Explain a topic or a process in a few paragraphs
Grade 8 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Why the Sea Rises and Falls (explanatory draft)
[1] If you stand on a beach for several hours, you will see the water creep up the sand and then slide back down. [2] These changes are called tides, and they happen because of the Moon's pull on the ocean. [3] The Moon has gravity, and gravity is important here. [4] The Moon's gravity tugs on Earth, and the ocean water, which can flow freely, bulges toward the Moon. [5] That bulge makes a high tide on the side of Earth that faces the Moon.
[6] A second bulge forms on the opposite side of Earth, so most coasts experience two high tides and two low tides during each day. [7] Tides are important to coastal places in many ways. [8] As Earth rotates, each coast turns into a bulge and then out of it, which is why the water rises and falls in a regular pattern. [9] The Sun pulls on the ocean too, but it is so much farther away that the Moon has the bigger effect on the water.
[10] The Moon's pull, the two bulges, and the turning of Earth explain why the sea rises and falls about twice during each day.
Jun wants to name how the essay is organized. Which choice describes the way its paragraphs are arranged?
- It follows the steps of one tide in the order they happen.
- It shows how two kinds of tide are alike and how they differ.
- It explains a cause, the Moon's pull, and the effects that follow from it.
- It sorts tides into kinds and describes each kind in turn.
Kira thinks sentence [7] is too vague. Which sentence is the strongest, most exact detail to put there?
- The Sun's pull is weaker than the Moon's pull because the Sun is so much farther from Earth.
- In the Bay of Fundy in Canada, high tide can be more than fifty feet above low tide.
- In some places the difference between high tide and low tide is truly enormous to see.
- Sailors, fishers, and beachcombers have watched the tides come and go for thousands of years.
Three Families of Rock (explanatory draft)
[1] Rocks may look alike to a hiker, but geologists sort them into three groups according to the way that each rock formed over time. [2] The groups are igneous rock, sedimentary rock, and metamorphic rock. [3] Igneous rock forms when melted rock cools and hardens. [4] Granite cools slowly deep underground, while basalt forms when lava cools quickly at the surface.
[5] Sedimentary rock begins as sediment, and sediment is a big part of it. [6] Over a very long time, the layers pile higher, are pressed together by their own weight, and harden into solid rock. [7] Sedimentary rocks are found in many places and are quite useful.
[8] Metamorphic rock forms when heat and pressure change a rock without melting it. [9] Limestone can change into marble, and shale can change into slate. [10] Sorting rocks by how they formed helps geologists read the history of a landscape. [11] The three groups show that the story of a rock is written in the way it was made.
Milo wants to name how the essay is organized. Which choice describes the way its paragraphs are arranged?
- It follows the steps in the life of one rock in the order they happen.
- It explains one cause and then the results that follow from it.
- It sorts rocks into kinds and describes how each kind forms.
- It shows how two kinds of rock are alike and how they differ.
Noah thinks sentence [7] is too vague. Which sentence is the strongest, most exact detail to put there?
- Geologists have studied rocks for hundreds of years to learn about the long past of Earth and the changes it has gone through.
- Sandstone and limestone are sedimentary, and most fossils are found in this group of rocks.
- Sedimentary rocks show many interesting features that are worth a closer look by anyone.
- Marble is a metamorphic rock that is often used in statues and in the walls of buildings.
Pia thinks sentence [5] uses a word without explaining it. Which sentence should replace it with a clear definition of sediment?
- Sedimentary rock begins as sediment, which is the material that sediment is made of in a rock.
- Sedimentary rock begins as sediment, which is a kind of material that rocks can come from.
- Igneous rock begins as magma, which is hot melted rock from deep inside Earth.
- Sedimentary rock begins as sediment, which is loose sand, mud, and shell pieces that settle in layers.
The Four Lives of a Monarch (explanatory draft)
[1] A monarch butterfly changes its shape completely during its life, and each change happens in a set order. [2] The change has four stages: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, and adult. [3] In the first stage, a female lays a tiny egg on a milkweed leaf. [4] About four days later, a caterpillar hatches and begins to eat the leaf where it was born.
[5] The caterpillar grows quickly during the second stage, and it spends nearly all of its time eating. [6] It sheds its skin several times, and it can reach a length of about two inches before it stops growing. [7] In the third stage, the caterpillar forms a chrysalis, and the chrysalis is where it changes. [8] About ten days later, an adult butterfly pushes out and spreads its wings so that they can dry and harden.
[9] The adult stage is full of interesting moments for monarchs. [10] These four stages turn a caterpillar that crawls along one leaf into a butterfly that can travel across a continent.
Ren wants to name how the essay is organized. Which choice describes the way its paragraphs are arranged?
- It explains one cause and then the results that follow from it.
- It shows how two kinds of butterfly are alike and how they differ.
- It sorts butterflies into kinds and describes each kind in turn.
- It follows the stages of one life in the order they happen.
Zee thinks sentence [7] uses a word without explaining it. Which sentence should replace it with a clear definition of chrysalis?
- In the third stage, the caterpillar molts, which means that it sheds its old skin so that it can grow larger, a step that it repeats several times.
- In the third stage, the caterpillar forms a chrysalis, which is a kind of thing that insects can make.
- In the third stage, the caterpillar forms a chrysalis, which is the thing called a chrysalis in the life of a monarch.
- In the third stage, the caterpillar forms a chrysalis, a hard, smooth case that hangs from a twig while its body is rebuilt inside.
Frog or Toad? (explanatory draft)
[1] Frogs and toads look alike at first, but a careful observer can tell them apart by looking closely at the skin and the legs. [2] The two animals share a body plan, yet they differ in skin, legs, and habitat. [3] Both are amphibians, and amphibians are a big group of animals. [4] As adults, both feed on insects, worms, and other small animals that they find in damp grass.
[5] Frogs usually have smooth, moist skin that helps them breathe and stay close to ponds and streams. [6] Toads usually have dry, bumpy skin that holds in moisture, so they can live farther from ponds. [7] Their legs differ too. [8] A frog has long, powerful back legs that are made for leaping, while a toad has shorter legs and tends to hop or walk slowly across the ground.
[9] Both animals are useful to gardens in many ways. [10] Seeing the differences in skin and legs helps a person tell whether an animal found in a garden or beside a pond is a frog or a toad.
Ari wants to name how the essay is organized. Which choice describes the way its paragraphs are arranged?
- It sorts amphibians into kinds and describes how each kind forms.
- It shows how frogs and toads are alike and how they differ.
- It explains one cause and then the results that follow from it.
- It follows the steps in the life of one animal in the order they happen.
Bo thinks sentence [9] is too vague. Which sentence is the strongest, most exact detail to put there?
- Toads feed on beetles, slugs, and cutworms that damage garden plants, and frogs feed on flies and mosquitoes.
- Gardeners are often glad to find these animals living in their yards during the warm months.
- A tadpole breathes with gills when it is young and later grows lungs as it becomes an adult.
- Frogs and toads have lived on Earth for many millions of years and are found on most continents.
Esme thinks sentence [3] uses a word without explaining it. Which sentence should replace it with a clear definition of amphibians?
- Both are amphibians, which means that they are the animals called amphibians.
- Both are amphibians, animals that usually begin life in water breathing with gills and later breathe air with lungs.
- Both start as tadpoles, which are young frogs and toads that hatch from eggs and swim in water.
- Both are amphibians, which is a group of animals that has a lot of members in it, living on land and in water in many places.