain why the captain said, “The chefs have trained the tarpons.”

______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________



6. Why didn’t Morris and Melvin go snorkeling with their mom? A. The fins and masks were too big for them. B. They wanted to stay on the boat with dad. C. They didn’t know how to use snorkels and masks. D. They wanted to stay on the boat and watch their mom snorkel.

7. Write three important details that describe a coral polyp:

______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 8. Where is the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System located?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Look at the pictures on page 7. Use them to answer the next two questions: 9. What is another name for the exoskeleton of a coral polyp? _____________ 10. Explain one reason why coral polyps hide:

______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 11. Explain how a vertebrate is different from an invertebrate: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 12. List vertebrates and invertebrates you might find on a coral reef:

Vertebrates Invertebrates



Exploring Grand Cayman: The Island!

After we finished riding around under water, we got off the boat and walked

back towards the bus. Mom stopped to take a picture of Morris and me upon a

cannon. The cannon was from an old sunken ship. We think it was from a pirate

ship, but mom said most of the ships back in those days had cannons on them.

“Aaaarh! Shiver ME Timbers!” (That’s pirate talk!) It looks big, lumpy and black!

Mom says that’s what happens to iron when it has been under the water for a long

time. Who knows? This cannon could be hundreds of years old! It could be

Blackbeard the Pirate’s cannon. AAAARH!

We got on the bus after that and started the island part of our tour. We wanted

to go on the pirate ship that was anchored in the harbor. Mom and dad wanted to see

the island, so off we went.

We mentioned before that the islands are a part of Great Britain. This seems sort

of strange because Great Britain is all the way over in Europe, and we are down here

in the Caribbean Sea near Central and South America. I guess it all has to do with all

those early explorers who came from England, Spain and France long ago. Anyway,

our guide showed us where the Prime Minister lived. A prime minister is sort of like a

president. He is in charge of the country, but he works for the people.

Here we are on the lumpy, black cannon!

Melvin



The Prime Minister is appointed by the Queen of England. You can see a picture of

his house below. He has the biggest house on the island, we think!

Next, we went to see the beaches. Most of their beaches are limestone rock.

You have to be careful when you walk on it, because it is sharp. There are lots of

corals and shells on the beaches, too. Unlike these beaches, Seven Mile Beach, on

the west end of the island, is made of white coral sand. It is 5.5 miles long and is the

most popular beach for tourists. Many nice hotels, resorts, and restaurants are found

along this beach. We did not go to Seven Mile Beach on this tour, but our guide told

us all about it!



The beach kept everyone very busy

for awhile. Dad was very busy taking

pictures of snails. Mom was very busy

trying to get dad’s mind off of the snails,

so he would take pictures of us. Everybody

else on the tour was very busy watching

dad take pictures of us and saying things

like, “Look at the moose. Aren’t they

adorable?” As usual, we were the center

of attention! When it was time to go, our

guide was very busy counting tourists

and making sure that we all got on the

bus. Morris and I saw a pirate ship. “ARRRRRRHHHH….we want to ride on the pirate ship, mom,” growled Morris.

“Maybe later, said Mom. Right now we’re going to see sea turtles!” Our next stop was at the Sea Turtle

farm. Turtle meat is a traditional food for

the Caymanian people. However, turtles

became harder to find in the wild, so in

1963, the Cayman Turtle Farm was built.

Here, people raise sea turtles. 40% of them

are put back into the ocean so that there

will always be enough sea turtles. The

other 60% are raised for turtle meat. The

farm, can produce about 1800 turtles a year. Between 1980 and 2006, the farm

released an estimated 30,600 turtles back into the Caribbean Sea. We know they are



doing well, because scientists have found these turtles in many different areas

throughout the Caribbean Sea.

When the tour was over we returned to Georgetown. Mom went to look at

emerald rings. Dad went to look at seashells. We went to look for PIRATES! We

found one and had our picture taken with him. Dashing, aren’t we? AAAARRRH! Another product that is made in the

Caymans is rum and rum cakes! WE

think this is because pirates liked rum

and they used to live here! Mom bought

rum cakes to take home as presents.

We returned to our ship at about 4

o’clock. Morris fell asleep on the tender

boat and started snoring. Mom made

him roll over so he would stop. I saw

the pirate ship again, and took a picture

of it since I didn’t get to ride on it. Mom

said, “Maybe next time we’re here!” I

know what that means! I think I’ll save

my money and book my own tour next

time. AAARRRRRRH!

Dad said he was going to go play

BINGO as soon as we got back to our

stateroom. I think we’ll all just take a nap, so we won’t miss the ice carving and

midnight buffet at the pool party. Tomorrow we are going to stop at our next port of

call, Costa Maya, Mexico.

Tonight we MIGHT pretend to be pirates and take over the cruise ship. Mom says

we will get thrown in the brig if we try it. Morris and I think it might be worth it.

AAAARRRH!!



Name: ___________________________

Directions: Use the information on pages 11-14 to answer the questions

below:

1. Which sentence best tells what this story is mostly about?

A. Melvin and Morris learned about Grand Cayman by reading about it.

B. Melvin and Morris learned about Grand Cayman by taking a tour of the island.

C. Melvin and Morris went on an underwater tour and learned about Grand

Cayman.

D. Melvin and Morris went on a tour of Georgetown and learned about Grand Cayman. 2. Read this sentence from the story, ”The Prime Minister is appointed

Queen of England.” Appointed means ___________

by the

A. People voted for him, so the Queen told him the job was his.

B. The Queen chose him and gave him the job.

C. The Queen approved of him.

D. People know he rules the island for the Queen. 3. Why did mom want dad to stop thinking about snails at the beach?” ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. How is Seven Mile Beach different from most of the beaches on Grand Cayman? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________



5. Why did the people build a turtle farm on Grand Cayman in 1963?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 6. What do the turtle farmers do that is helpful for sea turtles?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7. Why did Melvin say, “I think I’ll save my money and book my own tour next time?” ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. Why did mom make Morris roll over on the way back to the ship on the

tender boat?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

9. Find and list three details that the author includes in the story to show

the reader that Morris and Melvin are very interested in pirates:

______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________



ANSWER KEYS FOR READING COMPREHENSION SHEETS Pages 3 & 4 1. C. Jamaica 2. An island is surrounded on all sides by water. A peninsula is surrounded on three sides by water. The fourth side is bordered by land.

3. C. Honduras 4. “Las Tortugas” means the turtles. He named the Islands this because there were many sea turtles in the waters around the islands. 5. To get fresh turtle meat. 6. Pirates often attacked ships sailing in this area. 7. Blackbeard and Henry Morgan 8. A. A country that is owned and ruled by another country. 9. Florida is like Grand Cayman because tourism is one of the most important businesses in both places. The people in both Florida and Grand Cayman speak English.

10. C. The power plants make electricity. Pages 9 & 10

1. B. trip

2. C. People in England drive on the left side of the road. 3. Suggested Answer: A semi-submersible boat a good way to see things under water because it has a deck that is underwater and has big windows below the water’s surface that you can look through. 4. The captain fed the fish when they stopped at the coral reef so that many fish would swim by the windows of the semi-submersible and people could see them.



5. The captain said, “The chefs have trained the tarpons,” because every night the tarpon swim to the restaurants by the dock to eat scraps that the chefs have saved for them. The tarpons are trained to go the restaurants every night!

6. A. The fins and masks were too big for them. 7. Answers will vary: Suggested Answer:

1. Coral polyps are tiny soft bodied animals with tentacles. 2. Coral polyps give off a mineral called calcium carbonate which makes an exoskeleton to protect them. 3. When many coral polyps live together they form a coral head.

8. It stretches from the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula to the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras Look at the pictures on page 7. Use them to answer the next two questions: 9.calicles 10. They don’t want to be eaten by other sea creatures. 11. A vertebrate has a backbone. An invertebrate does not have a backbone. 12. List vertebrates and invertebrates you might find on a coral reef:

Vertebrates Invertebrates tropical fish, stingrays, sharks, sea turtles, and humans

corals, sea shells, sponges, sea, crabs, shrimp, starfish, jellyfish

Pages 15 & 16 1. B. Melvin and Morris learned about Grand Cayman by taking a tour of the island.

2. D. The Queen chose him and gave him the job.

3. She wanted him to take pictures of Melvin and Morris (the moose) 4. Seven Mile Beach has soft white coral sand. Most of the other beaches have limestone rock on them and are not as easy to walk on. Seven mile beach is the favorite beach for tourists.



5. The people build a turtle farm on Grand Cayman in 1963 because turtle meat is a traditional food in the Caymans. Turtles were becoming scarce in the waters around the islands, therefore they decided to raise their own turtles. 6. 40% of the turtles are released back into the ocean so that there will be always be enough sea turtles. 7. He really wanted to ride on the pirate ship and asked his mom several times. She kept saying maybe later. He wants to book a tour on the pirate ship the next time he comes to Grand Cayman.

8. He fell asleep and was snoring. She wanted him to stop so she told him to roll onto

his side.

9. Here are four possible details:

1. Melvin and Morris try to talk like pirates saying “Shiver me Timbers” and “ARRRRR.” 2. They want to ride on the pirate ship. 3. They go find a pirate statue in Georgetown and get their picture taken on it. 4. They want to pretend they are pirates and take over the cruise ship.

port of call: georgetown, grand cayman! - abcteach.com€¦ · · 2018-02-01port of call:...

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