Text Structure
Diary of the Monarch Butterfly
February 19, 2007 — It’s too early for spring migration, but monarch butterflies are on the move! They are spreading down the rivers in search of water. These early signs mean the winter season is coming to a close. Monarch butterflies have been in Mexico since November. Can they survive all winter with little or no food? Let’s find out.
March 1, 2007 — It’s March. The days are getting longer and temperatures are rising in Mexico. Within the month these butterflies will leave their winter home and begin the trip to North America. Get ready to track the spring migration.
March 10, 2007 — Here come the monarchs! Spring migration begins every March in a flurry. The monarchs are in a race against time. They can’t stay in Mexico any longer. They can’t move north too quickly either. The timing of their spring migration must be precise. How do they know when to leave, and why do they leave now?
What is sequence?
Penicillin is one of the greatest of the wonder drugs. It has saved thousands of lives already and will save many more in the future. Unfortunately it has no effect at all on most of the ills of mankind. Penicillin is a very good drug, but it is certainly not a cure-all.
What is penicillin is helpful in many ways?
A shark’s skin is covered in tiny scales called denticles. Denticles, or “little skin teeth,” help the shark move quickly in the water. The denticles are shaped in a way that allows water to flow past the shark. They are also rough, which makes it difficult for algae and barnacles to grow on them.
Denticles help a shark...
What is help the shark move quickly through the water?
“Dinosaurs, the reptiles which walked the earth long ago, went extinct about 66 million years ago. But today, we can see their descendants everywhere.”
Extinct means...
What is died out?
Implicit evidence is...
The humpback whale is huge. She is longer than a school bus and weighs 35 tons, but she preys on some of the smallest inhabitants of the sea world—tiny shrimp-like creatures that aren’t much bigger than a piece of popcorn called krill. To feed, she opens her mouth wide, taking in hundreds of gallons of water in a single gulp. A humpback whale has no teeth. Instead, attached to its upper jaw are rows of long, thin fingernail-like material called baleen. Each piece of baleen is about three feet long and has bristles at its end that act like a strainer. When the whale takes in a mouthful of water, it forces the water out through the baleen with its tongue, trapping thousands of tiny krill inside its mouth. Humpback whales eat A LOT of krill – up to 4,400 pounds per meal!
What is description?
It is often said that lightning never strikes twice in the same place, but this isn’t true. Go ask the forest rangers. Rangers who spend their summers as fire-fighters will tell you that every thundershower brings several bolts of lightning to their lookout stations.
What is lightning never strikes the same place twice?
Dinosaurs, the reptiles which walked the earth long ago, went extinct about 66 million years ago. But today, we can see their descendants everywhere. Which of today’s creatures came from dinosaurs? Some people may assume that crocodiles, alligators, or other reptiles could call dinosaurs their ancestors. But that’s not the case. Rather, the animals that descended from dinosaurs are far more common and familiar. They’re birds!
The most common dinosaur's descendant is...
What is a bird?
Dinosaurs, the reptiles which walked the earth long ago, went extinct about 66 million years ago. But today, we can see their descendants everywhere. Which of today’s creatures came from dinosaurs? Some people may assume that crocodiles, alligators, or other reptiles could call dinosaurs their ancestors. But that’s not the case. Rather, the animals that descended from dinosaurs are far more common and familiar. They’re birds!
Descendants mean...
What is something related to something else from an earlier time?
Explicit evidence is...
What is clearly stated in the text?
Different Schools for Aztec Kids
Aztec children went to one of two different kinds of schools. One kind was for the sons and daughters of nobility, or wealthy people high up in society. There, children learned to read, write, and do math. They learned to play musical instruments. Some children studied to be priests. They learned the secret language of the priesthood, how to predict eclipses and comets, and how to keep track of the days on the sacred calendar. Other children learned how to work with silver and how to carve wood and stone. The priests were strict with the children at these schools, giving harsh punishments if a child broke a rule. Children of common people went to a different kind of school. The priests were less strict with these children, and they allowed the children to go home sometimes. In both kinds of schools, children learned about religion and war. They learned songs, poems, and dances to honor their gods. They memorized stories of the gods and how they ruled the earth.
What is compare and contrast?
Advertising affects our lives everyday. Brand names are common household words. We start each day using the toothpaste, soap, and breakfast foods promoted by advertisers. Ads have made the cars we drive signs of our success. Our choices of food, dress, and entertainment are swayed by ads. Not one aspect of American life is untouched by advertising.
Hundreds of millions of years ago, dinosaurs walked the earth. These ancient reptiles were very diverse, ranging in size, diet, movement, habits, and more. One group of dinosaurs was called the sauropods. These were the giants that many people today imagine when thinking of dinosaurs. They generally had large bodies and long necks. They walked on four legs and had a small head.
Sauropods are...
What is a group of dinosaurs?
“'You know, hija, there really is no such thing as 'normal' or 'weird' food,' Nilsa’s mom said. 'What’s weird to one person may be delicious to another. And sometimes people learn to love a food they find yucky at first. Even if you’re not used to something, you should try it before you judge it.'”
Judge means...
What is to form an opinion about something?
Main idea is...
What the text is mostly about
Populating the Cities In recent decades, cities have grown so large that now about 50% of the Earth’s population lives in urban areas. There are several reasons for this occurrence. First, the increasing industrialization of the nineteenth century resulted in the creation of many factory jobs, which tended to be located in cities. These jobs, with their promise of a better material life, attracted many people from rural areas. Second, there were many schools established to educate the children of the new factory laborers. The promise of a better education persuaded many families to leave farming communities and move to the cities. Finally, as the cities grew, people established places of leisure, entertainment, and culture, such as sports stadiums, theaters, and museums. For many people, these facilities made city life appear more interesting than life on the farm, and therefore drew them away from rural communities.
What is cause and effect?
If you look up into a tree, you can often spot animals like squirrels and birds. But you may see a very different animal in the argan tree in Morocco: goats! Moroccan goats climb the argan’s branches to eat its fruits.
The argan tree is a rare tree that only grows in Sous Valley in southwestern Morocco. This area is quite dry and hot. There are not many food sources for goats in this part of Morocco. So, these goats have gotten creative! When argan fruits ripen, the goats come in groups. They carefully climb up the argan trees, which can be up to 30 feet tall. They risk being pricked by its thorny branches. Then, the goats feast on the yellow and dark brown fruits of argan trees. The fruits make up between 47% and 84% of the tree goats’ diet, depending on the season.
These goats cannot digest the nut inside the fruit, however. They either spit out the nut or pass it through their digestive system. Farmers gather these softened nuts and crack them open to get to the seeds. These seeds are roasted, ground, and pressed to produce argan oil. Argan oil is a rare item that has become popular throughout the world. This oil is used in cooking. It is also used as a skin and hair cosmetic.
Although these goats help farmers produce argan oil, there are other consequences to their tree climbing. Goats often spend an average of 6 hours per day on the branches of these trees. Their hooves damage the tree’s branches. These tree-climbing goats are also a large tourist attraction in Morocco. Farmers have brought in more and more goats to this area to attract tourists, causing a decline in the health of the argan trees. Argan trees are now considered endangered. Some environmentalists are trying to help document this issue to save these trees. Hopefully, these trees will stand the test of time… and these goats will be able to continue enjoying these fruits for many years to come!
What is Moroccan goats climb the branches of argan trees for food, which leads to the production of argan oil and some health problems for the trees?
Modern birds came from a group of two-legged dinosaurs. These dinosaurs are known as theropods. They include familiar dinosaurs like the fierce Velociraptor. This dinosaur, in particular, shows many of the similarities between birds and dinosaurs. For example, the Velociraptor had feathers! Scientists can tell that these dinosaurs were feathered based on their fossils. A fossil of a Velociraptor’s forearm bone that was found in Mongolia had quill knobs, which are structures on a bone that hold feathers. Today’s birds have these as well. Velociraptors also had hollow bones, like today’s birds. And they also tended to nests of eggs, like their modern-day descendants.
In birds today, hollow bones and feathers make it easier for birds to fly. But unlike today’s birds, Velociraptors could not fly. Their short forelimbs made it impossible to take off from the ground. Their feathers may have had other uses, like for mating displays or keeping the dinosaur’s body at the right temperature.
Birds and velociraptors are alike by...
What is they both have feathers?
“These ancient reptiles were very diverse, ranging in size, diet, movement, habits, and more.”
Diverse means
What is different?
Text structure is...
What is the way an author decides to organize the text they wrote?
Salamander Crossing
In the spring, mole salamanders migrate. They travel on the first rainy March night. Where are they going? These salamanders are moving from their forest homes to vernal pools. Vernal pools are big puddles that last through the whole spring. The salamanders go to the vernal pools to mate and lay eggs. But mole salamanders face a problem. As people have built more homes, some salamanders have to cross roads to get to their vernal pools. On rainy March nights, this can be a problem. Drivers have trouble seeing the little amphibians. Many salamanders get run over! In many towns, people have tried to come up with a solution to save the salamanders. Sometimes, volunteers come out with flashlights. They warn drivers and help to make sure that the salamanders get across the road safely. In one town, they have even built a tunnel! The salamanders can crawl through the tunnel and get to their vernal pools.
What is problem and solution?
Mexican Pepperleaf is a special plant that is used in cooking and medicine. It grows in tropical forests in Latin America. In Spanish it is called Hierba santa or Hoja santa (holy plant or leaf). In Nahuatl, an indigenous language from Mexico, it is called Tlanecpahquílitl. Its scientific name is Piper auritum.
People call this plant the Mexican Pepperleaf because its leaves have a spicy flavor. The leaves are used as a seasoning for soups, stews, vegetables and meats. They can even be eaten raw in a salad.
Mexican Pepperleaf is also used as medicine. People drink tea made with its leaves to get rid of pain. In parts of Colombia, the plant is used to treat snakebites. In Costa Rica, people eat it when they have a headache. The oils from the plant can also keep insects away.
Mexican Pepperleaf is a special plant in Latin America, but in other parts of the world, people are trying to get rid of it. It grows very quickly, and can grow up to twenty feet tall. In places like Hawaii and Florida, its quick growth has hurt native forests.
What is the Mexican Pepperleaf is a special plant from Latin America that is used as medicine and as seasoning for food?
If plants starred in movies, the strangler fig would be the main character in a horror film. The strangler fig is known in Spanish as matapalo, the “killer tree.” It can be found in rainforests and other humid environments all over the world. It has an unusual and interesting way of growing because it is an epiphyte. An epiphyte is an air plant that grows on the surface of another plant. This epiphyte can grow figs that many species of birds enjoy. Once birds eat the figs of the epiphyte, they clean their bills and drop fig seeds on high tree branches. Strangler fig seeds then germinate in the rainforest canopy, where there is plenty of sunlight. As a strangler fig seed matures, it begins sending down long roots to the forest ground. Once the roots reach the ground and enter the soil, they weave together and slowly wrap around their host tree. The host tree now must compete with the strangler fig for sunlight and nutrients in the soil. Usually, this process kills the host and only the fig tree is left. The “trunk” of the fig tree is actually a giant web of roots. These trees are immune from forest clearing by humans because loggers do not like their knotted and twisted wood.
An epiphyte is...
What is an air plant that grows on the surface of other plants?
"Scientists also believe that an artificial shark skin material would be ideal for ships. This material would allow the ship to move through water more quickly and efficiently."
Ideal means...
What is perfect?
If you are asked to find the relationship between something. It is asking you to do what?
What is compare and contrast?