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How Cacti Survive in the Desert

7th grade nonfiction passage about desert plants: 269 words, seven questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

7th grade nonfiction desert plants 269 words

How Cacti Survive in the Desert

A desert may receive only a few inches of rain in a whole year, and what falls often arrives in a sudden storm. Most plants could not live in such conditions, but cacti manage because nearly every part of their bodies is designed to collect water, store it, and hold on to it.

Start with the roots. A cactus has a wide, shallow root system that spreads far from the plant but lies close to the surface. When rain falls, the roots absorb water within hours, long before it can sink out of reach or evaporate in the sun.

The thick green stem is the next important feature, because it works like a storage tank, holding a large supply of water inside spongy tissue. Many cacti have stems with pleats like an accordion. As the plant fills, the pleats spread apart and the stem swells. During a long drought, the stem slowly shrinks again as the plant uses its reserve.

The outside of the stem is covered with a thick, waxy skin that keeps water from escaping. Most plants open tiny pores in their leaves during the day to take in air, and they lose water through those pores. Many cacti open their pores mostly at night, when the air is cooler, and so they lose far less.

Cacti have almost no ordinary leaves, since their spines are actually a kind of leaf that has changed shape. The spines protect the juicy stem from hungry animals, and they cast a little shade on the surface. Together, these features make the cactus one of the best-adapted plants on Earth.

Questions

  1. What kind of roots does a cactus have? in the text

  2. How does a cactus stem store water? in the text

  3. What does the waxy skin do? in the text

  4. When do many cacti open their pores? in the text

  5. What are cactus spines really? in the text

  6. Why is it helpful for a cactus to have shallow roots? think about it

  7. Why do pleated stems help a cactus in a drought? think about it

Words to know

desert
a dry region that gets very little rain
drought
a long period with little or no rain
pores
tiny openings in the skin or leaves of a plant
spongy
soft and full of tiny holes that hold liquid
adapted
changed over time to fit a certain way of life
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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 · 258 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.9

A desert may get only a few inches of rain in a whole year. When rain does fall, it often comes in a sudden storm. Most plants could not live there. But cacti can. Almost every part of a cactus helps it collect water, store it, and keep it.

Look at the roots first. A cactus has wide, shallow roots. They spread far from the plant, but they stay near the surface. When it rains, the roots soak up water within hours. This happens before the water can sink too deep or dry up in the sun.

Next comes the thick green stem. It works like a tank. It holds a lot of water inside spongy tissue. Many cacti have stems with pleats like an accordion. As the plant fills with water, the pleats spread apart and the stem swells. In a long drought, the stem slowly gets smaller as the plant uses its stored water.

The outside of the stem has a thick, waxy skin. The wax keeps water from escaping. Most plants open tiny pores in their leaves in the day to take in air. They lose water through those pores. Many cacti open their pores mostly at night, when the air is cooler. So they lose much less water.

Cacti have almost no ordinary leaves. Their spines are a kind of leaf that changed shape. The spines keep hungry animals away from the juicy stem. They also give a little shade. All of this makes the cactus one of the best-adapted plants on Earth.

▲ This passage · 269 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.1

A desert may receive only a few inches of rain in a whole year, and what falls often arrives in a sudden storm. Most plants could not live in such conditions, but cacti manage because nearly every part of their bodies is designed to collect water, store it, and hold on to it.

Start with the roots. A cactus has a wide, shallow root system that spreads far from the plant but lies close to the surface. When rain falls, the roots absorb water within hours, long before it can sink out of reach or evaporate in the sun.

The thick green stem is the next important feature, because it works like a storage tank, holding a large supply of water inside spongy tissue. Many cacti have stems with pleats like an accordion. As the plant fills, the pleats spread apart and the stem swells. During a long drought, the stem slowly shrinks again as the plant uses its reserve.

The outside of the stem is covered with a thick, waxy skin that keeps water from escaping. Most plants open tiny pores in their leaves during the day to take in air, and they lose water through those pores. Many cacti open their pores mostly at night, when the air is cooler, and so they lose far less.

Cacti have almost no ordinary leaves, since their spines are actually a kind of leaf that has changed shape. The spines protect the juicy stem from hungry animals, and they cast a little shade on the surface. Together, these features make the cactus one of the best-adapted plants on Earth.

■ Harder · 280 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 9.5

A desert may receive merely a few inches of rainfall in an entire year, and whatever does fall frequently arrives in a sudden, violent storm. Most plants could never survive such punishing conditions, but cacti manage to thrive because nearly every part of their bodies has been designed to gather water, store it, and conserve it.

Consider the roots first. A cactus possesses an extensive, shallow root system that spreads far beyond the plant yet lies close to the surface. When rain falls, these roots absorb water within hours, long before it can seep out of reach or evaporate under the scorching sun.

The thick green stem is the next crucial feature, because it functions like an enormous storage tank, holding a substantial reserve of water inside spongy tissue. Many cacti have stems with pleats like an accordion. As the plant fills, the pleats spread apart and the stem swells, and during a prolonged drought the stem gradually shrinks again as the plant draws upon its reserve.

The exterior of the stem is covered with a thick, waxy skin that prevents moisture from escaping. Most plants open tiny pores in their leaves during the day to take in air, and they lose a great deal of water through those pores. Many cacti open their pores primarily at night, when the air is cooler, and consequently lose far less.

Cacti have almost no ordinary leaves, since their spines are actually a kind of leaf that has changed shape. The spines defend the juicy stem from hungry animals, and they cast a little shade across its surface. Together, these features make the cactus one of the most remarkably adapted plants on Earth.

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, drought, pores, spongy and adapted 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 3 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 "How Cacti Survive in the Desert"?

It was written for 7th grade. It has 269 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 7.1. 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 seven. 5 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 3 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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