Text Leveling System

Seals, Sea Lions, and Walruses

RDQ:	640	Max Word/Sent	20	Total Words	923		Diff Words	357
Lex	670	Ave Word/.Sent	9	Hi Freq occurs	518	56.1%	Hi freq	123	34.5%
AR	3.0	Long Sentences	1.1	Low Freq occurs	46	5%	Low freq	31	8.7%

Meet the Pinnipeds
You are sitting on a rock by the seashore. Suddenly, a pair of curious eyes peeks up from the water. As quickly as it came, the animal disappears. You are very lucky-you have seen a seal. Seals, along with sea lions and walruses, belong to a group of animals called pinnipeds.
Pinnipeds are marine, or ocean, mammals. Mammals are animals that breathe air, have fur, and have live babies that drink their mothers' milk. Pinnipeds include seals, sea lions, and walruses. Their name comes from a Greek word meaning "fin-footed." Pinnipeds have flippers instead of feet. Pinnipeds are predators, which means they eat other animals. 
Life in the Ocean
Pinnipeds spend most of their lives in the ocean. They have flippers and long, torpedo-shaped bodies to help them swim. These features make pinnipeds graceful in the water, but awkward on land.
When a pinniped goes underwater, its nose and throat shut automatically. Some seals can hold their breath for over an hour. Elephant seals can hold it for two! 
Most pinnipeds eat fish, squid, octopus, and shellfish such as shrimp and clams. Pinnipeds must dive deep to find these animals. The Southern elephant seal can dive over 1,500 meters (5,000 ft.)! That is deeper than any other mammal can go.
Pinnipeds have large eyes that can see in deep, dark water. They have good ears to hear their prey swimming around. They also have sensitive whiskers that can feel an animal swimming by or moving around on the ocean floor. 
Keeping Warm
Most pinnipeds live in cold oceans near the north and south poles. How do pinnipeds keep warm? Many pinnipeds have dense fur with smooth hairs on the top and thick, fluffy hairs on the bottom. The fluffy hairs are waterproof. Pinnipeds also have a layer of fat called blubber that keeps heat inside their bodies. Some pinnipeds have blubber 10 centimeters (4 in.) thick. 
Some pinnipeds do not stay in cold areas for the whole year. They migrate, or move, to warmer water during the winter. Other pinnipeds live in warm areas year round. Warm-water pinnipeds sometimes have trouble keeping cool under their fur and blubber. 
Coming to Shore
Pinnipeds come to shore, or haul out, to shed their fur, or molt, and to have babies. Some pinnipeds haul out in large groups, while others come to shore one at a time. 
A pinniped mother has only one baby at a time. The baby, called a pup, can move around and swim as soon as it is born. But it does not have blubber, and it can't keep warm in water. It usually stays on land. A baby pinniped drinks its mother's milk for the first few days or weeks of its life. Pinniped milk has lots of fat-it is more like butter than milk. This helps the pup quickly grow a layer of blubber. 
Sea Lions
Sea lions get their name because some of them have manes and roar like lions. This fur seal looks like a lion. It is called a "seal," but it belongs in the same group as sea lions. 
Seals and sea lions look a lot alike. The easiest way to tell them apart is to look for ears. Only sea lions have ears that stick out. Most "trained seals" at ocean parks and aquariums are actually sea lions.
Sea lions swim by moving their long necks and long front flippers. They use their back flippers only to steer. Sea lions can also use their flippers to lift their bodies and "walk" on land. 
Seals
Seals have smaller necks and front flippers than sea lions. They swim by moving their back flippers and hind ends. Seals cannot "walk" on their flippers. Instead, they drag themselves along the ground or crawl like caterpillars. 
The biggest pinnipeds in the world are elephant seals. Elephant seals get their name because of their huge size and long noses. 
Leopard seals are fierce predators. They have big mouths and sharp teeth. They often feed on birds such as penguins. They also attack other seals. Ribbon seals have black fur with white bands. Ringed seals have small, ring-shaped markings. 
Walruses
Walruses are the only pinnipeds with tusks. They use their tusks to show off to other walruses. They also use them to pull themselves up onto land. Some walruses hook their tusks onto floating ice. Then they relax and sleep.
Walruses have very little fur. 
Their thick skin and blubber keep them warm. When a walrus goes into cold water, its skin turns pale. This is because all of its blood moves to the inside its body. When the walrus is warm, its blood moves to the surface again. The walrus turns pink. Walruses like to haul out together in big heaps. 
People and Pinnipeds
People have always hunted pinnipeds. When humans invented large ships and guns, they could hunt and kill many more pinnipeds. Soon, many pinnipeds began dying out. Humans used their fur and skin to make clothing. They ate their meat and burned their blubber as fuel. Only the native people of the far north still hunt pinnipeds. They hunt only what they need to survive. 
People around the world worried about pinnipeds. Countries began making laws against hunting them. Many pinnipeds have begun to come back. But some are still in danger. Pinnipeds become caught in fishing nets. Others get sick because of pollution. Pinnipeds have very few predators, besides humans. It is up to us to decide what their future will be.]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Little support

Vocabulary: More decoding/definition issues

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Formal

Inferences: Some implications

Complexity: Several ideas - closely related

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Maps/Key

Table of Contents

Glossary

Bold/Italicized Words

Headings

Additional activities

Features

Topic

*Animals

Animals: Ocean

Low Frequency Words

aquariums	centimeters	curious	features	footed
fuel	future	graceful	hind	leopard
mammal	manes	marine	markings	migrate
molt	penguins	pinniped	pinnipeds	pollution
predators	ringed	sensitive	southern	survive
torpedo	underwater	walrus	walruses	waterproof
whiskers