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Fog Nets in the Atacama Desert

6th grade nonfiction passage about catching water from fog: 217 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

6th grade nonfiction catching water from fog 217 words

Fog Nets in the Atacama Desert

Along the coast of northern Chile lies the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth. In some spots, years can pass with hardly any rain. Yet the air near the Pacific Ocean is often full of thick, low fog, and a few communities have learned to turn that fog into drinking water.

The tool they use is surprisingly simple. A fog catcher is a tall, wide net of fine mesh stretched between two posts on a hillside where the wind blows fog inland. As the fog drifts through, tiny droplets of water stick to the threads of the net. The droplets join together, grow heavy, and slide down into a gutter at the bottom. From there the water runs through a pipe into a tank.

A single net does not collect a great deal, but many nets together can fill tanks for a village. People have used the water for gardens and for trees, and in some places for drinking after it has been tested and treated.

Fog catchers work best on mountain slopes close to the sea, where fog arrives often and the wind is steady. They have no engines and need no electricity, so they cost little to run. The idea has since been tried in other dry, foggy regions around the world.

Questions

  1. Where is the Atacama Desert found? in the text

  2. What is a fog catcher made of? in the text

  3. What happens to the droplets after they stick to the net? in the text

  4. Where does the collected water go after the gutter? in the text

  5. Why are fog catchers placed on slopes near the sea? think about it

  6. Why are fog catchers cheap to run? think about it

Words to know

desert
a place that gets very little rain
mesh
a net made of crossed threads with small gaps
droplets
very small drops of water
gutter
a narrow channel that carries water away
treated
cleaned so that it is safe to use
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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 · 169 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3

The Atacama Desert is in northern Chile. It is one of the driest places on Earth. Sometimes years go by with almost no rain. But thick fog often rolls in from the Pacific Ocean. Some villages catch that fog and make water from it.

The tool is a fog catcher. It is a tall net with small holes. It hangs between two posts on a hill where the wind blows fog inland. Tiny drops of water stick to the threads. The drops join together and get heavy. Then they slide down into a gutter. A pipe takes the water to a tank.

One net does not catch much water. But many nets can fill tanks for a whole village. People use the water for gardens and trees. Sometimes they drink it after it is tested and cleaned.

Fog catchers work best on slopes near the sea. Fog comes there often and the wind is steady. They need no engine and no electricity. That means they cost little to run.

▲ This passage · 217 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.6

Along the coast of northern Chile lies the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth. In some spots, years can pass with hardly any rain. Yet the air near the Pacific Ocean is often full of thick, low fog, and a few communities have learned to turn that fog into drinking water.

The tool they use is surprisingly simple. A fog catcher is a tall, wide net of fine mesh stretched between two posts on a hillside where the wind blows fog inland. As the fog drifts through, tiny droplets of water stick to the threads of the net. The droplets join together, grow heavy, and slide down into a gutter at the bottom. From there the water runs through a pipe into a tank.

A single net does not collect a great deal, but many nets together can fill tanks for a village. People have used the water for gardens and for trees, and in some places for drinking after it has been tested and treated.

Fog catchers work best on mountain slopes close to the sea, where fog arrives often and the wind is steady. They have no engines and need no electricity, so they cost little to run. The idea has since been tried in other dry, foggy regions around the world.

■ Harder · 234 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 11.5

Stretching along the coast of northern Chile, the Atacama Desert ranks among the driest regions anywhere on Earth, and in certain places several years can go by without any measurable rainfall. Nevertheless, the air above the nearby Pacific Ocean frequently carries dense, low-lying fog, and a handful of communities have discovered how to transform that fog into a dependable supply of water.

The equipment they rely on is remarkably simple. A fog catcher consists of a tall, wide net of fine mesh stretched between two sturdy posts on a hillside, positioned where winds push the fog inland. As the fog drifts through, minute droplets cling to the threads of the net, merge into larger drops, and eventually grow heavy enough to slide down into a gutter along the bottom edge. A pipe then carries the water into a storage tank.

Although a single net collects only a modest amount, a large number of them working together can fill tanks for an entire village. Residents have used the water for gardens and young trees, and in a few places for drinking once it has been tested and treated.

Fog catchers perform best on mountain slopes near the sea, where fog arrives often and the wind is steady. Because they need neither engines nor electricity, they are inexpensive to operate, and the idea has since been tried in other dry, foggy regions around the world.

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, mesh, droplets, gutter and treated 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 "Fog Nets in the Atacama Desert"?

It was written for 6th grade. It has 217 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 6.6. 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. 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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