living things and their environments living things and their environments
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LIVING THINGS AND THEIR ENVIRONMENTS CHAPTER 1 Vocabulary • Use descriptions to determine word meaning: What does the word diversity mean in this book? Let’s look for clues for the meaning of this word on page 7. (Answer: variety; Clues/evidence: livings things come in all shapes and sizes; there are huge trees and tiny one-celled organisms; giant whales swim in the ocean while bacteria cover every surface)
Find It! Level 1 Comprehension • Identify facts and details: All the living things in an _____ form a community. (ecosystem, page 8) • Identify facts and details: A _____ is a place where living things live. (habitat, page 10)
LEVEL V/60 mice
Look Closer! Level 2 Comprehension
M
• Represent text in a different way: Present the information web on chart paper or on your whiteboard. Look at the word web created from information on page 8. What information belongs in the blank? (plants) • Compare and contrast: How are abiotic and biotic factors different? (abiotic factors include nonliving things like weather, air, and soil; biotic factors include living things like animals and plants, page 11)
air
fleas M
M
Prove It! Level 3 Comprehension
weasel
M
M
?
sunlight M
rocks
• Summarize information: Write a one-sentence summary for the first three paragraphs on page 8? (Answer: the biosphere exists off of things in Earth’s bodies of water, Earth’s atmosphere, and Earth’s crust; Clues/evidence: Earth’s spheres are always interacting; water carries nutrients throughout the bodies of living things and helps them get rid of wastes; the atmosphere filters out dangerous radiation from the sun; plants and bacteria use the minerals in Earth’s crust to grow and reproduce) • Support responses using text: Natural animal habitats do not change much over time. How can you tell? (in a zoo, the polar bears swim in a cold pool with chunks of ice in the water and rocks for them to climb; zookeepers know that they must copy an animal’s natural habitat to keep it alive, page 10)
Take It Apart! Level 4 Comprehension • Analyze text structure and organization: How does the author organize the information on page 12? (description/example) • Evaluate author’s purpose: Why did the author include the information on page 12 about niches? (to explain the different ways an animal can survive in one habitat)
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CHAPTER 2 Vocabulary • Use synonyms to determine word meaning: What does the word biomass mean in this book? Let’s look for clues for the meaning of this word on page 22. (Answer: total amount of living matter; Clues/evidence: the food available to the consumers in an ecosystem is the biomass, or total mass, of the producers)
Find It! Level 1 Comprehension • Identify facts and details: Every living thing produces _____ and eventually dies. (waste, page 18) • Identify facts and details: Ecosystems usually contain many food _____. (chains, page 21)
plants, algae, bacteria take in sun’s energy and simple chemicals M
they turn sun’s energy and chemicals into sugar through photosynthesis M
M
they can make their own food
Look Closer! Level 2 Comprehension • Represent text in a different way: Present the sequence chart on chart paper or on your whiteboard. Look at the sequence of events chart created from information on page 16. What information belongs in the blank? (sugars power their lives and build bodies) • Identify cause and effect: Orangutans might lose their habitat because . . . (people are cutting down the wild jungles of Indonesia and Malaysia, page 20)
Prove It! Level 3 Comprehension • Analyze character: What can you tell about Biruté Galdikas? (Answer: she is passionate about orangutans and their habitat; Clues/evidence: she moved from the United States to Indonesia in 1971 to study orangutans; Biruté Galdikas worries that they will lose their habitat and die out in the next twenty years; she now spends much of her time working to preserve the jungle for all the species that make it their home, page 20) • Support responses using text: Location affects ecosystems. How can you tell? (some ecosystems are more productive than others; warm, wet places like tropical rain forests are covered in thick layers of producers; cold or very dry places produce little vegetation; those ecosystems have fewer consumers and simpler food webs, page 22)
Take It Apart! Level 4 Comprehension • Evaluate author’s purpose: Why did the author probably include the diagram on page 22? (to help the reader see how living and nonliving things are connected) • Analyze text structure and organization: What text structure does the author use for Chapter 2? (description)
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CHAPTERS 3 AND 4 Vocabulary • Use direct definitions to determine word meaning: What does the word competition mean in this book? Let’s look for clues for the meaning of this word on page 35. (the struggle among individuals of one species)
Find It! Level 1 Comprehension • Identify facts and details: Many chemical reactions require _____. (water, page 29) • Identify facts and details: _____ within a community rise and fall as their ecosystem changes. (populations, page 38)
Look Closer! Level 2 Comprehension • Represent text in a different way: Present the sequence chart on chart paper or on your whiteboard. Look at the sequence of events chart created from information on page 40. What information belongs in the blank? (meadow replaces pond) • Identify cause and effect: After a volcano, the first living things to take hold are often lichens and mosses. Why? (because there is no soil for plants to grow in and no seeds to sprout, page 40)
Prove It! Level 3 Comprehension • Draw conclusions: What can you conclude about how cycles affect living things? (Answer: life would not exist without cycles; Clues/evidence: the end result is that fixed nitrogen is available for living things and the level of nitrogen in the atmosphere stays constant; water is essential for life; water also carries substances throughout the bodies of living things; carbon dioxide and oxygen are both important for living communities, pages 28–32) • Make inferences: Some niches in the ecosystem disappear for a time. What can you infer from this statement? (Answer: those same niches may reappear at a later time; Clues/evidence: herbivores return to the ecosystem; soon the ecosystem returns to its normal state, page 38)
Take It Apart! Level 4 Comprehension • Analyze text structure and organization: How does the author organize the paragraphs on pages 28—29? (part of the cycle and a corresponding letter that matches the labeled diagram) • Evaluate author’s purpose: Why does the author include a question on page 38? (to help readers stop and think about what is being read)
pond grows shallow because of sinking dead plants M
grasses and shrubs take over
M
M
trees begin to grow
M
mature forest
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TIPS FOR ANSWERING TEXT-DEPENDENT QUESTIONS
Vocabulary
Reread and look for clues to help you define the unfamiliar word. Can you find a synonym, a definition, text clues, or picture clues?
Find It! Level 1 Comprehension
The answers are right in the text. Reread to locate facts and details to answer the questions.
Look Closer! Level 2 Comprehension
The answers are in the text, but you may need to look in more than one place to find them.
Prove It! Level 3 Comprehension
You’ll have to be a detective. You won’t find the exact answers to these questions, but you will find clues and evidence to support your inferences and conclusions.
Take It Apart! Level 4 Comprehension
As you reread, ask yourself, “How did the author organize the information? Why did he or she write the book?”
PRIME SCIENCE Set A ©2010 Benchmark Education Company, LLC. All rights reserved. This card may be photocopied for classroom use only. Based on the Comprehension Through Deductive Reasoning Model developed by Margaret Kilgo.
5/7/10
4:02 PM
Page 2
LIVING THINGS AND THEIR ENVIRONMENTS CHAPTER 1 Vocabulary • Use descriptions to determine word meaning: What does the word diversity mean in this book? Let’s look for clues for the meaning of this word on page 7. (Answer: variety; Clues/evidence: livings things come in all shapes and sizes; there are huge trees and tiny one-celled organisms; giant whales swim in the ocean while bacteria cover every surface)
Find It! Level 1 Comprehension • Identify facts and details: All the living things in an _____ form a community. (ecosystem, page 8) • Identify facts and details: A _____ is a place where living things live. (habitat, page 10)
LEVEL V/60 mice
Look Closer! Level 2 Comprehension
M
• Represent text in a different way: Present the information web on chart paper or on your whiteboard. Look at the word web created from information on page 8. What information belongs in the blank? (plants) • Compare and contrast: How are abiotic and biotic factors different? (abiotic factors include nonliving things like weather, air, and soil; biotic factors include living things like animals and plants, page 11)
air
fleas M
M
Prove It! Level 3 Comprehension
weasel
M
M
?
sunlight M
rocks
• Summarize information: Write a one-sentence summary for the first three paragraphs on page 8? (Answer: the biosphere exists off of things in Earth’s bodies of water, Earth’s atmosphere, and Earth’s crust; Clues/evidence: Earth’s spheres are always interacting; water carries nutrients throughout the bodies of living things and helps them get rid of wastes; the atmosphere filters out dangerous radiation from the sun; plants and bacteria use the minerals in Earth’s crust to grow and reproduce) • Support responses using text: Natural animal habitats do not change much over time. How can you tell? (in a zoo, the polar bears swim in a cold pool with chunks of ice in the water and rocks for them to climb; zookeepers know that they must copy an animal’s natural habitat to keep it alive, page 10)
Take It Apart! Level 4 Comprehension • Analyze text structure and organization: How does the author organize the information on page 12? (description/example) • Evaluate author’s purpose: Why did the author include the information on page 12 about niches? (to explain the different ways an animal can survive in one habitat)
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Page 3
CHAPTER 2 Vocabulary • Use synonyms to determine word meaning: What does the word biomass mean in this book? Let’s look for clues for the meaning of this word on page 22. (Answer: total amount of living matter; Clues/evidence: the food available to the consumers in an ecosystem is the biomass, or total mass, of the producers)
Find It! Level 1 Comprehension • Identify facts and details: Every living thing produces _____ and eventually dies. (waste, page 18) • Identify facts and details: Ecosystems usually contain many food _____. (chains, page 21)
plants, algae, bacteria take in sun’s energy and simple chemicals M
they turn sun’s energy and chemicals into sugar through photosynthesis M
M
they can make their own food
Look Closer! Level 2 Comprehension • Represent text in a different way: Present the sequence chart on chart paper or on your whiteboard. Look at the sequence of events chart created from information on page 16. What information belongs in the blank? (sugars power their lives and build bodies) • Identify cause and effect: Orangutans might lose their habitat because . . . (people are cutting down the wild jungles of Indonesia and Malaysia, page 20)
Prove It! Level 3 Comprehension • Analyze character: What can you tell about Biruté Galdikas? (Answer: she is passionate about orangutans and their habitat; Clues/evidence: she moved from the United States to Indonesia in 1971 to study orangutans; Biruté Galdikas worries that they will lose their habitat and die out in the next twenty years; she now spends much of her time working to preserve the jungle for all the species that make it their home, page 20) • Support responses using text: Location affects ecosystems. How can you tell? (some ecosystems are more productive than others; warm, wet places like tropical rain forests are covered in thick layers of producers; cold or very dry places produce little vegetation; those ecosystems have fewer consumers and simpler food webs, page 22)
Take It Apart! Level 4 Comprehension • Evaluate author’s purpose: Why did the author probably include the diagram on page 22? (to help the reader see how living and nonliving things are connected) • Analyze text structure and organization: What text structure does the author use for Chapter 2? (description)
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Page 4
CHAPTERS 3 AND 4 Vocabulary • Use direct definitions to determine word meaning: What does the word competition mean in this book? Let’s look for clues for the meaning of this word on page 35. (the struggle among individuals of one species)
Find It! Level 1 Comprehension • Identify facts and details: Many chemical reactions require _____. (water, page 29) • Identify facts and details: _____ within a community rise and fall as their ecosystem changes. (populations, page 38)
Look Closer! Level 2 Comprehension • Represent text in a different way: Present the sequence chart on chart paper or on your whiteboard. Look at the sequence of events chart created from information on page 40. What information belongs in the blank? (meadow replaces pond) • Identify cause and effect: After a volcano, the first living things to take hold are often lichens and mosses. Why? (because there is no soil for plants to grow in and no seeds to sprout, page 40)
Prove It! Level 3 Comprehension • Draw conclusions: What can you conclude about how cycles affect living things? (Answer: life would not exist without cycles; Clues/evidence: the end result is that fixed nitrogen is available for living things and the level of nitrogen in the atmosphere stays constant; water is essential for life; water also carries substances throughout the bodies of living things; carbon dioxide and oxygen are both important for living communities, pages 28–32) • Make inferences: Some niches in the ecosystem disappear for a time. What can you infer from this statement? (Answer: those same niches may reappear at a later time; Clues/evidence: herbivores return to the ecosystem; soon the ecosystem returns to its normal state, page 38)
Take It Apart! Level 4 Comprehension • Analyze text structure and organization: How does the author organize the paragraphs on pages 28—29? (part of the cycle and a corresponding letter that matches the labeled diagram) • Evaluate author’s purpose: Why does the author include a question on page 38? (to help readers stop and think about what is being read)
pond grows shallow because of sinking dead plants M
grasses and shrubs take over
M
M
trees begin to grow
M
mature forest
Y05800_LivEnvrn.qxd:gr4 lost cities NAV
5/7/10
4:02 PM
Page 1
TIPS FOR ANSWERING TEXT-DEPENDENT QUESTIONS
Vocabulary
Reread and look for clues to help you define the unfamiliar word. Can you find a synonym, a definition, text clues, or picture clues?
Find It! Level 1 Comprehension
The answers are right in the text. Reread to locate facts and details to answer the questions.
Look Closer! Level 2 Comprehension
The answers are in the text, but you may need to look in more than one place to find them.
Prove It! Level 3 Comprehension
You’ll have to be a detective. You won’t find the exact answers to these questions, but you will find clues and evidence to support your inferences and conclusions.
Take It Apart! Level 4 Comprehension
As you reread, ask yourself, “How did the author organize the information? Why did he or she write the book?”
PRIME SCIENCE Set A ©2010 Benchmark Education Company, LLC. All rights reserved. This card may be photocopied for classroom use only. Based on the Comprehension Through Deductive Reasoning Model developed by Margaret Kilgo.
