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The Kangaroo Rat Never Needs a Drink

4th grade nonfiction passage about desert animals and water: 214 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

4th grade nonfiction desert animals and water 214 words

The Kangaroo Rat Never Needs a Drink

In a hot desert, water is hard to find. Many animals travel far to reach a pond or a stream. The kangaroo rat, a small desert animal of North America, does not need to.

It may seem strange, but the kangaroo rat can live its whole life without taking a sip of water. It gets what it needs from its food. Its main meal is dry seeds. When its body breaks down those seeds, a little bit of water is made inside it, and the animal uses it.

The kangaroo rat also wastes very little water. Its kidneys make strong, dry waste, and its nose helps catch moisture from its breath before it escapes.

Its habits help too. The desert sun is very hot, so the kangaroo rat stays out of it. By day, it rests in a cool burrow, and it often plugs the door with soil to keep the heat out. At night, when the air is cooler, it comes out to hunt for seeds. It hops on its long back legs, a bit like a tiny kangaroo, and its long tail helps it balance.

Its name comes from this hopping. By being clever with every drop, the kangaroo rat has made a home in a place that looks empty to people.

Questions

  1. Where does the kangaroo rat live? in the text

  2. How does the kangaroo rat get the water it needs? in the text

  3. How does the kangaroo rat save water in its body? in the text

  4. What does the kangaroo rat do during the day? in the text

  5. How does the kangaroo rat get around? in the text

  6. Why does the kangaroo rat come out at night instead of in the day? think about it

Words to know

desert
a very dry place that gets little rain
burrow
a hole or tunnel an animal digs to live in
moisture
a small amount of water
habits
things a living thing does again and again
balance
to stay steady and not fall over
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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 · 153 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.2

In a hot desert, water is hard to find. Many animals travel far to reach a pond or a stream. The kangaroo rat does not need to. It is a small desert animal of North America.

The kangaroo rat can live its whole life without a sip of water. It gets what it needs from its food. Its main meal is dry seeds. When its body breaks down the seeds, a little water is made inside it.

It also wastes very little water. Its waste is strong and dry. Its nose catches moisture from its breath.

Its habits help too. The desert sun is hot, so it stays out of it. By day, it rests in a cool burrow. It often plugs the door with soil. At night, it comes out to find seeds. It hops on its long back legs. Its long tail helps it balance.

It uses every drop with care.

▲ This passage · 214 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.6

In a hot desert, water is hard to find. Many animals travel far to reach a pond or a stream. The kangaroo rat, a small desert animal of North America, does not need to.

It may seem strange, but the kangaroo rat can live its whole life without taking a sip of water. It gets what it needs from its food. Its main meal is dry seeds. When its body breaks down those seeds, a little bit of water is made inside it, and the animal uses it.

The kangaroo rat also wastes very little water. Its kidneys make strong, dry waste, and its nose helps catch moisture from its breath before it escapes.

Its habits help too. The desert sun is very hot, so the kangaroo rat stays out of it. By day, it rests in a cool burrow, and it often plugs the door with soil to keep the heat out. At night, when the air is cooler, it comes out to hunt for seeds. It hops on its long back legs, a bit like a tiny kangaroo, and its long tail helps it balance.

Its name comes from this hopping. By being clever with every drop, the kangaroo rat has made a home in a place that looks empty to people.

■ Harder · 202 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.3

In a scorching desert, water is extraordinarily difficult to find, and many animals must travel great distances to reach a pond or stream. The kangaroo rat, a small desert dweller of North America, has no such need.

Remarkably, the kangaroo rat can live its entire life without taking a single sip of water. It obtains what it requires from its food. Its principal meal is dry seeds, and when its body breaks them down, a small amount of water is produced inside it, which the animal puts to use.

The kangaroo rat also wastes almost no water. Its kidneys produce concentrated, dry waste, and its nose recovers moisture from its breath before it can escape.

Its habits contribute as well. Because the desert sun is so fierce, the kangaroo rat avoids it. During the day it rests in a cool burrow, often sealing the entrance with soil to keep the heat out. At night, when the air is cooler, it emerges to search for seeds, hopping on its long back legs while its tail helps it balance, rather like a miniature kangaroo.

By using every drop wisely, the kangaroo rat has built a home in a place that looks empty to people.

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, burrow, moisture, habits and balance 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 "The Kangaroo Rat Never Needs a Drink"?

It was written for 4th grade. It has 214 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 4.6. 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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