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Iceland Heats Homes From the Ground

5th grade nonfiction passage about heat from underground: 201 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction heat from underground 201 words

Iceland Heats Homes From the Ground

Iceland is a cold island in the North Atlantic Ocean, yet many of its homes stay cozy all winter. The secret lies under the ground. Iceland sits on a spot where two great pieces of the Earth's crust meet and slowly move apart. Because of this, hot rock lies close to the surface in many places.

Rain and melted snow soak down into the ground, where the hot rock warms the water. In some places the heated water bubbles up as a hot spring. In others, workers drill deep wells to reach it. Pipes then carry the hot water across town to houses, schools, and offices. The water flows through radiators to warm each room, and it can also keep sidewalks free of ice.

This kind of energy is called geothermal energy. The word comes from two old words meaning "earth" and "heat." It does not need coal or oil to be burned, so it makes much less smoke than many other heat sources.

Iceland also uses its warm water for fun. Towns have outdoor swimming pools, and people soak in them even when snow falls around them. The island turns a surprising feature of its land into comfort for everyone.

Questions

  1. Where does Iceland get the heat for many of its homes? in the text

  2. Why is hot rock close to the surface in Iceland? in the text

  3. How does the water get from the ground to a house? in the text

  4. What does geothermal mean? in the text

  5. Why does geothermal energy make less smoke than coal or oil? think about it

  6. What detail shows that Iceland also uses warm water for fun? think about it

Words to know

crust
the hard outer layer of the Earth
geothermal
having to do with heat from inside the Earth
radiator
a metal device that gives off heat to warm a room
drill
to make a deep hole with a tool
surface
the outside or top of something
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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 · 138 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.1

Iceland is a cold island in the North Atlantic Ocean. Still, many homes stay warm all winter. The secret is under the ground. Iceland sits where two pieces of the Earth's crust meet and move apart. So hot rock lies close to the top of the ground.

Rain and melted snow soak into the ground. The hot rock warms the water. In some places the hot water bubbles up as a hot spring. In other places, workers drill deep wells. Pipes carry the hot water to homes, schools, and offices. It flows through radiators to warm each room.

This is called geothermal energy. The word comes from words for "earth" and "heat." Nothing is burned, so there is much less smoke.

Iceland uses warm water for fun, too. Towns have outdoor pools. People swim even when snow falls.

▲ This passage · 201 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.7

Iceland is a cold island in the North Atlantic Ocean, yet many of its homes stay cozy all winter. The secret lies under the ground. Iceland sits on a spot where two great pieces of the Earth's crust meet and slowly move apart. Because of this, hot rock lies close to the surface in many places.

Rain and melted snow soak down into the ground, where the hot rock warms the water. In some places the heated water bubbles up as a hot spring. In others, workers drill deep wells to reach it. Pipes then carry the hot water across town to houses, schools, and offices. The water flows through radiators to warm each room, and it can also keep sidewalks free of ice.

This kind of energy is called geothermal energy. The word comes from two old words meaning "earth" and "heat." It does not need coal or oil to be burned, so it makes much less smoke than many other heat sources.

Iceland also uses its warm water for fun. Towns have outdoor swimming pools, and people soak in them even when snow falls around them. The island turns a surprising feature of its land into comfort for everyone.

■ Harder · 205 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.4

Iceland is a cold island in the North Atlantic Ocean, yet many of its homes remain comfortably warm throughout the winter. The explanation lies beneath the ground. Iceland sits on a spot where two enormous pieces of the Earth's crust meet and slowly drift apart, which means that hot rock lies close to the surface in many places.

Rain and melted snow soak down into the ground, where the hot rock heats the water. In some places the warmed water bubbles up as a natural hot spring. In others, workers drill deep wells in order to reach it. Pipes then carry the hot water across town to houses, schools, and offices, where it flows through radiators to warm each room. It can even keep sidewalks free of ice.

This kind of power is called geothermal energy, a term formed from two ancient words meaning "earth" and "heat." Because nothing has to be burned to produce it, it creates far less smoke than many other sources of heat.

Iceland also uses its warm water for recreation. Towns have outdoor swimming pools, and people soak in them even while snow falls around them. The island has turned a surprising feature of its land into comfort for everyone.

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 crust, geothermal, radiator, drill and surface 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 "Iceland Heats Homes From the Ground"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 201 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.7. 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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