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How a River Loop Becomes an Oxbow Lake

8th grade nonfiction passage about river meanders and oxbow lakes: 278 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

8th grade nonfiction river meanders and oxbow lakes 278 words

How a River Loop Becomes an Oxbow Lake

A river flowing across a flat plain rarely runs straight. It winds in broad loops called meanders, and over many years those loops change shape. Sometimes a loop is cut off completely and left behind as a curved lake, which, because its shape resembles the U-shaped piece of an ox's yoke, is called an oxbow lake.

The process starts with a difference in the speed of the water. On the outside of a bend, the water moves faster and wears away the bank. On the inside, the current is slower, and sand and mud settle out of the water to build a small beach called a point bar. As the outer bank erodes and the inner bank grows, the bend swings sideways and becomes more curved, and over time the loop turns into a narrow neck of land.

Eventually the neck becomes so thin that the river breaks through, often during a flood when the water is high and powerful. The river then takes the shortcut. The old loop is suddenly bypassed. Sand and mud deposited at its ends seal it off from the main channel, and the curved stretch of water that remains becomes an oxbow lake.

An oxbow lake has no strong current, so it slowly fills with fine mud and the remains of plants. Marsh plants spread across it, and the lake shrinks into a swamp or meadow, leaving a curved scar on the land that can still be seen from the air. Meanwhile the river keeps shifting. Because meanders move, a river's path is never permanent, and people who build roads, farms, and towns near rivers often have to plan for that change.

Questions

  1. What is a meander? in the text

  2. Where does the water move faster at a bend in a river? in the text

  3. What is a point bar? in the text

  4. How does an oxbow lake form? in the text

  5. Why does an oxbow lake slowly fill in? think about it

  6. Why must people who build near rivers plan for change? think about it

Words to know

meanders
wide, winding bends in a river
erodes
slowly wears away, as water wears away a bank
current
the steady flow of water in one direction
deposited
dropped and left in a place
marsh
soft, wet land where grasses and reeds grow
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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 · 259 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.8

A river on a flat plain rarely runs straight. It winds in wide loops called meanders. Over many years, the loops change shape. Sometimes a loop is cut off and left behind as a curved lake. Its shape looks like the U-shaped piece of an ox's yoke, so it is called an oxbow lake.

It starts with a difference in speed. On the outside of a bend, the water moves faster and wears away the bank. On the inside, the current is slower. Sand and mud settle out of the water and build a small beach called a point bar. The outer bank erodes and the inner bank grows. The bend swings sideways and gets more curved. Over time, the loop becomes a narrow neck of land.

At last the neck is so thin that the river breaks through. This often happens in a flood, when the water is high and strong. The river takes the shortcut. The old loop is left out. Sand and mud at its ends seal it off from the main channel. The curved water that is left is an oxbow lake.

An oxbow lake has no strong current. It slowly fills with fine mud and the remains of plants. Marsh plants spread across it. The lake shrinks into a swamp or meadow. It leaves a curved scar on the land that can be seen from the air. The river keeps shifting. A river's path is never permanent, so people who build roads, farms, and towns near rivers often have to plan for change.

▲ This passage · 278 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.1

A river flowing across a flat plain rarely runs straight. It winds in broad loops called meanders, and over many years those loops change shape. Sometimes a loop is cut off completely and left behind as a curved lake, which, because its shape resembles the U-shaped piece of an ox's yoke, is called an oxbow lake.

The process starts with a difference in the speed of the water. On the outside of a bend, the water moves faster and wears away the bank. On the inside, the current is slower, and sand and mud settle out of the water to build a small beach called a point bar. As the outer bank erodes and the inner bank grows, the bend swings sideways and becomes more curved, and over time the loop turns into a narrow neck of land.

Eventually the neck becomes so thin that the river breaks through, often during a flood when the water is high and powerful. The river then takes the shortcut. The old loop is suddenly bypassed. Sand and mud deposited at its ends seal it off from the main channel, and the curved stretch of water that remains becomes an oxbow lake.

An oxbow lake has no strong current, so it slowly fills with fine mud and the remains of plants. Marsh plants spread across it, and the lake shrinks into a swamp or meadow, leaving a curved scar on the land that can still be seen from the air. Meanwhile the river keeps shifting. Because meanders move, a river's path is never permanent, and people who build roads, farms, and towns near rivers often have to plan for that change.

■ Harder · 293 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.5

A river that flows across a broad, flat plain rarely follows a straight course. Instead it winds in sweeping loops called meanders, and over the span of many years those loops gradually change shape. Occasionally a loop is severed entirely and left behind as a curved lake. Because its form resembles the U-shaped piece of an ox's yoke, it is known as an oxbow lake.

The process begins with a difference in the speed of the water. On the outside of a bend, the water moves faster and wears away the bank. On the inside, the current is slower, and sand and mud settle out of the water to build a small beach called a point bar. As the outer bank erodes and the inner bank grows, the bend swings sideways and becomes increasingly curved. In time the loop turns into a very narrow neck of land.

Eventually the neck becomes so thin that the river breaks through, frequently during a flood when the water is high and powerful. The river then takes the shortcut, and the old loop is suddenly bypassed. Sand and mud deposited at its two ends seal it off from the main channel, and the curved stretch of water that remains becomes an oxbow lake.

An oxbow lake has no strong current, so it slowly fills with fine mud and the remains of plants. Marsh plants spread across its surface, and the lake shrinks into a swamp or meadow, leaving behind a curved scar on the land that can still be seen from the air. Meanwhile the river continues to shift. Because meanders move, a river's path is never permanent, and the people who build roads, farms, and towns near rivers often have to plan for that change.

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 meanders, erodes, current, deposited 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 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 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 "How a River Loop Becomes an Oxbow Lake"?

It was written for 8th grade. It has 278 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 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 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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