Vale Middle School Reading Article

Mapped: The Beaches Where Lego Washes Up (1410)

Instructions: COMPLETE ALL QUESTIONS AND MARGIN NOTES using the CLOSE reading
strategies practiced in class. This requires reading of the article three times.
Step 1: Skim the article using these symbols as you read:
(+) agree, (-) disagree, (*) important, (!) surprising, (?) wondering
Step 2: Number the paragraphs. Read the article carefully and make notes in the margin.
Notes should include:
o Comments that show that you understand the article. (A summary or statement of the main
idea of important sections may serve this purpose.)
o Questions you have that show what you are wondering about as you read.
o Notes that differentiate between fact and opinion.
o Observations about how the writers strategies (organization, word choice, perspective,
support) and choices affect the article.
Step 3: A final quick read noting anything you may have missed during the first two reads.
Your margin notes are part of your score for this assessment. Answer the questions carefully in complete
sentences unless otherwise instructed.
Student ____________________________Class Period__________________

Mapped: The beaches where Lego washes up

The story of millions of Lego pieces washing up on beaches attracted huge interest when first
told by the Magazine. The list of places where the toys have been spotted is still growing.

Beachcomber Tracey Williams has been picking up Lego pieces along the Cornish
coastline ever since a container spill dumped millions of the toy pieces into the sea in
1997. Since the curious tale was reported by the Magazine, dozens of people have
contacted Williams to say they, too, have found parts of the much-loved toy scattered on
shores. They mostly got in touch via the Facebook page she set up about the drifting toy
pieces from various Lego sets, many of which were nautical-themed.
Most of the people who've contacted her found Lego pieces around Cornwall, she says.
Cacciottolo, M. Mapped: the beaches where Lego washes up. BBC News. January 2, 2015.

Notes on my thoughts,
reactions and questions as I
read:

Vale Middle School Reading Article

Mapped: The Beaches Where Lego Washes Up (1410)

"From what I've been told, Perranporth is a hotspot for brooms, and the Lizard seems to
be a hotspot for octopuses." Brighton, East Sussex, some 300 miles away, is the furthest
confirmed report she has received to the east along England's southern coastline. But
some of the sightings have come from much further afield.
Nearly 4.8 million Lego toy parts fell overboard from the Tokio Express container ship
in a storm off Land's End on 13 February 1997. Williams says the pieces which now
drift up on an "almost daily basis" in numerous locations are flippers, spear guns,
seagrass, scuba tanks and life preservers.
Elsewhere there have been sightings of the lost Lego in the Gower Peninsula, Wales,
and seagrass, spear guns, life preservers and scuba tanks have been found recently at
Freshwater West in Pembrokeshire during beach cleans. Finds have been made abroad
too, at Waterville beach in Kerry, Ireland, where an octopus matching those lost from
the Tokio Express was found around 2007. Also, another octopus was taken recently to
a beachcomber's fair in Florida, which had been found earlier this year at the western
end of Galveston Island in Texas.
Williams was also told that someone took a Lego piece to a beachcombers' fair in the
United States and claimed it had been found in Texel, in the Netherlands. And a blue
Lego diver's flipper was found "sometime in the last five years" on a beach at Port
Phillip in Melbourne, Australia, which theoretically could be from the Tokio Express.
Williams has also been told of a fisherman in Cornwall who often brings up Legos
when trawling in his boat 25 miles offshore, south of Newlyn. The items caught in his
nets, which are still coming up today, include toy roof tiles, door frames, car chassis,
octopuses, seaweed and a lot of bricks.
Lost Lego Pieces Cargo included:

Toy kits - Divers, Aquazone, Aquanauts, Police, FrightKnights, WildWest,

RoboForce TimeCruisers, Outback, Pirates

Spear guns (red and yellow) - 13,000 items

Black octopus - 4,200

Yellow life preserver - 26,600

Diver flippers (in pairs: black, blue, red) - 418,000

Dragons (black and green) - 33,941

Brown ship rigging net - 26,400

Daisy flowers (in fours - white, red, yellow) - 353,264

Scuba and breathing apparatus (grey) - 97,500

Total of 4,756,940 Lego pieces lost overboard in a single container

Estimated 3,178,807 may be light enough to have floated

Source: Beachcombers' Alert, vol 2. No 2 1997

Cacciottolo, M. Mapped: the beaches where Lego washes up. BBC News. January 2, 2015.

Notes on my thoughts,
reactions and questions as I
read:

Vale Middle School Reading Article

Mapped: The Beaches Where Lego Washes Up (1410)

Comprehension questions answers may be in phrases.

1. What types of items would be sold at a beachcombers fair?

2. Based on science, what could one infer about the Lego items being pulled up from the bottom of the
sea by fishermen?

3. Define beachcomber as used in the article.

4. What likely happened to the Legos that were able to float?

5. Define hotspot as used in the text.

7/8.RI.2,3,4

2. Answer each question in one or more complete sentences.

7/8.RI.1,2,3,4,5
What
is ironic
ing regarding the type of Lego that spilled into the sea?

Based on inference, what type of incident most likely occurred to cause the Legos to end up in the sea?

Of the
What is the authors purpose for including the list of lost Legos in the text?

7/8.RI.4,5,6

Cacciottolo, M. Mapped: the beaches where Lego washes up. BBC News. January 2, 2015.

Vale Middle School Reading Article

Mapped: The Beaches Where Lego Washes Up (1410)

3. It seems that beachcombing for Legos could be a tourist attraction. In what ways could area businesses
around Cornwall and Devon use this story to bring tourists to their towns? Create an advertisement for
Lego tourism.

7/8.RI.3,8

4. This particular article has been written from the viewpoint of individuals who are excited to find Lego
pieces and parts on beaches around the world. Provide an opposing view to this information. Consider
how the Lego pieces may harm the environment and why the pieces in the ocean and on the beaches are
potentially harmful to wildlife. State your claim citing evidence from the text in a well-developed
paragraph.

7/8.RI.8

Cacciottolo, M. Mapped: the beaches where Lego washes up. BBC News. January 2, 2015.