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Reading passage Grade 4 Social Studies & Civics

How Halden Cleaned Up Redhawk Creek: A Grade 4 Passage

A grade 4 social studies passage about how a fictional town noticed creek pollution and acted with a cleanup and a new rule, with questions and an answer key.

Objectives

  1. Students will identify the steps the town of Halden took to clean up Redhawk Creek.
  2. Students will explain how a cleanup day and a new rule each helped solve the pollution problem.

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: pollution, rule

Teacher overview

This passage tells how the fictional town of Halden solved a pollution problem in Redhawk Creek. It is written for grade 4 readers and fits a civics unit on how communities fix shared problems. A teacher can use it to show how noticing a problem, meeting about it, and making a rule can lead to real change.

How Halden Cleaned Up Redhawk Creek: A Grade 4 Passage — Grade 4 Social Studies & Civics
Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Passage

Redhawk Creek runs through the town of Halden. Children like to wade in it on warm days. Fish live in its cool water. For many years, the creek was clean and clear.

One spring, a girl named Priya noticed a change. The water near the bridge looked cloudy. Trash floated at the edge. A soapy smell hung in the air. Priya told her teacher what she saw.

Her class went to look at the creek. They found soda cans, plastic bags, and a film of soap on the water. They wondered where it all came from. Their teacher explained that rain washes trash from the streets into storm drains. Those drains empty into Redhawk Creek. When people washed their cars in the street, the soapy water ran into a drain too.

The class wanted to help. They wrote a letter to the town leaders. The letter asked the town to fix the creek problem. The town leaders held a meeting. Many families came. Together they looked at the problem and talked about what to do.

The town made two choices. First, it held a creek cleanup day. Neighbors came with gloves and bags. They picked up the trash along the water. Second, the town passed a new rule. People could no longer wash their cars in the street, where the soapy water reaches a drain. Instead, they had to wash cars on the grass or at a car wash.

Over the next months, Redhawk Creek began to look better. The water grew clear again. The soapy smell went away. Fish still swam near the bridge.

Priya learned something important. One person who notices a problem can help a whole town act. A cleanup helped right away. A new rule helped keep the creek clean for a long time.

Questions

  1. Who first noticed that Redhawk Creek had changed?
  2. Name two things the class found in or on the creek.
  3. According to the teacher, how did the trash and soapy water reach the creek?
  4. Why did the class write a letter to the town leaders?
  5. The town made two choices. Explain how each one helped the creek.
  6. What does the end of the passage suggest about how one person can help solve a shared problem?

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 girl named Priya. The passage says Priya noticed the water looked cloudy and told her teacher.
  2. Answer: Any two of: soda cans, plastic bags, or a film of soap. The passage lists these as what the class found at the creek.
  3. Answer: Through storm drains. The teacher explained that rain washes trash into storm drains, and soapy car-wash water runs into a drain too, and those drains empty into the creek.
  4. Answer: To ask the town to fix the creek problem. The class wanted to help, so they wrote to the town leaders asking them to act, which shows they believed the town could solve it together.
  5. Answer: The cleanup day removed the trash already in and around the creek, which helped right away. The new rule stopped soapy water from washing into drains, which kept the creek clean going forward.
  6. Answer: Answers will vary but should note that Priya, one person, noticed the problem and spoke up, and that led the whole town to act with a cleanup and a rule, so one person can start a big change.

Differentiation

Support (below grade level)

Read the passage aloud once before students answer. Give them a simple problem-and-solution chart with "What was wrong" and "What the town did" so they can sort details before writing.

Extension (above grade level)

Ask students to write a short paragraph proposing one more rule Halden could pass to keep Redhawk Creek clean, and to explain what problem their rule would prevent.

ELL supports

Pre-teach pollution, storm drain, and rule with simple pictures: trash in water, a curb drain, and a posted sign. Allow students to answer questions 1 through 3 with short phrases or by pointing to the paragraph where the answer appears.