Spawning Strategy Multiple Choices

Barracuda reproduction may look very different from the way many land animals raise their young. This passage explains how adults gather in spawning groups and release eggs and sperm into the water through external fertilization. Students learn that the tiny eggs drift with ocean currents before hatching and that young barracudas begin life feeding on plankton and other small organisms. The reading also explains why barracudas produce so many eggs: only a small percentage of young fish will survive long enough to reach adulthood.

This worksheet gives students excellent practice with sequencing and cause-and-effect thinking. They follow the reproductive process in order while also considering why producing large numbers of offspring can be an effective survival strategy. Vocabulary such as spawning, external fertilization, larvae, juveniles, and plankton strengthens science literacy in a meaningful way. The passage also gives students practice summarizing a process from beginning to end.