Worksheet Grade 2 English Language Arts

What Goes Down the Storm Drain? A Grade 2 Reading Worksheet

A grade 2 worksheet with a short read-aloud about storm drains carrying rain to a creek, then key-detail questions and one informative fact sentence to write.

Grade: Grade 2
Subject: English Language Arts
Material: Worksheet
Time: 20 min
Prep: No prep
Materials: None

Standards

RI.2.1 Common Core ELA

Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

How this material aligns: Items 1 through 5 ask students to answer what, where, and why questions about key details in the passage explaining where storm drain water goes.

All materials for RI.2.1 →

W.2.2 Common Core ELA

Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.

How this material aligns: Item 8 asks students to write one informative fact sentence about storm drains, developing the topic with a fact drawn from the passage.

All materials for W.2.2 →

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This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely, without attribution. Updated 2026-07-17.

Objectives

Students will answer key-detail questions about a short informational passage.
Students will explain why only rain should go down a storm drain.
Students will write one informative sentence about storm drains.

Vocabulary

Storm drain: A storm drain is the grate at the edge of a street that swallows rainwater and sends it through pipes to the nearest creek or river. That water is usually not treated, so only rain belongs down the drain.

Also: creek, curb, litter

Teacher overview

Sink water goes to a treatment plant, yet storm drain water often runs straight to a creek without being cleaned first. This worksheet teaches that difference with a short passage about the fictional town of Otter Creek, where the storm drain runs to a creek and not to a treatment plant. The passage suits a grade 2 reader and can also be read aloud. Students then answer key-detail questions and write one informative fact sentence, which checks that they can state the main idea in their own words.

What Goes Down the Storm Drain? A Grade 2 Reading Worksheet — Grade 2 English Language Arts

Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Student Worksheet

Read the passage, or listen as your teacher reads it.

When rain falls on your street, where does it go? The rain runs to a storm drain by the curb. A storm drain is a hole that takes water off the street. In many towns, that water does not go to a cleaning plant first. It goes straight to a creek or a pond. In our town, it runs to Otter Creek. But rain is not the only thing that can go down the drain. Litter and oil can go down too. Then they end up in the creek. That is bad for the fish and frogs. Only rain should go down a storm drain.

What is a storm drain?
Where does the storm drain water go in our town?
Does the storm drain water go to a cleaning plant first, yes or no?
Why is litter in the storm drain bad for the creek?
What is the only thing that should go down a storm drain?
Name one thing besides rain that can go down a drain.
How can you help keep litter out of the storm drain?
Write one fact about storm drains. Use a complete sentence.

From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.

Answer Key

Answer: A storm drain is a hole by the curb that takes water off the street. The passage gives this definition in the third sentence.
Answer: It goes straight to Otter Creek. The passage says the water runs to a creek and names Otter Creek as the town's creek.
Answer: No. The passage says the water does not go to a cleaning plant first.
Answer: Because it ends up in the creek, which is bad for the fish and frogs. Litter and oil travel down the drain and into the water where the animals live.
Answer: Only rain should go down a storm drain. This is the last sentence of the passage.
Answer: Litter or oil. The passage names both as things that can wrongly go down the drain.
Answer: Answers will vary, such as putting trash in a bin or picking up litter near the curb so it cannot wash into the drain.
Answer: Answers will vary. A full-credit sentence states one true fact from the passage, such as "A storm drain carries rain off the street to a creek."

Differentiation

Support

Read the passage aloud twice and help students underline the sentence that answers each question. For item 8, give a sentence frame: "A storm drain ___."

Extension

Ask students to write a second fact sentence and to explain what people could do so that only rain reaches Otter Creek. Challenge them to use the word so to connect a cause and an effect.

ELL supports

Pre-teach storm drain, curb, and creek with a simple street sketch. Allow yes or no and single-word answers for items 3 and 6, and accept item 8 with support from the sentence frame.