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How Camels Handle the Desert

3rd grade nonfiction passage about camel desert adaptations: 163 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

3rd grade nonfiction camel desert adaptations 163 words

How Camels Handle the Desert

Many animals could not cross a hot, dry desert, but a camel can. Its body has special parts that suit life in the sand.

Start with the sand. Hot sand can burn and sink under a heavy animal. The feet of a camel are broad and flat. Each one acts like a big pad on top of the sand, so the camel stays up on the surface.

Now the wind. In a sandstorm, blowing sand can sting the eyes. A camel has two rows of long eyelashes. It can shut its nostrils tight, too, which keeps the sand out.

Now the food. Some people say the hump stores water. It really stores fat. The camel's body can use that fat for energy when food is hard to find.

Last, water. A camel can go many days between drinks. At a pool, it takes in a lot of water quickly.

Each of these parts helps the camel live where food and water are scarce.

Questions

  1. Why do wide, flat feet help a camel? in the text

  2. How does a camel protect its eyes in a sandstorm? in the text

  3. What does a camel's hump hold? in the text

  4. What can the camel's body use the fat for? in the text

  5. What do people often wrongly believe about the hump? think about it

  6. What does the word scarce mean in the last sentence? think about it

Words to know

desert
a very dry place with little rain
eyelashes
short hairs along the edge of the eyelid
nostrils
the two openings of the nose
energy
the power a body needs to move and grow
scarce
hard to find because there is very little
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One passage, three levels

The same topic and facts written three ways, so a mixed class can read and talk about one text. Each group’s sheet shows only a shape; the key says which is which.

● Easier · 152 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.4

A camel can walk across a hot, dry desert. Many animals cannot. A camel has body parts made for the desert.

Look at the sand. Hot sand can burn. A heavy animal can sink in it. A camel has wide, flat feet. They spread out like pads. The camel does not sink.

Look at the wind. In a sandstorm, sand can sting the eyes. A camel has two rows of long eyelashes. It can also close its nostrils. This keeps sand out of its nose.

Look at the food. Some people think a hump is full of water. It is not. It holds fat. The camel's body uses the fat for energy when food is hard to find.

Look at the water. A camel can go a long time without a drink. Then it can drink a lot at once.

These parts help a camel live where food and water are scarce.

▲ This passage · 163 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.4

Many animals could not cross a hot, dry desert, but a camel can. Its body has special parts that suit life in the sand.

Start with the sand. Hot sand can burn and sink under a heavy animal. The feet of a camel are broad and flat. Each one acts like a big pad on top of the sand, so the camel stays up on the surface.

Now the wind. In a sandstorm, blowing sand can sting the eyes. A camel has two rows of long eyelashes. It can shut its nostrils tight, too, which keeps the sand out.

Now the food. Some people say the hump stores water. It really stores fat. The camel's body can use that fat for energy when food is hard to find.

Last, water. A camel can go many days between drinks. At a pool, it takes in a lot of water quickly.

Each of these parts helps the camel live where food and water are scarce.

■ Harder · 192 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.7

Why is a camel able to trek across a scorching, dry desert when so many other animals would struggle? The answer is that a camel has body parts that are perfectly suited to desert life.

Consider the sand first. Hot sand can burn, and it shifts under the weight of a heavy animal. A camel has wide, flat feet that spread out like broad pads, so the camel does not sink into the sand.

Consider the wind next. During a sandstorm, blowing sand can sting the eyes. A camel has two rows of long eyelashes to protect them, and it can also close its nostrils to keep sand out of its nose.

Consider the food. Many people mistakenly believe that a camel's hump is filled with water, but it actually holds fat. When food is difficult to find, the camel's body can turn that fat into energy.

Consider the water. A camel can travel for a long time without drinking. When it finally reaches water, it can drink a great deal in a short time.

Each of these features helps the camel survive in a land where food and water are scarce.

Download as one PDF

How to use it

  1. Press Read it big (or B) to put the text on the projector, or Full screen (F) to fill the whole screen.
  2. Ask the questions one at a time and use Show answer when the class has decided. A shows or hides every answer.
  3. Print student copy for the class, or Print with answers for yourself.

Ideas for class

  • Before reading, put desert, eyelashes, nostrils, energy and scarce on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the text will be about.
  • Read it aloud once while students follow along, then have them reread it alone or with a partner. At a calm 100 words a minute it takes about 2 minutes to read aloud.
  • Use the Read it big button (or B) to put the text on the projector, and Show answer on one question at a time so the class commits to an answer first.
  • Question 5 asks the reader to infer. Ask students to point to the words in the passage that led them to their answer.
  • Ask students to write one question the passage did not answer, then look for the answer in a book or on a classroom screen.
  • Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "How Camels Handle the Desert"?

It was written for 3rd grade. It has 163 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 2.4. That is a formula's estimate from sentence length and syllables, and it is not a Lexile or a guided reading level, so check it against your students.

What do the questions ask?

There are six. 4 ask for something the text says directly and 2 ask the reader to work something out from clues. Each has an answer in the key, and the answers are written as a teacher would accept them, not as the only possible wording.

How long does it take to read?

About 2 minutes read aloud at 100 words a minute. For a one-minute fluency check, paste it into the fluency timer and use the word count.

Can I print it?

Yes. Print student copy gives the passage, the questions with lines to write on, and the word meanings. Print with answers gives the same page with the answers filled in. Both are made in your browser.

Is this passage from a published book?

No. It was written for Peabody Teach, so there is no book to buy and no login to read it.

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