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Four Climates on One Tanzanian Mountain

4th grade nonfiction passage about climate zones on kilimanjaro: 180 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

4th grade nonfiction climate zones on kilimanjaro 180 words

Four Climates on One Tanzanian Mountain

Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain in Africa. It rises from the grassy plains of Tanzania, close to the equator. You might expect a place so near the equator to be hot all over. Yet the very top of the mountain is covered with ice.

The reason is height. The higher you climb, the colder the air becomes. Because of this, Kilimanjaro has different zones, a little like the layers of a cake. At the bottom, farmers grow crops such as bananas and coffee in warm, rich soil. Above the farms lies a rainforest, where it is wet and green and monkeys swing through the trees.

Higher still, the trees grow short and the land turns into open moorland dotted with small shrubs. Past that, the ground is dry, rocky, and nearly empty of plants. The last zone is the cold summit, where ice sits on the peak.

A climber who walks up the mountain passes through every one of these zones. It is a bit like traveling from a hot country to a freezing one in only a few days.

Questions

  1. In which country does Kilimanjaro rise? in the text

  2. Why is the top of the mountain colder than the bottom? in the text

  3. Which crops do farmers grow at the bottom of the mountain? in the text

  4. What lives in the rainforest zone? in the text

  5. What is the last zone at the top of the mountain? in the text

  6. Why would a climber need warm clothes even though the walk starts on warm ground? think about it

Words to know

equator
the imaginary line around the middle of the Earth
zones
separate areas that are different from the ones around them
moorland
open, wild land with low shrubs and few trees
summit
the very top of a mountain
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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 · 151 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.8

Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain in Africa. It rises from the flat, grassy land of Tanzania. Tanzania is close to the equator. You might think it is hot all over. But the top of the mountain has ice.

Why? It is because of height. The higher you go, the colder the air gets. So the mountain has zones, like layers of a cake. At the bottom, farmers grow bananas and coffee in warm soil. Above the farms is a rainforest. It is wet and green, and monkeys live in the trees.

Higher up, the trees get short. The land is open with small bushes. Then the ground is dry and rocky, with few plants. At the very top, it is cold, and ice sits on the peak.

A climber goes through all of these zones. It is like going from a hot country to a freezing one in a few days.

▲ This passage · 180 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.4

Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain in Africa. It rises from the grassy plains of Tanzania, close to the equator. You might expect a place so near the equator to be hot all over. Yet the very top of the mountain is covered with ice.

The reason is height. The higher you climb, the colder the air becomes. Because of this, Kilimanjaro has different zones, a little like the layers of a cake. At the bottom, farmers grow crops such as bananas and coffee in warm, rich soil. Above the farms lies a rainforest, where it is wet and green and monkeys swing through the trees.

Higher still, the trees grow short and the land turns into open moorland dotted with small shrubs. Past that, the ground is dry, rocky, and nearly empty of plants. The last zone is the cold summit, where ice sits on the peak.

A climber who walks up the mountain passes through every one of these zones. It is a bit like traveling from a hot country to a freezing one in only a few days.

■ Harder · 184 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.2

Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa, rises abruptly from the grassy plains of Tanzania, not far from the equator. A location so close to the equator might be expected to stay hot from top to bottom, yet the summit of this mountain is capped with ice.

The explanation is altitude. The higher you climb, the colder the air becomes, and as a result the mountain is divided into distinct zones, rather like the layers of a cake. At the base, farmers cultivate crops such as bananas and coffee in warm, fertile soil. Above the farmland lies a rainforest, where it is wet and green and monkeys swing through the branches.

Farther up, the trees grow shorter and the landscape opens into moorland scattered with small shrubs. Beyond that, the ground becomes dry, rocky, and almost bare of plants. The final zone is the freezing summit, where ice sits on the peak.

A climber who walks up the mountain passes through every one of these zones. The experience resembles a journey from a hot country to a frozen one, compressed into only a few days.

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 equator, zones, moorland and summit 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 "Four Climates on One Tanzanian Mountain"?

It was written for 4th grade. It has 180 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.4. 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. 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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