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Brackish Water: Where a River Meets the Sea

5th grade nonfiction passage about estuaries: 186 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction estuaries 186 words

Brackish Water: Where a River Meets the Sea

A river carries fresh water, and the sea holds salt water. At the place where they meet, they mix. This area is called an estuary, and its water is brackish, which means it is saltier than a river but less salty than the open ocean.

The mix is never quite the same twice. When the tide rises, salty water pushes up into the river mouth. When the tide falls, fresh water flows out toward the sea. Heavy rain upstream can make the estuary fresher, and a dry spell can make it saltier. Animals that live here must cope with changes that would trouble many other creatures. Oysters close their shells tightly when the water shifts too much, and crabs scuttle to a better spot.

Estuaries are also nurseries. Many kinds of young fish and shrimp grow up in the calm, shallow water, where there is plenty to eat, before they move out to sea. Marsh plants along the edge slow the water and catch mud, and their roots help to clean it. Because estuaries are so useful to so many animals, people work to protect them.

Questions

  1. What is an estuary? in the text

  2. What does brackish mean? in the text

  3. What happens to the estuary water when the tide rises? in the text

  4. How do oysters cope when the water changes too much? in the text

  5. Why is an estuary a good nursery for young fish and shrimp? think about it

  6. How can heavy rain upstream change an estuary? think about it

Words to know

estuary
the wide mouth of a river where fresh water meets the sea
brackish
a little salty, but not as salty as the sea
tide
the daily rise and fall of the sea along the shore
cope
to deal with something hard and manage well
marsh
low, wet land where grasses and reeds grow
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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 · 147 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.7

A river has fresh water. The sea has salt water. Where they meet, they mix. This place is an estuary. Its water is brackish. That means it is saltier than a river but less salty than the open ocean.

The mix changes all the time. When the tide rises, salty water pushes up the river mouth. When the tide falls, fresh water flows out to the sea. Heavy rain upstream makes the water fresher. A dry spell makes it saltier. Animals here must cope with the changes. Oysters close their shells tight when the water shifts. Crabs scuttle to a better spot.

Estuaries are also nurseries. Young fish and shrimp grow up in the calm, shallow water. There is lots to eat. Then they move out to sea. Marsh plants slow the water and catch mud. Their roots help to clean it. People work to protect estuaries.

▲ This passage · 186 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.1

A river carries fresh water, and the sea holds salt water. At the place where they meet, they mix. This area is called an estuary, and its water is brackish, which means it is saltier than a river but less salty than the open ocean.

The mix is never quite the same twice. When the tide rises, salty water pushes up into the river mouth. When the tide falls, fresh water flows out toward the sea. Heavy rain upstream can make the estuary fresher, and a dry spell can make it saltier. Animals that live here must cope with changes that would trouble many other creatures. Oysters close their shells tightly when the water shifts too much, and crabs scuttle to a better spot.

Estuaries are also nurseries. Many kinds of young fish and shrimp grow up in the calm, shallow water, where there is plenty to eat, before they move out to sea. Marsh plants along the edge slow the water and catch mud, and their roots help to clean it. Because estuaries are so useful to so many animals, people work to protect them.

■ Harder · 205 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.3

A river carries fresh water, while the sea holds salt water, and at the place where the two meet, they mingle. This region is called an estuary, and its water is described as brackish, which means that it is saltier than a river yet considerably less salty than the open ocean.

The mixture is never quite the same twice. When the tide rises, salty water pushes far up into the mouth of the river, and when the tide falls, fresh water flows out toward the sea. Heavy rain upstream can make the estuary fresher, whereas a long dry spell can make it saltier. Animals that live here must cope with changes that would trouble many other creatures. Oysters close their shells tightly when the water shifts too much, and crabs scuttle off to a more comfortable spot.

Estuaries also serve as nurseries. Many kinds of young fish and shrimp grow up in the calm, shallow water, where there is plenty to eat, before they venture out to sea. Marsh plants along the edge slow the moving water and catch the mud it carries, and their roots help to clean it. Because estuaries are so valuable to so many animals, people work hard to protect them.

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 estuary, brackish, tide, cope and marsh 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 "Brackish Water: Where a River Meets the Sea"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 186 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 6.1. 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 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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