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How a Volcano Erupts

4th grade nonfiction passage about earth science: 178 words, seven questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

4th grade nonfiction earth science 178 words

How a Volcano Erupts

Deep inside the Earth, it is hot enough to melt rock. Melted rock under the ground is called magma. Magma is lighter than the solid rock around it, so it slowly rises toward the surface.

Magma collects in a large pocket under a volcano. Gases are mixed into the magma. As more magma gathers and the gases build up, the pressure grows, much as it does inside a shaken bottle of soda.

When the pressure is too great, the magma pushes up through a crack called a vent. This is an eruption. Once magma reaches the surface, it is called lava.

Some eruptions are gentle. Thin, runny lava flows down the side of the volcano like a slow river. Other eruptions are explosive. Thick magma traps gas, and then it blasts out in a cloud of ash, gas, and pieces of rock.

When lava cools, it hardens into new rock. Eruptions that happen again and again can pile up rock into a cone-shaped mountain. The islands of Hawaii were built this way, one eruption at a time.

Questions

  1. What is magma? in the text

  2. What is lava? in the text

  3. Why does magma rise toward the surface? in the text

  4. What is a vent? in the text

  5. How is a gentle eruption different from an explosive one? in the text

  6. Why does the author compare a volcano to a shaken bottle of soda? think about it

  7. How can a volcano build a mountain? think about it

Words to know

magma
melted rock under the ground
lava
melted rock that has come out onto the surface
vent
an opening that magma and gas pass through
eruption
when a volcano pushes out lava, ash, and gas
pressure
a strong force pushing on something
ash
tiny bits of rock and glass thrown out by a volcano

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 magma, lava, vent, eruption, pressure and ash 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 "How a Volcano Erupts"?

It was written for 4th grade. It has 178 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.1. 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 seven. 5 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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