STANDARDS

CCSS: 6.RP.A.3.A, 6.RP.A.3.C, 8.G.C.9, 5.NF.B.4, 7.RP.A.3, MP2, MP6, MP7

TEKS: 6.5B, 8.6A, 5.3I, 7.4B, 7.4D

Article Options

MIXED SKILLS

An Amazing Penguin Rescue

May/June 2024
by Lauren Tarshis • Adapted by Georgia Ball • Illustrated by Alvin Epps

When a massive oil spill threatens thousands of penguins, can scientists and volunteers save them?

Audio: An Amazing Penguin Rescue
Watch an audio version of this graphic novel.
Illustration of full penguin swimming underwater while other fish swim by
World of Penguins
Watch a video about the many different kinds of penguins
Comic showing penguins swimming and becoming covered in oil during the year 2000

Jim McMahon/Mapman (globe)

Comic showing 1,300 tons of oil being spilled from a sinking ship
Comic of volunteers helping rescue oil-covered penguins
Comic of penguins being collected to be cleaned
Comic showing process of how two people clean a penguin
Comic of 12,500 volunteers cleaning penguins
Comic of people devising a plan to save 20,000 African penguins from contact with oil
Comic of penguins swimming back to their home where the oil is finally gone
Comic showing more than 40,000 saved penguins
Comic of penguins being cleaned and returned home after oil spill
Mixed Skills Trivia
Play a cool math game about all the math skills you've learned this year!

Answer the following mixed-skill questions about the penguin rescue. Round answers to the nearest whole number when necessary. Record your work and answers on our answer sheet.

Of the 20,251 oiled penguins treated, 18,294 survived. What percent is that?

A. 75%

B. 80%

C. 90%

D. 95%

Workers used 302 jugs, each containing 25 liters of degreaser, to clean the oil off the penguins. How many gallons is that? (Hint: 1 liter = 0.26 gallons)   

A. 1,963

B. 2,866

C. 4,052

D. 7,550

The oiled penguins were kept in cylindrical pools roughly 3 feet tall with a diameter of 12 feet. Find each pool’s volume.
(Hint: Volume of a cylinder = π x r2 x h)

A. 85 feet3

B. 339 feet3

C. 432 feet3

D. 1,356 feet3

The penguins from Dassen Island were brought to a location 500 miles away. They returned home—after it had been cleared of oil—14 days later. How many miles did the birds swim per day on average?

A. 22 miles

B. 28 miles

C. 32 miles

D. 36 miles

Most of the 3,500 oiled birds found and rescued on Dassen Island were adults. But of them were juveniles. How many is that?

In 2000, about 12,000 penguins lived on Robben Island. Despite the spill, the population increased by 18% the next year. About how many penguins were there in 2001?


Algebra
Word Problems
Fractions
Ratios & Proportions

Teaching Resources
Text-to-Speech