Australia’s Giant Toads

How did cane toads get to Australia, and why do 6 The Australians are not quite sure how to get
people see them as such a pest? rid of cane toads. In fact, they continue to spread
1 Think about toads that you may have seen in across the continent. Cane toads eat many types
the woods, on a hike, or at a zoo. How large do of Australian wildlife. They can also be
you think they were? Even the largest toads dangerous to pets and children. Even so, not
probably were not as big as the cane toad. This everyone in Australia hopes that the plans to rid
toad, native to South America and the Caribbean, the country of these animals will be successful.
can weigh as much as four pounds! Some people even leave food in their backyards
or adopt the giant toads as pets!
2 In 1935, sugar cane farmers in Australia
were having a problem with two types of beetles
that were destroying their crops. About one
hundred cane toads were shipped to Australia
from Hawaii. People hoped the toads would be a
solution to the problem. Unfortunately, things
turned out very differently than they had
anticipated. The cane toads quickly became a
more annoying pest than the beetles had ever
been.
3 There are several things that make the
cane toad so unusual. First of all, the cane
toad has almost no natural predators. If the
cane toad feels threatened, it will secrete a
poisonous liquid. This liquid can kill children
and small animals. It can even blind an adult
for several hours.
4 The cane toad is also poisonous in all stages
of its life. Fish normally feed on the eggs of
frogs and toads, but even the eggs of the cane
toad are poisonous. Each pair of cane toads can
produce more than 30,000 eggs each season.
Because many of the eggs and tadpoles are able
to mature, the cane toad population can grow
very rapidly.
5 This is exactly what happened in Australia.
Without any predators, there were suddenly
thousands of cane toads in the Queensland
area. People might have been more tolerant if
the animals had been successful in getting rid
of the sugar cane beetles. It turned out, however,
that the cane toads did not have any effect on
the beetles, which could easily fly out of
harm’s way.

Spectrum Reading Grade 5

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 NAME ________________________________

Write the words from the passage that have the

meanings below. 1. Do you think cane toads will continue to be
a problem in Australia? Explain your answer.
1. originally from a particular place
___________________________________
___________________________________
Par. 1 ___________________________________
2. in danger
2. Why were cane toads first brought to
___________________________________ Australia?
Par. 3

3. to produce a liquid or other substance ___________________________________

___________________________________ ___________________________________
Par. 3

4. the number of people, plants, or animals in 3. Why are there so many cane toads in
a specific place Australia if only one hundred or so were
___________________________________ originally released?
Par. 4

5. patient; accepting ___________________________________

___________________________________ ___________________________________
Par. 5

A synonym is a word that means the same, 4. Check the sentence that best states the main
or almost the same, as another word. Find a idea of the selection.
synonym in the story for each of the words _____ Cane toads can weigh as much as
below. four pounds.
6. irritating ___________________________ _____ Cane toads do not have any natural
Par. 2

7. grow up ____________________________ predators in Australia.

Par. 4

8. quickly_____________________________ _____ Cane toads were brought to Australia

Par. 4 to eat sugar cane beetles, but they
The suffix -ist means someone who does ended up becoming a dangerous pest.
something. For example, a biologist is someone
who studies biology. Add ist to each base word
below. Then, use each new word in a sentence.
9. art ________________________________
___________________________________ 1. If you wanted to learn more about the cane
toads in Australia, check the subjects below
10. violin _____________________________ you could use to find information in an
encyclopedia.
___________________________________
_____ amphibians _____ Australia
11. novel ______________________________
_____ sugar cane _____ mammals
___________________________________
_____ nonnative species _____ toads

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Aussie Animals
How are the animals in Australia different from 7 “That’s pretty fast!” exclaimed Vijay.
those you might see where you live? 8 “Do any other animals carry their babies in a
1 Gemma, Kayla, and Vijay were eating lunch pouch?” wondered Kayla aloud.
on the small patio behind the school’s cafeteria.
Kayla and Vijay were asking Gemma questions
9 “The koala and the wombat do,” said
about Australian animals. They couldn’t believe Gemma. “They are marsupials like the
that Gemma didn’t think it was anything special kangaroo.”
to see a kangaroo hopping along the side of a 10 “I know what a koala bear is,” said Vijay,
road or grazing in a field. “but what is a wombat?”
2 “When you see something all the time,” 11 “Well, a koala isn’t really a bear,” Gemma
Gemma explained, “you hardly even notice it. explained. “People just call them that because
Do you know how many times you’ve seen a they resemble a teddy bear. Koalas spend most
squirrel, or a deer, or a raccoon in your life?” of their lives sleeping. There is a type of tree
3 “Of course not,” said Vijay. “But seeing a called a eucalyptus (yoo kah LIP tuss) that
kangaroo would be completely different.” grows in Australia. It’s pretty much the only
thing that koalas eat. They don’t get much
4 Gemma laughed. “Not if you lived in energy from the leaves, though, which is why
Australia,” she said. they spend so much time sleeping.”
5 “Is it true that a mother kangaroo carries her 12 “It sounds like they need a change in their
baby in her pouch?” asked Kayla. diet,” laughed Vijay. “Is the wombat similar to
6 “Sure,” replied Gemma, pausing to take a the koala and kangaroo?”
bite of her sandwich. “Aussies call baby 13 “The only real similarity is that it is a
kangaroos joeys. They live in their mother’s marsupial, too. Otherwise, the wombat looks
pouch until they grow a bit larger. Then, they like a beaver or a groundhog. It burrows
can take care of themselves and keep up with the underground and makes tunnels that are 10 to 15
others in their group. Did you know that feet long. Some people get wombats as babies
kangaroos can travel more than 30 miles per and train them. I had a friend who had a very
hour?” nice pet wombat named Gillian.”
14 “Won’t you miss the animals in Australia?”
asked Kayla. “No one in Massachusetts has a
wombat for a pet.”
15 Gemma smiled. “I might miss them a little,”
she said, “but I’ve never seen snow. I never saw
a real raccoon or a deer before I moved here. I
also never saw a cardinal or a chickadee. I think
Massachusetts is going to be a very interesting
place to live.”
16 “I guess it all depends on what you are used
to,” said Vijay. “But I’d take the animals of
Australia over a deer any day of the week!”

Spectrum Reading Grade 5

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 NAME ________________________________

Write the words from the story that have the

1. What are baby kangaroos called in Australia?
meanings below.
___________________________________
1. an area next to a building that is often used
for eating outdoors 2. Why do koalas spend so much of their time
sleeping?
___________________________________
Par. 1
___________________________________
2. feeding on grass
___________________________________
___________________________________
Par. 1
3. What kind of pet is Gillian?
3. a type of mammal that carries its young in a
pouch ___________________________________
___________________________________ 4. Why do you think a baby kangaroo lives
Par. 9
in its mother’s pouch for a while after it
4. look like
is born?
___________________________________
Par. 11 ___________________________________
Words that are opposite in meaning are called
___________________________________
antonyms. Read each word below. Then, write
the letter of its antonym on the line beside
the word.
5. _____ true a. shrink
6. _____ grow b. always Write the name of the reference source you
could use to find out the information in each
7. _____ similar c. different
question below.
8. _____ never d. false
encyclopedia dictionary
Underline the compound word in each sentence. atlas
Then, write the two words that make up each
compound. 1. Where could you look to find the location
of a particular city in Australia?
9. The babies of marsupials live in their
mothers’ pouches until they can take care ___________________________________
of themselves.
2. Where could you look to find the meaning
______________ ______________ of the word burrows?
10. The wombat makes its nest underground. ___________________________________
______________ ______________ 3. Where could you look to find information
about what kangaroos eat?
11. The wombat looks like a groundhog or a
beaver. ___________________________________
______________ ______________

Spectrum Reading Grade 5

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