READING REFLECTION FORM

CITATION: (author, chapter titles)

Author:​ Ruth Kassinger

Book: Slime : How Algae Created Us, Plague Us, and Just Might Save Us
*I have the online kindle edition*

Chapter titles:
● Gadzoox
● Saving the Reefs?
● A Plague Upon Us
● Clean Up
● Making Monsters
● Geoengineering

SUMMARY OF CENTRAL ARGUMENT: (250-350 words, considering the section as a whole)

I am not looking for a broad summary. I want you to identify and summarize the central argument.
What I believe the central argument for this section is to make a change before it is too
late. It makes the reader realize how much we are taking advantage of the world and if we don't
make changes it will only get worse. We are going through climate change and losing so much
coral reef as well. “The structure and life of the reef has changed dramatically as a result, and all
for the worse” (Ruth, 209). Climate change affects our weather as well as it affects the lifestyle
of not only humans but animals as well. It could cause high heat temperatures which could cause
our land to dry out. Coral reef on the other hand is important in order to help human nutrition and
helps us realize when a storm is close to occuring and it helps control ocean wave speed.
Throughout the reading it also talks about many solutions to help climate change. Picking up
trash and helping our world stay clean is one of the most important but also remembering to
recycle and not over fishing. The only way that there will be a change is if we make a change
and we have to do it before it is too late. What the reading also made me realize is that more
people need to be educated on climate change or anything that has to do with keeping the world
good and healthy. It should be mandatory for teachers to talk about the importance of recycling,
throwing away trash, picking up trash and not taking advantage of water. It also states how algae
could be a solution and help save us.

SO WHAT?(why is this reading significant in one or two sentences – consider the assigned chapters
(section) as a whole)
 T​ his reading is significant because it educates you on the importance of keeping our world clean and
not taking advantage of what it has to offer. It gives the reader a better understanding of everything bad
that could happen if we continue to take advantage of the world and the bad things that are already
occurring. It also educates the reader on ways we would make a change.

FAVORITE/MOST SIGNIFICANT QUOTE:

Include quotes from 4 of the chapters. The quote must include the chapter and page number.

● Gadzoox : ​“The UN Food and Agriculture Organization reports that 17 percent of the
world’s protein comes from reefs. One billion people depend to some degree on them for
food, protection, or employment. In Indonesia, the country’s 250 million inhabitants
depend on reef fish for the majority of their protein” (Ruth, 196).
● A Plague Upon Us: “​The ecosystem is in grave danger. In 2011, it was hit with two massive algae
super blooms. The algae turned the water into thick green goop, blocking sunlight to the bottom
and killing 47,000 acres or 60 percent of the lagoon’s seagrass, which shelters juvenile fish and
shrimp and provides an essential food source for other wildlife.” (Ruth, 225).
● Making Monsters: ​“That global warming is the result of burning fossil fuels is indisputable, but
there’s a great deal we still don’t understand about how the changing climate will affect
conditions in particular regions of the world” (Ruth, 239).
THREE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:”
(Identify the chapters used.)
● Saving The Reefs: ​In the book it states that when it comes to coral reefs “Once they’re on land
and exposed to air, they die” (Ruth, 210). Do you believe there should be more laws and
regulations when it comes to people swimming in the ocean? If so, What laws and regulations?
● Cleanup : ​Algae not only helps our world and us humans but like it states in this chapter it is
also full of treasures for birds to consume. Do you think that not only humans take advantage of
algae but animals as well? Do they overconsume?
● Geoengineering:​ “According to the US Centers for Disease Control, every year the bacterium
infects an average of 80,000 Americans—and kills 100—who eat undercooked seafood or are
exposed to seawater through a break in the skin” (Ruth, 246). Do you believe that seafood
should not be sold in order to prevent diseases from continuing to spread?
Depending on how many chapters there are, you may have an uneven number of quotes and
discussion questions. For example, if there are 7 chapters then include quotes for 4 and questions for
3. If there are 3 chapters including quotes for 2 and 2 discussion questions.