if I drop an egg what happens or what is the effect it breaks what causes the egg to break dropping the egg so dropping the egg is the cause and the effect is the egg breaking hi it's Mr Peterson and today we're going to be reading about goldfish a common household pet and how our actions can cause unintentional or accidental effects on life in the Great Lakes I found this article from our friends at Great Lakes now all about the harmful and invas of goldfish as I read the article I'm going to use a cause and effect chart so we can track the information we are learning about goldfish as an invasive species this chart will help us organize and better understand what we are learning in this column of the chart we will put a cause and in this column we're going to put the effect remember a cause is why something the effect happens you can make your own cause and effect chart you just need any piece of paper draw two rectangles next to each other with an arrow pointing from one to the other label the one on the left the cause and the one on the right effect as we read I'm going to look out for words that might be clues for cause and effect structure and relation ships those are words like because then as a result incense okay let's get started a tiny goldfish might look cute in a fishbowl on your shelf but if released into the wild it can grow to a terrifying size and become a menace to the ecosystem they eat pretty much anything and everything root up plants causing the water to become cloudy and dark and repr produce and grow so quickly that almost no Predators can stop them I think I see a clue word in here the word causing is a key word that can help us identify the cause or the reason why something happen in this case the Goldfish uprooting or pulling up plant roots causes the water to become cloudy and dark okay the cause is the goldfish [Music] uproot plants which then gives the effect of the water becoming cloudy and dark okay let's keep reading Pharaoh goldfish have been invading much of North America including the the Great Lakes for decades and recently their numbers seem to be rising rapidly the reason for the uptick is not clear but it could be because invasive carp are being better controlled and the Goldfish are taking their place let's take a look at this sentence here's another one of those clue words because the invasive carp are being better controlled that's the cause the Goldfish are taking their place and that's the effect let's keep going while goldfish may seem small and vulnerable they are actually very good Invaders they are hearty and adaptable able to survive and thrive under a wide range of temperature and oxygen conditions that many Native species can't handle biologists must fight any perception that goldfish are harmless species when released into the wild tossing an unwanted pet into the pond or Flushing it down the toilet can have serious consequences for our lakes and wetlands what is our cause and effect here do we have any clue words I don't see any of our specific clue words but let's take a look at this last sentence tossing an unwanted pet into a pond or flushing it down the toilet can have serious consequences for our lakes and wetlands in this sentence the word consequences is a clue word consequence means a result or effect of an action so the cause tossing an unwanted pet into a pond or flushing it down the toilet the effect consequences for our lakes and wetlands I think we can be more specific for our effect what are some of the consequences or the results of releasing an unwanted goldfish into a pond let's look back at the beginning of our article they eat pretty much anything and everything root up plants causing the water to become cloudy and dark and reproduce and grow so quickly that almost no Predators can stop them so for effect I'm going to put goldfish and packed our lakes and wetlands by causing cloudy and dark Waters eating everything and having no Predators how can you help keep our Great Lakes ecosystem in Balance first and foremost never release a goldfish or any animal that does not naturally belong into the ecosystem if you no longer can care for your goldfish you can see if a pet store will take it back you could also gift it to a friend or an education center knowing the cause or why something happens often helps us better understand effects what effects are caused by your actions what can you do or not do to help protect our Great Lakes [Music]