Chapter 2: CORALPacific Neighbors

1. THE CORAL ANIMAL•Volcanos make

islands.

•Coral sea animals also make islands.

When they die, they are pressed together to make coral.

New coral builds on top of the old coral and these animals make reefs.

They can only live in warm salt water.

The water must be shallow and clear.

Seaweed lives with the coral

2. How Atolls are formed

Waves hit the coral. This breaks the coral and this makes sand.

After a volcano makes an island in the ocean coral animals

build a reef on the edge.This edge is called

a shelf that is underwater.

Wave brake coral

sand

Then the volcano island sinks. The coral animal must grow up and

out in shallow water.

The reef is now separate from the island. The shallow water in

between the reef and the island is called a lagoon.

reefshallow water

volcano island

lagoon

atoll

coral

reef

shelf (coral)

lagoon

reef island

typhoon

Typhoons have strong winds that damage coral reef islands.

Tropical

Pacific

Weather

CHAPTER 2

The TropicsThe Earth tilts. The Earth goes around the sun at an angle. This movement

is why we have seasons.

click for SEASONS movie

The sun passes closer to the Earth near the equator. These areas are

called the tropics. Hawaii is in the tropics.

The tropics are warm because of the sun.

A typhoon is a large and powerful Pacific storm. In the Atlantic

ocean this is called a hurricane. They cause a lot of damage.

r170693_640606.jpg

They destroy small islands. Typhoons happen in warm weather. They happen at the end of the

summer (July-September).

Typhoons

The rainy season is very hot in the tropics.

Warm wet air rises and when it gets cold it falls back

to the Earth. This is rain.