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The Water That Is Neither Fresh Nor Salty

6th grade nonfiction passage about estuaries and brackish water: 242 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

6th grade nonfiction estuaries and brackish water 242 words

The Water That Is Neither Fresh Nor Salty

Where a river runs into the sea, two kinds of water meet. The river brings fresh water, and the ocean brings salt water. The place where they mix is called an estuary, and the water there is brackish, which means it is partly salty.

An estuary never stays the same for long. Twice a day, the tide pushes salt water upstream. Then the tide drops and the river pushes the water back toward the sea. Because fresh water is lighter than salt water, the two often form layers, with the fresh water floating on top of a wedge of salt water beneath.

This changing mixture is difficult for many living things. A fish or snail that is used to the open ocean may not be able to stand fresh water, and a river fish may suffer in the salt. But some animals are built for it. Oysters, crabs and certain fish can handle the swings in saltiness.

Estuaries are also among the richest places for wildlife. Rivers carry nutrients down from the land, and tiny plants grow quickly in the shallow, sunny water. Young fish and shrimp hide among marsh grasses where larger hunters cannot easily reach them. Many fish that are caught later in the open sea spent their early weeks in an estuary.

The grasses help in another way. Their roots hold the mud in place and slow the water, which lets mud and dirt settle out of the flow.

Questions

  1. What is an estuary? in the text

  2. What does brackish mean? in the text

  3. Why does fresh water float on top of salt water? in the text

  4. Which two animals can handle the changing saltiness of an estuary? in the text

  5. Why do young fish and shrimp hide in marsh grasses? in the text

  6. Why might an ocean fish have trouble living in an estuary? think about it

Words to know

estuary
the place where a river meets the sea
brackish
partly salty, a mix of fresh and sea water
upstream
toward the place a river begins
wedge
a shape that is thick at one end and thin at the other
marsh
wet, soft land with grasses growing in it
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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 · 216 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.8

Where a river runs into the sea, two kinds of water meet. The river brings fresh water. The ocean brings salt water. The place where they mix is called an estuary. The water there is brackish, which means it is partly salty.

An estuary is always changing. Twice a day, the tide pushes salt water up the river. Then the tide drops, and the river pushes the water back to the sea. Fresh water is lighter than salt water. So the fresh water often floats on top of a wedge of salt water.

This changing mix is hard for many animals. An ocean fish or snail may not be able to stand fresh water. A river fish may not like the salt. But some animals are built for it. Oysters, crabs and certain fish can handle the changes.

Estuaries are also rich places for wildlife. Rivers bring food from the land. Tiny plants grow fast in the shallow, sunny water. Young fish and shrimp hide in marsh grasses where big hunters cannot easily reach them. Many fish that are caught later in the open sea spent their first weeks in an estuary.

The grasses help in another way. Their roots hold the mud in place and slow the water. Dirt can settle out of the flow.

▲ This passage · 242 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.1

Where a river runs into the sea, two kinds of water meet. The river brings fresh water, and the ocean brings salt water. The place where they mix is called an estuary, and the water there is brackish, which means it is partly salty.

An estuary never stays the same for long. Twice a day, the tide pushes salt water upstream. Then the tide drops and the river pushes the water back toward the sea. Because fresh water is lighter than salt water, the two often form layers, with the fresh water floating on top of a wedge of salt water beneath.

This changing mixture is difficult for many living things. A fish or snail that is used to the open ocean may not be able to stand fresh water, and a river fish may suffer in the salt. But some animals are built for it. Oysters, crabs and certain fish can handle the swings in saltiness.

Estuaries are also among the richest places for wildlife. Rivers carry nutrients down from the land, and tiny plants grow quickly in the shallow, sunny water. Young fish and shrimp hide among marsh grasses where larger hunters cannot easily reach them. Many fish that are caught later in the open sea spent their early weeks in an estuary.

The grasses help in another way. Their roots hold the mud in place and slow the water, which lets mud and dirt settle out of the flow.

■ Harder · 250 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.6

Where a river empties into the sea, two very different kinds of water meet. The river delivers fresh water, while the ocean supplies salt water. The region where they mingle is called an estuary, and the water found there is brackish, which means it is only partly salty.

An estuary is never the same for long. Twice a day, the rising tide pushes salt water upstream. Then the tide falls and the river pushes the water back toward the sea. Because fresh water is lighter than salt water, the two frequently form layers, with the fresh water floating on top of a wedge of salt water beneath it.

This constantly changing mixture is difficult for many living things. A fish or snail that is accustomed to the open ocean may be unable to tolerate fresh water, and a river fish may suffer in the salt. Some animals, however, are built for exactly these conditions. Oysters, crabs and certain fish can handle the swings in saltiness.

Estuaries are also among the richest habitats for wildlife. Rivers carry nutrients down from the land, and tiny plants flourish in the shallow, sunny water. Young fish and shrimp hide among marsh grasses, where larger hunters cannot easily reach them. Many fish that are later caught in the open sea spent their earliest weeks in an estuary.

The grasses provide another benefit. Their roots hold the mud firmly in place and slow the water, which allows mud and dirt to settle out of the flow.

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, upstream, wedge 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 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 Water That Is Neither Fresh Nor Salty"?

It was written for 6th grade. It has 242 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 6.0. 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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