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Io, the Moon with Fiery Mountains

3rd grade nonfiction passage about jupiter's moon io: 187 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

3rd grade nonfiction jupiter's moon io 187 words

Io, the Moon with Fiery Mountains

Jupiter is the biggest planet, and it has many moons. One of them is named Io. Io is about the size of our own Moon, but it is very different. It has more volcanoes than any other world we know.

When a spacecraft flew past Io, its cameras saw something amazing. Clouds of material were shooting up from the surface. These were volcanoes erupting. Some of them were sending plumes high above the ground.

Io looks like a giant pizza. Its surface has yellow, orange, red and white patches. Scientists think many of these colors come from a yellow material called sulfur.

Why is Io so hot inside? Jupiter is huge, and its pull on Io is strong. The nearby moons tug on Io too. All this pulling squeezes Io again and again, like a ball you squeeze in your hand. The squeezing makes heat, and the heat melts rock deep inside.

Io is a wild place with no air to breathe and a surface much too hot for visitors. But from far away, it has taught us how a small world can stay full of fire.

Questions

  1. Which planet does Io travel around? in the text

  2. What is special about Io? in the text

  3. What did the spacecraft's cameras see on Io? in the text

  4. What is the yellow material that gives Io some of its colors? in the text

  5. What makes the inside of Io so hot? in the text

  6. Why does the passage compare Io to a giant pizza? think about it

Words to know

volcanoes
mountains with openings where hot melted rock escapes
erupting
bursting out with force
plumes
tall clouds that rise like feathers
sulfur
a yellow material found in some rocks and volcanoes
spacecraft
a vehicle that travels in space
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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 · 167 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.7

Jupiter is the biggest planet. It has many moons. One is named Io. Io is about as big as our Moon, but it is very different. It has more volcanoes than any other world we know.

A spacecraft flew past Io. Its cameras saw something amazing. Clouds were shooting up from the ground. They were volcanoes erupting. Some sent plumes high in the sky.

Io looks like a giant pizza. It has yellow, orange, red and white patches. Scientists think many of the colors come from a yellow material called sulfur.

Why is Io so hot inside? Jupiter is huge, and it pulls hard on Io. Nearby moons tug on Io too. The pulling squeezes Io again and again, like a ball in your hand. The squeezing makes heat. The heat melts rock deep inside.

Io is wild. It has no air to breathe. It is far too hot for visitors. But from far away, it shows us how a small world can stay full of fire.

▲ This passage · 187 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4

Jupiter is the biggest planet, and it has many moons. One of them is named Io. Io is about the size of our own Moon, but it is very different. It has more volcanoes than any other world we know.

When a spacecraft flew past Io, its cameras saw something amazing. Clouds of material were shooting up from the surface. These were volcanoes erupting. Some of them were sending plumes high above the ground.

Io looks like a giant pizza. Its surface has yellow, orange, red and white patches. Scientists think many of these colors come from a yellow material called sulfur.

Why is Io so hot inside? Jupiter is huge, and its pull on Io is strong. The nearby moons tug on Io too. All this pulling squeezes Io again and again, like a ball you squeeze in your hand. The squeezing makes heat, and the heat melts rock deep inside.

Io is a wild place with no air to breathe and a surface much too hot for visitors. But from far away, it has taught us how a small world can stay full of fire.

■ Harder · 198 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.7

Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, has a great many moons. One of them is named Io. Io is about the same size as our own Moon, yet it is dramatically different, because it has more active volcanoes than any other world we know.

When a spacecraft sailed past Io, its cameras captured something astonishing. Enormous clouds of material were blasting upward from the surface. These were volcanoes erupting, and some of them hurled plumes far above the ground.

Io resembles a giant pizza. Its surface is patched with yellow, orange, red and white. Scientists believe that many of these colors come from a yellow material called sulfur.

Why is Io so hot inside? Jupiter is enormous, and its pull on Io is powerful. The neighboring moons tug on Io as well. All of this pulling squeezes Io again and again, much like a ball squeezed in your hand. The squeezing creates heat, and the heat melts rock deep inside.

Io is a wild place, with no air to breathe and a surface far too hot for visitors. But even from a distance, it has taught us how a small world can stay full of fire.

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 volcanoes, erupting, plumes, sulfur and spacecraft 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 6 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 "Io, the Moon with Fiery Mountains"?

It was written for 3rd grade. It has 187 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 4.0. 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. 5 ask for something the text says directly and 1 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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