Article
Shutterstock.com (Background, Non-Puffy Pufferfish); Istockphoto/Getty Images (Puffed Up)
Paired Texts,

Better Ocean Emojis / Learning From Emojis

Could one person fix the mistakes in emojis of ocean animals? / What can the fixes Emily made teach us?

By Laine Falk
From the March / April 2025 Issue

Students compare and contrast two short nonfiction articles.

Lexile® measure: 520L
Featured Skill: Compare Two Texts,
Vocabulary: marine, fascinating, predators, steer, prey
Common Core Standards
  • Social Studies Focus
    Ocean animals
  • Common Core Standards
    RI.2.1 Key details RI.2.4 Vocabulary RI.2.5 Nonfiction text features RI.2.7 Use visuals RI.2.9 Compare two texts on a similar topic RI.2.10 Read grade-2-appropriate informational text SL.2 Participate in conversations about grade-2 texts
TEKS Standards
  • Science
    (13) Organisms and environments. The student knows that organisms have structures and undergo processes that help them interact and survive within their environments. The student is expected to: (B) record and compare how the structures and behaviors of animals help them find and take in food, water, and air Social Studies (13) Science, technology, and society. The student understands how science and technology have affected life, past and present. The student is expected to: (A) describe how science and technology have affected communication, transportation, and recreation

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Think and Read

Read both articles. As you read, compare the emojis with the real ocean animals. 

 Better Ocean Emojis 

Monterey Bay Aquarium (Emily Simpson)

Emily Simpson

Emily Simpson loves ocean animals—and emojis of ocean animals! But a few years ago, Emily noticed that some marine animal emojis had mistakes in them. Marine means “ocean.” 


Emoji Mistakes

left: shark before; right: shark after

Emily saw that the shark emoji was blue. Real sharks are gray.

 The emoji also had only one pectoral fin. Real sharks have two pectoral fins. These are the fins on their sides. 

The emoji octopus had eyes in the middle of its face. Real octopuses have an eye on each side of their face. 

The emoji pufferfish was all puffed up. In real life, pufferfish puff up only when they are scared. Emily thought the pufferfish should be relaxed. 


left: octopus before; right: octopus after

New Emojis!

No changes were made to the pufferfish!

Emily tweeted out the mistakes. Apple and Google, companies that design emojis, saw the tweets! The companies fixed some of the emojis.

Not all of the changes were made. The pufferfish stayed the same. But Emily feels good about the new emojis. 

“Emojis can change the way we think about animals in the ocean,” Emily says. “Marine life is fascinating if we take the time to take a closer look.”


Learning From Emojis

Octopus Eyes

Emily tweeted that an octopus’s eyes are on the sides of its head. Why is that important?

Octopus eyes can see in all directions. That helps them hunt and see predators. 

What’s even more fascinating? Each eye can move separately from the other. Can you move one eye in a different direction from the other?

Alex Mustard/NaturePL.com (Octopus)

eyes

Shark Fins

The old shark emoji had only one pectoral fin. But a shark would have a hard time swimming without two of these fins. The shark uses them to steer through the water. 

Look at the great white shark. It must be a master swimmer to kill prey like seals. The shark usually swims under its prey. Then it swims up and attacks! It takes a big bite. Soon it has a big, juicy meal. 

By Wildestanimal/Getty Images (Shark)

pectoral fins

Puffy Pufferfish

Shutterstock.com (Non-Puffy); 
iStockPhoto/Getty Images (Puffed Up)

Puffed-up pufferfish;
non-puffy pufferfish (inset)

Pufferfish are excellent swimmers, but they aren’t very fast. They can’t speed away from predators. They need ways to stay safe.

When a puffer sees an enemy, it fills its stomach with water. That makes the puffer blow up like a ball. It’s now much bigger than it was. The spines on its skin also stick out. 

An enemy doesn’t want to eat a big spiky ball. It swims away. Way to stay safe, pufferfish! 

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Slideshows (1)
Activities (4)
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)
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Activities (4) Download All Quizzes and Activities
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)
Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
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Implementation

  • Small group; whole group; independent reading

Pairings and Text Connections

  • From the Storyworks 2 archive: 
    “The History of Emojis” (October/November 2022)
    Read this Past to Present article to learn more about how emojis were invented.

Before-Reading Resources

  • Text Preview Bookmarks 
    (5 minutes) Students can cut out the nonfiction bookmark and use it to preview the text.
  • Play the Vocabulary Slideshow 
    (5 minutes) Familiarize students with the vocabulary words they will see in the texts.

Suggested Reading Focus

Comprehension, nonfiction text features (30 minutes)

  • Read “Better Ocean Emojis.” Ask: What do the captions tell us? Do you notice any other differences between the “before” emojis and the “after” emojis?
  • Read “Learning From Emojis.” Ask: What do an octopus’s eyes and a shark’s fins help them do?

After-Reading Skills Practice

  • Quiz: Comprehension check (15 minutes)
  • Nonfiction Text Feature Hunt (15 minutes)
  • Design Your Own Emoji: In this fun drawing activity, students will decide what kind of emoji they would like to make, draw it, and then fill in sentences about the emoji they created. (45 minutes)

After-Reading Video

(5 minutes)

  • Watch the short video “Puffer Fish” to show students what these fish look like when they puff up in real life!

Text-to-Speech