Reading passage Grade 1 Science
The Muddy Ditch Behind Corbridge School: A Grade 1 Read-Aloud
A read-aloud about what roots do: Room 1 learns why a dug-up hill sends mud downstream, spreads straw and grass seed on it, and compares two jars.
Objectives
- Students will name where the mud in Chalkhill Creek came from and what stopped it.
- Students will explain how plant roots keep soil out of a creek.
- Students will state an opinion about covering bare ground and give one reason.
Vocabulary
Key words: mud, roots, straw, ditch
Teacher overview
This short passage follows Room 1 at the fictional Corbridge School as a caretaker explains what plant roots do for a hillside, then has the class put straw and grass seed on a bare hill a digging crew left behind and compare two jars of creek water. It is written to be read aloud, and strong readers can take it on alone. The science it carries is the way plant roots hold soil in place, and the misconception it addresses is that pollution counts only when something is poured straight into the water. Soil is loose and travels easily once nothing holds it, so a hill without roots feeds the creek every time it rains.
Passage
Behind Corbridge School there is a bare dirt hill. Last spring a crew dug there to make a new bus lane. The grass is gone now. Only brown dirt is left.
Room 1 walked out to the ditch after a big rain. Brown water ran down the hill. It ran into the ditch. Then it ran into Chalkhill Creek.
Mr. Vega takes care of the school. He filled a jar from the creek. The water in the jar was brown. Room 1 could not see through it.
"Where did all this mud come from?" asked Ivy.
Mr. Vega pointed at the hill. "Grass has roots," he said. "Roots hold the dirt in place. This hill has no roots left. So the rain takes the dirt with it."
Room 1 wanted to help. They spread straw all over the bare hill. They pushed grass seed down into the dirt. Then they set a row of straw rolls at the bottom of the hill.
The next big rain came two weeks later. Mr. Vega filled a new jar from the creek. This time Room 1 could see their fingers through the glass.
Their teacher, Ms. Ferris, set both jars on the shelf. Then she told the class one more thing. Mud sinks. It lands on the stones at the bottom of the creek. Fish lay eggs on those stones. Mud can cover the eggs. Mud also blocks the light that water plants need.
Room 1 checks the hill every week now. Little green blades are coming up through the straw.
Questions
- Where did the brown water come from?
- What did Mr. Vega fill from the creek?
- What did Room 1 spread on the bare hill?
- What did Room 1 set at the bottom of the hill?
- How did the creek water look in the jar after the next big rain?
- Mr. Vega said the hill has no roots left. Tell how roots keep dirt out of a creek.
- Write two sentences about the mud in Chalkhill Creek. Tell what put the mud there. Tell what the class did to stop it.
- Do you think the school should plant grass on every bare spot? Tell why.
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: From the bare dirt hill behind the school.
The passage says the rain ran down that hill, into the ditch, and then into Chalkhill Creek. - Answer: A jar of creek water.
Mr. Vega filled it so Room 1 could look closely at how brown the water was. - Answer: Straw.
Room 1 spread it over the whole bare hill before pressing grass seed into the dirt. - Answer: A row of straw rolls.
They set the rolls at the bottom of the hill, below the bare dirt. - Answer: Much clearer than before.
The passage says Room 1 could see their fingers through the glass, which they could not do with the first jar. - Answer: Roots hold the soil in place so the rain cannot carry it away.
Mr. Vega points out that the hill lost its roots when the grass was dug up, which is why the rain took the dirt with it. - Answer: Accept any two sentences naming a cause and a fix.
Sample response: the bare dirt hill had no roots, so the rain washed the dirt into the creek. Room 1 put straw and grass seed on the hill, and the next jar of creek water was much clearer. - Answer: Accept any clear opinion with a reason tied to the passage.
Sample response: yes, because bare dirt washes into the creek when it rains, and the straw and seed made the creek water clearer.
Differentiation
Support
Read the passage aloud twice and stop after each paragraph to ask what just happened, then have students point to the jar sentences before answering questions 2 and 5. Give sentence starters for questions 6 through 8, such as "Roots hold the ___" and "I think the school should ___ because ___."
Extension
Ask students to write the note Room 1 would send to the digging crew, naming what the bare hill did to the creek and what the crew should do the next time they dig. Students can also sketch the hill before and after the straw went down and label which drawing goes with which jar.
ELL supports
Pre-teach "mud," "roots," "straw," and "ditch" using a clump of grass with soil still on the roots and a handful of loose dry soil so students can feel the difference. Allow questions 1 through 5 to be answered with a short phrase, a point to the matching line as it is reread, or a labeled drawing.
Extensions
Fill two shallow trays, one with bare soil and one with soil held together by a sod square or a thick mat of grass clippings, prop both on a book, and pour the same amount of water down each, catching the runoff in a cup at the low end. The two cups of runoff give students the same evidence Room 1 collected in the creek jars, this time produced in ten minutes on a classroom table.