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Grade 6 Reading Worksheet
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How Hurricanes Form and Are Rated
A Storm Needs Warm Water
[1] A hurricane begins over tropical ocean water that is at least about 80 degrees Fahrenheit. [2] Warm water heats the air above it, and the warm, damp air rises and leaves lower pressure near the surface. [3] Cooler air rushes in to replace it, and that air is heated and lifted too. [4] Because Earth is turning, the whole system begins to spin, forming a **tropical cyclone**.Rating the Wind
[5] Once the winds reach 74 miles per hour, the storm is called a **hurricane**. [6] Meteorologists rate hurricanes with the Saffir-Simpson scale, which sorts them by sustained wind speed. [7] The scale does not measure flooding, which can also cause serious damage.Category | Wind speed (mph) | Typical damage
[8] 1 | 74 to 95 | Some damage
[9] 2 | 96 to 110 | Extensive damage
[10] 3 | 111 to 129 | Devastating damage
[11] 4 | 130 to 156 | Catastrophic damage
[12] 5 | 157 or higher | Catastrophic damagePicture: a satellite image
Caption: [13] In a satellite image of a hurricane, the calm center, called the eye, is surrounded by a wall of fast winds.Which statement can Ari support by using the table?
- Hurricanes begin over ocean water that is about 80 degrees
- A category 4 storm has winds between 111 and 129 miles per hour
- A category 5 storm brings more flooding than a category 1 storm
- A storm with 120-mile-per-hour winds would be category 3
What does the satellite caption add to the paragraph about how the storm spins, Bo?
- The calm center is the eye, and the fastest winds circle it
- A storm with a clear eye must be a category 5 hurricane or stronger
- The Saffir-Simpson scale sorts storms by sustained wind speed
- Earth's turning makes the whole storm system begin to spin
Esme wants a new heading for sentences 5 to 7 and the table. Which heading covers them all?
- What a Category 5 Hurricane Can Do to a Town
- How a Hurricane Begins Over Warm Water
- How Hurricanes Are Sorted by Wind Speed
- Everything to Know About Storms and Weather
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Measuring the Size of an Earthquake
What a Seismograph Records
[1] When the ground shakes, a machine called a **seismograph** records the movement as a wavy line. [2] Taller waves mean the ground moved more. [3] Scientists use the record to work out where the quake began and how strong it was.Magnitude and Its Effects
[4] Scientists describe the size of an earthquake with a number called its **magnitude**. [5] Each step up the scale means the ground moves about ten times as much, and the quake releases about thirty-two times as much energy. [6] The table lists what people usually notice at different magnitudes.Magnitude | What people usually notice
[7] Below 3 | Usually not felt, but recorded
[8] 3 to 4.9 | Often felt, but rarely causes damage
[9] 5 to 5.9 | Can damage poorly built buildings
[10] 6 to 6.9 | Can cause great damage in populated areas
[11] 7 and higher | Major damage; can be felt over huge areasPicture: a seismograph record
Caption: [12] A seismograph record shows small waves first, followed by the strong shaking.Did You Know?
[13] A magnitude 7 earthquake releases about 32 times as much energy as a magnitude 6 earthquake.How does the Did You Know box connect to sentence 5, Jun?
- It applies the energy rule in sentence 5 to one pair of magnitudes
- It lists what people usually notice at magnitude 7
- It explains how a seismograph draws a wavy line
- It shows that a magnitude 7 quake moves the ground 32 times as much
Which statement does the table support, Kira?
- A magnitude 6.4 quake can badly damage populated areas
- A magnitude 4.5 quake can damage poorly built buildings
- A magnitude 5.5 quake will destroy a large city completely
- Taller waves on a seismograph mean the ground moved more
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The Erie Canal Changes a Young Nation
A Ditch Across New York
[1] In 1817, New York began digging a canal that would link the Hudson River with Lake Erie. [2] Many people called the plan foolish, and critics nicknamed it Clinton's Ditch after the governor who backed it. [3] Workers dug about 363 miles by hand and with simple tools, building **locks** so that boats could climb hills, and the canal opened in 1825.Cheaper Goods, Bigger Cities
[4] Before the canal, wagons carried goods over rough roads, and shipping a ton of freight was very costly. [5] Barges pulled by mules along the canal carried far more freight at a fraction of the price. [6] Towns along the route, such as Rochester and Buffalo, grew into major cities. [7] New York City became the busiest port in the nation.Shipping a ton of freight from Buffalo to New York City (rounded estimates)
Method | Cost | Time
[8] Wagon, before 1825 | About $100 | About 20 days
[9] Canal boat, after 1825 | About $10 | About 6 daysPicture: a canal boat
Caption: [10] A team of mules pulls a barge along the canal while the driver walks the towpath beside it.Words to Know
[11] lock: a section of canal with gates, where boats are raised or lowered to a new water level.How does the Words to Know box help a reader of sentence 3, Noah?
- It adds the cost of shipping a ton of freight by canal boat
- It defines what a lock is, a term the sentence leaves unexplained
- It explains why many critics called the canal a foolish idea at first
- It shows that locks were the hardest part of the canal to build
How does the caption connect to sentence 5, Pia?
- It shows mules pulling a barge from a towpath, a detail sentence 5 omits
- It shows that canal boats were slower than wagons on the old roads
- It gives the price of shipping a ton of freight by canal boat
- It repeats that mules pulled the barges, which sentence 5 already says
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The Water Roads of Ancient Rome
Bringing Distant Springs to the City
[1] Ancient Rome grew so large that its local wells and springs could not supply enough water. [2] Engineers solved the problem by building **aqueducts**, channels that carried water from distant springs into the city. [3] The first Roman aqueduct was finished in 312 BCE, and later builders added many more.Letting Gravity Do the Work
[4] The Romans had no pumps, so each aqueduct had to slope downhill the whole way. [5] This gentle slope, called the **gradient**, was often only a few feet of drop for every mile. [6] Where a valley blocked the route, builders raised the channel on rows of stone arches.Picture: a stone bridge with arches
Caption: [7] The Pont du Gard in France carries a water channel across a river valley on three levels of arches.Quick Facts
[8] Most of the length of Rome's aqueducts ran underground, where the water stayed cooler and cleaner. [9] The Pont du Gard is a Roman aqueduct bridge that still stands.Which heading would best cover sentences 4 to 6, Ren?
- Everything About Roman Engineering and Building
- Why Rome Needed So Much More Water for Its People
- How a Gentle Slope Moved Water Without Pumps
- The Pont du Gard, a Famous Bridge in Southern France
How does the Quick Facts box change what a reader pictures from sentence 6, Tala?
- It repeats that arches carried channels across valleys when a route was blocked
- It names the first Roman aqueduct and the year that builders finished it
- It shows that Roman builders avoided arches whenever they could build underground
- It shows most of the length was underground, so the arches were the visible part
How does the caption extend sentence 6, Zee?
- It names a surviving example and shows that arches could be stacked in levels
- It says that builders raised the channel on arches where a valley blocked the route
- It explains that the slope was a few feet of drop per mile
- It shows that aqueducts needed three levels of arches to carry water
