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Reading passage Grade 2 Science

Snow on Mirrenfield Ridge: How Oatlands Gets Its Water

A grade 2 read-aloud passage tracing one town's water from winter snow on a ridge through a creek, a lake, a pipe, and a tall tank to the kitchen tap.

Objectives

  1. Students will name the places water travels through on its way to a town tap.
  2. Students will tell whether the water at each place is solid or liquid.
  3. Students will explain why the town tank sits on the highest spot in town.

Vocabulary

Key words: ridge, melt, solid, liquid, creek, tank

Teacher overview

This passage follows the water of the fictional town of Oatlands from the snow that piles on the ridge above it to the tap in one student's kitchen, naming each place the water waits along the way and what form it takes there. It is written to be read aloud, with short sentences and one idea at a time, so that the sequence stays clear on a first hearing. Teachers should expect students to place the town's water supply in the pipe itself, as though the water begins where the pipe begins, and the ridge in the first paragraphs is what pushes that starting point back to the weather.

Snow on Mirrenfield Ridge: How Oatlands Gets Its Water — Grade 2 Science
Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Passage

Oatlands is a small town. It sits at the foot of a tall ridge. The ridge is called Mirrenfield Ridge. It is the tallest thing anyone in town can see.

In winter, snow falls on the ridge. Up there the air stays cold. The snow does not melt. It piles up all winter long. Snow is water. It is water in its solid form. You can hold it. You can pack it into a ball.

In spring, the days get warmer. The snow on the ridge starts to melt. Melted snow is liquid water. It runs down over the rocks. Many small streams form. They join into one creek. That creek is called Ling Creek.

Ling Creek runs down to Oatlands Lake. All spring the lake gets deeper. By May the lake is full again.

A pipe runs from the lake to a low white building. Workers in that building clean the lake water. Then a pump pushes the clean water up a hill. At the top of the hill there is a tall tank. The tank sits on the highest spot in town.

Water leaves the tank and flows down. It goes through pipes under every street. It goes into every house. When Tess turns on the tap in her kitchen, water comes out.

That water was snow last winter. It sat on the ridge. It was solid then. Now it is liquid in her cup. It has waited in a lot of places. It waited on the ridge. It ran in a creek. It rested in a lake. It rode through a pipe. It sat in a tank. Then it came to Tess.

Questions

  1. What is Mirrenfield Ridge?
  2. Snow sits on the ridge all winter. Is that water solid or liquid?
  3. What makes the snow on the ridge start to melt?
  4. Name the creek that carries the melted snow down to the lake.
  5. Why do you think the town tank sits on the highest spot in town?
  6. Name three places the water waits or travels before it reaches Tess.
  7. In July there is no snow left on the ridge. Would there still be water in Oatlands Lake? Tell how you know.

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: A tall ridge above the town of Oatlands. The passage says it is the tallest thing anyone in town can see.
  2. Answer: Solid. The passage states that snow is water in its solid form and that it can be held and packed into a ball.
  3. Answer: The warmer spring days. The passage says that in spring the days get warmer and the snow starts to melt.
  4. Answer: Ling Creek. The passage says the small streams join into one creek with that name.
  5. Answer: Accept any answer saying that water flows downhill, so a tank on the highest spot can send water down to every house. The passage supports this by saying the water leaves the tank and flows down through the pipes.
  6. Answer: Any three of the ridge, Ling Creek, Oatlands Lake, the white cleaning building, the pipe, or the tank. The last paragraph lists most of these places in order.
  7. Answer: Yes. The passage says the lake fills all spring and is full by May, so the lake still holds the water that melted earlier in the year.

Differentiation

Support

Read the passage aloud twice, then give these students six picture cards showing the ridge, the creek, the lake, the building, the tank, and the tap, and have them place the cards in order before answering. Limit the set to questions 1, 2, 4, and 6.

Extension

Ask students to write two sentences about what would happen in Oatlands after a winter with very little snow, naming the lake in at least one sentence. Any answer works when it connects less snow to less water reaching the lake.

ELL supports

Preview "ridge," "melt," "solid," "liquid," and "tank" with a snowball made from ice shavings and a clear cup of water before reading. Provide the sentence frame "The water is ___ when it is on the ridge," and allow question 6 to be answered by pointing at pictures in order.

Extensions

Ask students to find out where their own town's water comes from, using a school or family source, and to draw the same kind of path with the places labeled in order. Compare two or three student paths with the one in the passage.