5th Grade Use Evidence in Informational Text worksheets

Use Evidence in Informational Text

Grade 5 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the answer.

1. Read this first

   How Sea Turtles Find Their Way Home

   A loggerhead sea turtle hatches on a sandy beach in Florida. Within minutes, the tiny turtle scrambles across the sand and into the waves. It will swim thousands of kilometers around the Atlantic Ocean. Then, about twenty years later, a female turtle often returns to lay her eggs on the very beach where she hatched. How can an animal find one beach after such a long journey?

   For many years, scientists were puzzled. The open ocean has no road signs. A turtle cannot see land for months at a time. Some scientists guessed that turtles used the sun or the smell of the water. Those clues may help near the shore, but they could not explain the whole trip.

   Then researchers at the University of North Carolina tried an experiment. They placed young turtles in a large tank of water. Around the tank, they set up coils of wire that could change the magnetic field, the invisible force that makes a compass needle point north. When the field matched the area near Portugal, the turtles swam one way. When it matched another part of the ocean, they swam a different way. Each time, they turned in the direction that would keep them on their usual ocean route.

   Earth's magnetic field is slightly different in every place. Scientists now believe that turtles can sense these differences, almost like reading a map. A young turtle may remember the magnetic "address" of its home beach. Years later, it follows that address back.

   This discovery matters for protecting turtles. Steel buildings and power lines along a coast can change the magnetic field nearby. Scientists are now studying whether these changes could confuse turtles trying to find their nesting beaches.

2. 1.

   Which sentence shows that scientists did not always know how turtles find their way?

   • It will swim thousands of kilometers around the Atlantic Ocean.
   • The open ocean has no road signs.
   • For many years, scientists were puzzled.
3. 2.

   What can you infer about the sun and the smell of the water?

   • They are the main way turtles find their home beach.
   • They are not enough to guide a turtle across the ocean.
   • They confuse young turtles and send them off the wrong way.
4. 3.

   Which sentence best supports the idea that turtles respond to magnetic fields?

   • Those clues may help near the shore, but they could not explain the whole trip.
   • When the field matched the area near Portugal, the turtles swam one way.
   • They placed young turtles in a large tank of water.
5. 4.

   Which detail tells how long a female turtle may be away from her home beach?

   • for months at a time
   • about twenty years later
   • within minutes
6. 5.

   Which words from the text explain what a magnetic field is?

   • the invisible force that makes a compass needle point north
   • coils of wire that could change the field around a tank
   • the smell of the water near the shore of a beach
7. 6.

   Which inference is best supported by the experiment?

   • Turtles can see the coils of wire around the tank.
   • Turtles use the magnetic field to choose which way to swim.
   • Turtles like the water near Portugal better than any other water.