Explain a topic or a process in a few paragraphs
Grade 8 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence
Circle the best answer.
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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.
Kira thinks sentence [7] is too vague. Which sentence is the strongest, most exact detail to put there?
- In some places the difference between high tide and low tide is truly enormous to see.
- The Sun's pull is weaker than the Moon's pull because the Sun is so much farther from Earth.
- Sailors, fishers, and beachcombers have watched the tides come and go for thousands of years.
- In the Bay of Fundy in Canada, high tide can be more than fifty feet above low tide.
Luz thinks sentence [3] uses a word without explaining it. Which sentence should replace it with a clear definition of gravity?
- A tide is the regular rising and falling of the sea along a coast, usually twice each day.
- Gravity is a kind of force or something like that, and the Moon has quite a lot of it.
- Gravity is the pull that objects have on one another, and the Moon's pull is strong enough to tug on the whole ocean.
- Gravity is what gravity does, and the Moon's gravity does it to the whole ocean, with no help from any other force on Earth.
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 explains one cause and then the results that follow from it.
- It follows the steps in the life of one rock in the order they happen.
- 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?
- 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.
- Geologists have studied rocks for hundreds of years to learn about the long past of Earth and the changes it has gone through.
- 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?
- Igneous rock begins as magma, which is hot melted rock from deep inside Earth.
- Sedimentary rock begins as sediment, which is the material that sediment is made of in a rock.
- Sedimentary rock begins as sediment, which is loose sand, mud, and shell pieces that settle in layers.
- Sedimentary rock begins as sediment, which is a kind of material that rocks can come from.
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.
Tala thinks sentence [9] is too vague. Which sentence is the strongest, most exact detail to put there?
- Milkweed leaves contain a bitter substance that makes caterpillars unpleasant for birds to eat.
- In the fall, many monarchs fly more than a thousand miles to spend the winter in the mountains of Mexico.
- Adult monarchs can do some amazing things when the seasons begin to change each year.
- Monarchs are among the most familiar butterflies in North America and are easy to recognize.
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 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.
- 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.
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.
Bo thinks sentence [9] is too vague. Which sentence is the strongest, most exact detail to put there?
- A tadpole breathes with gills when it is young and later grows lungs as it becomes an adult.
- Gardeners are often glad to find these animals living in their yards during the warm months.
- Toads feed on beetles, slugs, and cutworms that damage garden plants, and frogs feed on flies and mosquitoes.
- 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 start as tadpoles, which are young frogs and toads that hatch from eggs and swim in water.
- Both are amphibians, which means that they are the animals called amphibians.
- 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.
- Both are amphibians, animals that usually begin life in water breathing with gills and later breathe air with lungs.