Summary
Echo, a young Pacific bottlenose dolphin, is easily distracted from the grown-up lessons of the coral reef -- but the reef is a whole living community he depends on. The film tours the reef's web of creatures, from cleaner fish to whales, and shows how dolphins use sound to find their way. Natalie Portman's gentle narration makes it one of the calmer films in the collection.
Viewer safety
Two suspenseful scenes -- a calf separated from its mother, and orcas chasing a whale -- but overall a soothing film (a Common Sense Selection).
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Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Discussion
"Dolphin Reef" follows young Echo as he learns to live on the coral reef.
- What are some of the different animals that share Echo's reef?
- How do the reef animals depend on one another?
- How do dolphins use sound to find food and stay safe?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: coral reef, ecosystem, echolocation, depend, community.
Try it: Draw the reef and add three animals from the film. Draw an arrow between two of them to show how they are connected.