★Fact and Opinion
Grade 4 Reading Worksheet - Challenge Me
Read the text. Circle whether each sentence is a fact or an opinion.
Read this first
Bird-Safe Glass for Our Library
Every year, huge numbers of birds fly into windows in the United States. Scientists estimate the number is somewhere between 365 million and one billion. Our new school library has a wall of tall glass windows facing the woods. I believe our school should add bird-safe patterns to that glass before spring.
Why do birds hit windows? Birds do not understand glass the way people do. During the day, a clear window reflects trees and sky. To a bird, the reflection looks like more forest. At night, lights shining through windows can draw in birds that travel in the dark. Either way, the bird does not see a wall until it is too late.
My first reason is that the problem is already happening here. Our science club walked around the library every morning for three weeks in October. Members found eleven birds on the ground below the big windows. Some flew away after resting, but others were hurt. The club recorded the date, the place and the kind of bird each time. Most of the birds were small songbirds, such as warblers and thrushes.
My second reason is that the fix works. Researchers have tested window patterns in special flight tunnels. Birds avoided glass covered with small dots spaced about two inches apart. The dots break up the reflection, so birds see a solid surface. The patterns come on a thin film that sticks to the outside of the glass, and workers can put it up in a single day. One college added dot film to its glass and counted far fewer birds below its windows the next year.
My third reason is that this project would teach students to care about nature. I am sure students would feel proud every time they walked past the windows. Caring for wildlife is the most important lesson a school can teach.
Some people say the dots will spoil the view of the woods. That is a reasonable worry. However, people standing inside barely notice dots that small. You can still see the trees clearly. Others say the film is too expensive. The film for our windows would cost about nine hundred dollars. The parent group raises more than that at one spring fair. The film also lasts about ten years, so it costs about ninety dollars a year.
Our school teaches us to solve problems we can see. This one is right outside our library windows. Each spring, birds return to the woods behind our school. With a simple pattern on the glass, we can help more of them keep flying.
"Scientists estimate the number is somewhere between 365 million and one billion." Is this sentence a fact or an opinion?
- fact
- opinion
"Caring for wildlife is the most important lesson a school can teach." Is this sentence a fact or an opinion?
- fact
- opinion
"The film for our windows would cost about nine hundred dollars." Is this sentence a fact or an opinion?
- fact
- opinion
"I am sure students would feel proud every time they walked past the windows." Is this sentence a fact or an opinion?
- fact
- opinion
