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Reading passage Grade 5 English Language Arts

How the Stonegate Library Rain Garden Handles a Storm

A grade 5 informational passage about a fictional library that replaced a flooded parking-lot corner with a planted basin, followed by seven comprehension questions.

Objectives

  1. Students will describe how a rain garden takes in water from a parking lot.
  2. Students will explain why the garden does not stay wet long enough to breed mosquitoes.
  3. Students will infer why the library kept the old storm drain in place.

Vocabulary

Key words: runoff, curb cut, basin, overflow, soak

Teacher overview

The Stonegate Library is a fictional building whose parking lot used to send every storm across the sidewalk and into a drain that leads straight to a creek. The passage describes the planted basin the library built instead, including the cut in the curb, the sandy soil mix, the deep-rooted plants, and the overflow pipe that still handles the biggest storms. A misconception the passage takes on directly is the common worry that a rain garden is a standing pond that breeds mosquitoes; the basin is built to drain within about a day, which is too short for mosquitoes to finish growing.

How the Stonegate Library Rain Garden Handles a Storm — Grade 5 English Language Arts
Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Passage

The Stonegate Library sits at the bottom of a small hill. For years its parking lot had a problem. Rain landed on the blacktop and ran downhill in a sheet. It crossed the sidewalk, soaked people's shoes, and poured into a storm drain at the corner. That drain runs straight to Stonegate Creek. Nothing cleans the water on the way.

The runoff did not arrive at the creek clean. It carried grit from the pavement, drips of oil from parked cars, and road salt left over from winter. After a hard rain, the water in the creek turned gray for an hour or two.

Three summers ago the library tried something different. Workers dug a shallow basin in the low corner of the lot, about as deep as a kitchen table is tall. They cut a gap in the curb so runoff could pour in instead of racing past. They filled the basin with a mix of sand and compost, which lets water sink much faster than the packed clay under the lot. Then they planted switchgrass, sedges, and coneflowers, all plants with long roots that reach far down.

Here is how it works in an ordinary storm. Rain runs off the blacktop, slides through the curb cut, and spreads out across the basin. The water stands a few inches deep for a while. Then it sinks into the sand and compost and moves down toward the groundwater below. The roots pull some of it up as well. The grit and oil stay behind in the top layer of soil, where they do not reach the creek.

A big storm brings more water than the basin can hold. For that, the crew set an upright pipe near the center of the basin. When the water rises above the top of that pipe, the extra spills in and travels to the old storm drain, just as it always did. The garden does not have to catch everything to help.

Neighbors asked one question more than any other. They wanted to know whether the basin would breed mosquitoes. The librarian had a good answer. The basin is built to drain within about a day, and a mosquito needs longer than that to grow from an egg into a flying insect.

Questions

  1. Where does the storm drain at the library corner send its water?
  2. Name two things the passage says the runoff carried off the parking lot.
  3. What did workers fill the basin with, and why did they choose that mix?
  4. According to the passage, what happens when water rises above the top of the upright pipe?
  5. Explain why the library kept the old storm drain instead of removing it.
  6. The passage says the grit and oil "stay behind in the top layer of soil." Explain why that matters for Stonegate Creek.
  7. Why do the plants in the basin have long roots? Use details from the passage to support your answer.

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

Answer Key
  1. Answer: straight to Stonegate Creek.
    The passage adds that nothing cleaned the water along the way before the basin was built.
  2. Answer: any two of: grit from the pavement, drips of oil from parked cars, road salt from winter.
    All three appear in the second paragraph, which also notes the creek turned gray after a hard rain.
  3. Answer: a mix of sand and compost, because water sinks through it much faster than through the packed clay.
    The passage contrasts the mix directly with the clay under the parking lot.
  4. Answer: the extra water spills into the pipe and travels to the old storm drain.
    The passage explains that a big storm brings more water than the basin can hold.
  5. Answer: because the basin cannot hold the water from a very large storm.
    Credit answers explaining that the drain is a backup for the overflow, and that the passage states the garden does not have to catch everything to help.
  6. Answer: because material trapped in the soil does not reach the creek.
    The passage states that runoff used to carry grit and oil to Stonegate Creek and turn it gray, so holding that material in the basin keeps it out of the water.
  7. Answer: long roots help water move down into the soil and pull water back up.
    Credit answers connecting the roots to fast draining, which is also what keeps the basin from standing long enough to breed mosquitoes.

Differentiation

Support

Provide a labeled cross-section sketch showing the curb cut, the sand and compost layer, the plant roots, and the upright overflow pipe, and let students point to each part as they answer questions 3, 4, and 7. Allow questions 1 and 2 to be answered with short phrases.

Extension

Ask students to write four sentences of a sign for the library door explaining the basin to a visitor who has never seen one, including one sentence that answers the mosquito question the neighbors asked.

ELL supports

Preteach "runoff," "curb cut," "basin," and "overflow" with a demonstration using a baking tray, a cup of water, and a sponge to show water spreading, soaking, and spilling over. Provide a sentence frame for question 5: "The library kept the storm drain because ___."

Extensions

Have students walk the school parking lot or playground with a clipboard, mark the low corner where water collects after rain, and write a short proposal explaining where a basin like Stonegate's could go and which passage detail supports their choice. An adult should supervise the walk and keep students away from moving cars.