Skip to the content
Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

Ice Cores: Reading Old Air in a Frozen Layer Cake

5th grade nonfiction passage about ice cores: 203 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction ice cores 203 words

Ice Cores: Reading Old Air in a Frozen Layer Cake

In the coldest parts of the world, thick sheets of ice cover the land. These sheets were built from snow that fell year after year, for a very long time. Scientists treat them like a frozen library, and they use a hollow drill to read it.

The drill is a long tube with sharp teeth on the end. It spins down into the ice and cuts out a round column, called an ice core. The core is lifted out in short pieces, kept very cold, and sent to a freezer lab so it will not melt.

An ice core is a bit like a layer cake. Each year's snow forms a layer, and winter snow looks different from summer snow, so scientists can count the layers much as they count the rings of a tree. The deeper a piece comes from, the older it is.

The ice holds secrets, too. As snow was squeezed into ice, tiny bubbles of air were trapped inside. Those bubbles are samples of air from long ago. Dust and ash from faraway volcanoes are also stuck in the layers. By studying all of this, scientists can learn what the air and weather were like in the distant past.

Questions

  1. What are the thick ice sheets built from? in the text

  2. What is an ice core? in the text

  3. Why is an ice core kept very cold and sent to a freezer lab? in the text

  4. How can scientists tell how many years of snow an ice core holds? think about it

  5. Why are pieces from deeper in the ice older? think about it

  6. What do the tiny bubbles in the ice hold? in the text

Words to know

sheets
wide, flat layers that cover an area
drill
a tool that spins to cut a hole
core
a long round piece cut out from the inside of something
layers
levels of something piled one above another
volcanoes
mountains that can shoot out ash and hot rock
Share

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 · 174 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.2

In the coldest parts of the world, thick sheets of ice cover the land. They were built from snow that fell year after year for a very long time. Scientists use a hollow drill to read them, like a frozen library.

The drill is a long tube with sharp teeth. It spins down into the ice and cuts out a round column. This is called an ice core. The core comes up in short pieces. It is kept very cold and sent to a freezer lab so it will not melt.

An ice core is like a layer cake. Each year's snow makes a layer. Winter snow looks different from summer snow. So scientists count the layers, like the rings of a tree. Deeper pieces are older.

The ice has secrets, too. When snow was squeezed into ice, tiny bubbles of air were trapped. They are samples of air from long ago. Dust and ash from faraway volcanoes are in the layers, too. Scientists learn what the air and weather were like long ago.

▲ This passage · 203 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.1

In the coldest parts of the world, thick sheets of ice cover the land. These sheets were built from snow that fell year after year, for a very long time. Scientists treat them like a frozen library, and they use a hollow drill to read it.

The drill is a long tube with sharp teeth on the end. It spins down into the ice and cuts out a round column, called an ice core. The core is lifted out in short pieces, kept very cold, and sent to a freezer lab so it will not melt.

An ice core is a bit like a layer cake. Each year's snow forms a layer, and winter snow looks different from summer snow, so scientists can count the layers much as they count the rings of a tree. The deeper a piece comes from, the older it is.

The ice holds secrets, too. As snow was squeezed into ice, tiny bubbles of air were trapped inside. Those bubbles are samples of air from long ago. Dust and ash from faraway volcanoes are also stuck in the layers. By studying all of this, scientists can learn what the air and weather were like in the distant past.

■ Harder · 207 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.4

In the coldest regions of the world, thick sheets of ice blanket the land. These sheets were built from snow that fell, year after year, over an immense stretch of time. Scientists treat them like a frozen library, and they use a hollow drill to read it.

The drill is a long tube with sharp teeth at its tip. It spins down through the ice and cuts out a round column known as an ice core. The core is lifted out in short sections, kept extremely cold, and shipped to a freezer laboratory so that it will not melt.

An ice core resembles a layer cake. Each year's snowfall forms a layer, and winter snow looks different from summer snow, so scientists can count the layers much as they count the rings of a tree. The deeper a section comes from, the older it is.

The ice also holds secrets. As the snow was squeezed into ice, tiny bubbles of air were trapped inside, and those bubbles are samples of air from long ago. Dust and ash from faraway volcanoes are preserved in the layers as well. By studying all of this evidence, scientists can learn what the air and weather were like in the distant past.

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 sheets, drill, core, layers and volcanoes 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 4 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 "Ice Cores: Reading Old Air in a Frozen Layer Cake"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 203 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 4.1. 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.

Nothing you do here is sent to us. No sign-in, no ads.