Seagrass

WORKSHEET

Vocabulary

1. Discarded
   Thrown away, no longer useful.

2. Meadow
   A field of grass, often used to describe a natural habitat for plants and animals.

3. Ecosystem
   A community of plants, animals, and microorganisms interacting with their environment.

4. Restoration
   The act of returning something to its original condition.

5. Invertebrates
   Animals without a backbone, like insects or marine species.

6. Sediment
   Material that settles at the bottom of a liquid, often carried by water or wind.

7. Marine
   Related to the sea or ocean.

8. Delicate
   Easily damaged or fragile.

9. Sustainable
   Able to continue over a long period without harming the environment.

10. Nurture
    To care for and encourage the growth or development of something.

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Grammar Points

1. Present Continuous Tense
   Used to describe actions happening now or around the current time (e.g., "Volunteers are working to restore a habitat").

2. Present Perfect Tense
   Used to describe past actions that are relevant to the present (e.g., "Seagrass has the potential to transform the ecosystem").

3. Passive Voice
   Used to focus on the action rather than who is performing it (e.g., "A meadow is being planted in this riverbed").

4. Relative Clauses
   Used to give additional information about a noun (e.g., "A meadow of seagrass can provide habitat for species of small fish").

5. Modals (can, may, might)
   Used to express possibility, ability, or permission (e.g., "It can actually work towards improving water quality").

6. Future Simple Tense
   Used to express predictions or future actions (e.g., "It will take at least a decade before a self-sustaining meadow forms").

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Activities

Activity 1
Sentence Reordering

Instructions
Put the words in the correct order to form sentences.

1. riverbed / planted / being / in / is / seagrass / the / the

2. provide / can / for / habitat / fish / seagrass / small

3. grown / being / seeds / are / onshore / riverbed / in / planted / before / the

Activity 2
True or False

Instructions
Write True or False for each statement. If the statement is false, correct it.

1. The project aims to restore a river habitat by planting seagrass.

2. Oysters can filter up to 2000 litres of water per day.

3. Seagrass helps lock carbon into the air.

Activity 3
Fill-in-the-Blank

Instructions
Choose the correct word from the word bank to complete each sentence.

Word Bank:
ecosystem, delicate, restore, marine, sediment, species

1. The seagrass project aims to ______ the habitat that was damaged decades ago.

2. A meadow of seagrass provides a home for many ______ of fish and invertebrates.

3. Seagrass is very ______ and needs careful attention to survive.

4. This project helps to improve the health of the local ______.

5. Seagrass helps lock carbon into the ______, preventing it from being released.

6. Oysters play a vital role in cleaning the water in ______ environments.

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Questions

1. Why is it important to restore the seagrass habitat?

2. What is the purpose of the seagrass nursery?

3. How do oysters contribute to the restoration project?

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TRANSCRIPT
Seagrass 

NARRATOR:
Among discarded clam shells, a meadow is being planted in this riverbed along one of England’s most industrialised rivers, one blade of seagrass at a time. Volunteers are working to restore a habitat here that was killed off decades ago. The return of seagrass has the potential to transform the local ecosystem.

SOUNDBITE - Judy Power:
“A meadow of seagrass can provide habitat for all sorts of species of small fish, marine invertebrates. It can actually work towards improving water quality and maybe also in keeping carbon locked into the sediment rather than releasing it into the marine environment.”

NARRATOR:
These green shoots of recovery are incredibly delicate. To increase their chances of survival, the project has established a seagrass nursery, where seeds are grown and nurtured in seawater tanks onshore, before being moved and planted in the riverbed.

SOUNDBITE - Henry Short: 
“So these are our oyster nurseries.”

NARRATOR:
Seagrass is just one part of the effort to enhance habitat and water quality here. The project also aims to reintroduce oysters to the area.

SOUNDBITE - Henry Short: 
“A single oyster can filter up to 200 litres of water a day, so if you get them in enough volume, they can actually clear up the water in your local area, which means more light for plants such as seagrass to flourish.”

NARRATOR:
For now, the volunteers must be patient. It will take at least a decade before a self-sustaining meadow might once again turn this riverbed green.