Skip to the content
Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

The Kangaroo Rat Who Never Needs a Drink

7th grade nonfiction passage about desert water survival: 235 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

7th grade nonfiction desert water survival 235 words

The Kangaroo Rat Who Never Needs a Drink

In the deserts of North America, rain may not fall for months. Yet a small animal called the kangaroo rat lives there year after year, and it rarely, if ever, takes a sip of water. How does it manage?

The first part of the answer is its food. The kangaroo rat eats mostly dry seeds, which contain very little moisture. But whenever an animal digests food, its body produces a small amount of water as a by-product. The kangaroo rat makes the most of this supply. Along with the faint moisture in its seeds, that internal water is enough to keep it going.

The second part is careful saving. Kangaroo rats have unusually efficient kidneys, so their waste is very concentrated and little water is lost. They also have no sweat glands to waste moisture on cooling off, and they breathe in a way that holds back some of the water vapor from each breath.

The third part is behavior. Kangaroo rats stay out of the heat of the day. They spend those hours in a burrow, where the air is cooler and more humid, and some plug the entrance with soil to keep the moisture in. They come out only at night to search for seeds, bounding along on long hind legs with their tails trailing behind.

Together, these habits turn one of the driest places on the continent into a comfortable home.

Questions

  1. What does the kangaroo rat mostly eat? in the text

  2. Where does the animal get the water it needs? in the text

  3. What do the kangaroo rat's efficient kidneys do? in the text

  4. When do kangaroo rats come out to look for food? in the text

  5. Why does staying in a burrow during the day help the animal? think about it

  6. Why does the passage describe three separate parts of the answer? think about it

Words to know

by-product
something extra that is made while making something else
efficient
able to work well without wasting anything
concentrated
strong because there is very little water mixed in
vapor
tiny drops or gas that float in the air
humid
having a lot of moisture in the air
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 · 207 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.1

In the deserts of North America, rain may not fall for months. Yet a small animal called the kangaroo rat lives there year after year. It rarely, if ever, takes a drink. How does it do it?

The first answer is food. The kangaroo rat eats mostly dry seeds. Dry seeds hold very little water. But when an animal digests food, its body makes a small amount of water. The kangaroo rat uses this water well. The faint water in its seeds and the water its body makes are enough.

The second answer is saving water. Its kidneys work very well. Its waste is strong and holds very little water. It has no sweat glands, so it does not lose water to cool off. It also holds back some of the water in each breath.

The third answer is what it does. The kangaroo rat stays out of the heat of the day. It rests in a burrow where the air is cooler and damper. Some plug the door with soil to keep the damp air in. It comes out only at night to look for seeds. It bounds on long back legs with its tail trailing.

Together, these habits make a dry desert a good home.

▲ This passage · 235 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.5

In the deserts of North America, rain may not fall for months. Yet a small animal called the kangaroo rat lives there year after year, and it rarely, if ever, takes a sip of water. How does it manage?

The first part of the answer is its food. The kangaroo rat eats mostly dry seeds, which contain very little moisture. But whenever an animal digests food, its body produces a small amount of water as a by-product. The kangaroo rat makes the most of this supply. Along with the faint moisture in its seeds, that internal water is enough to keep it going.

The second part is careful saving. Kangaroo rats have unusually efficient kidneys, so their waste is very concentrated and little water is lost. They also have no sweat glands to waste moisture on cooling off, and they breathe in a way that holds back some of the water vapor from each breath.

The third part is behavior. Kangaroo rats stay out of the heat of the day. They spend those hours in a burrow, where the air is cooler and more humid, and some plug the entrance with soil to keep the moisture in. They come out only at night to search for seeds, bounding along on long hind legs with their tails trailing behind.

Together, these habits turn one of the driest places on the continent into a comfortable home.

■ Harder · 244 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.6

In the deserts of North America, months may pass without a single drop of rain. Even so, a small animal called the kangaroo rat lives there year after year, and it rarely, if ever, takes a sip of water. How does it manage such a feat?

The first part of the explanation concerns its food. The kangaroo rat eats mostly dry seeds, which contain very little moisture. Whenever an animal digests its meals, however, the body produces a small quantity of water as a by-product, and the kangaroo rat makes the most of this internal supply. Combined with the faint moisture in the seeds themselves, it is enough to sustain the animal.

The second part is meticulous conservation. Kangaroo rats possess unusually efficient kidneys, so their waste is highly concentrated and very little water is lost. They lack sweat glands that would waste moisture on cooling off, and their breathing is arranged so that some of the water vapor in each breath is held back.

The third part is behavior. Kangaroo rats avoid the heat of the day, spending those hours in a burrow where the air is cooler and more humid, and some of them plug the entrance with soil to keep the moisture inside. They emerge only at night to search for seeds, bounding along on long hind legs with their tails trailing behind.

Taken together, these habits transform one of the driest places on the continent into a comfortable home.

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 by-product, efficient, concentrated, vapor and humid 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 "The Kangaroo Rat Who Never Needs a Drink"?

It was written for 7th grade. It has 235 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 6.5. 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.