Toronto has a huge sports stadium, a science centre and great museums. But there’s one attraction it doesn’t have, that some big cities have—a large aquarium.
Now, an aquarium may be built in Toronto. If it is approved by the City Council, it could be ready by July 2015.
The aquarium would be in a large building. It could include many thousands of fish and marine animals including sharks. One idea is to have a jellyfish room with special lighting and mirrors to make it look very exciting. Another idea is for a tunnel that people could walk through to see the fish swimming around and above them.
An aquarium would make a lot of money for Toronto. Visitors to the city would come to the aquarium to see the fish. It would also attract school groups for field trips to see the life that exists underwater.
The makers of the book and TV show Ripley’s Believe it or Not are supporting the project and will be helping to pay for it. The Canadian government will also put some money toward the project. People living in Toronto will also be contributing to the payments since some of their tax money will help to pay for the building.
The aquarium may be placed near the CN Tower downtown. There are many things that could stop the aquarium from being built such as lack of money or City Council (Toronto’s government) saying no to the project. But if it goes through, it will be a wonderful tourist attraction for the city.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
Writing/Discussion Prompt
Imagine you were on the city council. What things would you say to convince the mayor the aquarium is a good or bad idea?
Reading Prompt
A good reader knows that they understand text when they are able to retell what they’ve read. To find out if you understood today’s article, speak with a classmate or someone in your family about today’s article. Pretend like they have never heard about the aquarium in Toronto before. Try to tell the most important parts of today’s story and to include only the most important details.
Primary
Demonstrate understanding of a variety of texts by identifying important ideas and some supporting details (OME, Reading: 1.4).
Junior
Demonstrate understanding of a variety of texts by summarizing important ideas and citing supporting details (OME, Reading: 1.4).
Grammar Feature: Plural Nouns
A noun is a person place or thing. A plural noun is a group of people, places, or things. Most of the time when we make a word plural we add the letter “s” to the end. For example, the word “bird” becomes “birds.” Some words don’t follow this rule though. For example, today’s article includes the plural noun, “fish.”
“Visitors to the city would come to the aquarium to see the fish.”
In fact, this sentence would be pretty silly if the word “fish” meant only one!
Can you think of any other words that writers don’t add an “s” to the end when making plural?
