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Marine Snow Falling Into the Dark

8th grade nonfiction passage about marine snow and the deep sea: 265 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

8th grade nonfiction marine snow and the deep sea 265 words

Marine Snow Falling Into the Dark

Deep in the ocean, far below where sunlight reaches, a slow and steady shower falls through the dark. Researchers who shine lights into the deep water see drifting flakes, like snow falling in a night sky. Scientists call it marine snow, although it is not frozen at all.

Marine snow is made of bits of organic matter. Dead plankton, pieces of animal waste, fragments of shells, and scraps of larger dead creatures all clump together, held by sticky threads that tiny organisms release. Most flakes are small, but some grow large enough to be seen easily. Because they are only slightly heavier than the water, they sink slowly, and a flake may take many days or even weeks to reach the sea floor.

This falling food matters, because the deep ocean has no sunlight to power plant growth. Animals that live there depend largely on what drifts down from above. Some feed on the flakes as they pass. Others wait on the sea floor, where the snow settles. Along the way, bacteria break down much of the material, so only a small portion of what starts at the surface reaches the bottom.

Marine snow also plays a part in Earth's climate. The plankton that make up much of it took carbon dioxide from the air while they grew. When their remains sink into deep water, some of that carbon is carried away from the surface and can stay in the deep ocean for a very long time. In this way, the quiet fall of tiny flakes helps move carbon from the air into the depths.

Questions

  1. What is marine snow made of? in the text

  2. What holds the flakes of marine snow together? in the text

  3. Why do deep ocean animals depend on food drifting down from above? in the text

  4. Why do the flakes sink so slowly? think about it

  5. Why does only a small portion of the material reach the sea floor? think about it

  6. How does marine snow help move carbon from the air into the depths? think about it

Words to know

organic
made from the remains of living things
plankton
tiny living things that drift in the water
fragments
small broken pieces of something
bacteria
tiny living things too small to see without a microscope
carbon
a basic substance found in all living things
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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 · 253 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.9

Deep in the ocean, far below where sunlight reaches, a slow shower falls through the dark. Researchers who shine lights into the deep water see drifting flakes, like snow in a night sky. Scientists call it marine snow, but it is not frozen at all.

Marine snow is made of bits of organic matter. Dead plankton, pieces of animal waste, fragments of shells, and scraps of larger dead creatures clump together. Sticky threads that tiny organisms release hold them. Most flakes are small, but some are big enough to see easily. They are only a little heavier than the water, so they sink slowly. A flake may take many days or even weeks to reach the sea floor.

This falling food matters, because the deep ocean has no sunlight to help plants grow. Animals that live there depend mostly on what drifts down from above. Some eat the flakes as they pass. Others wait on the sea floor, where the snow settles. On the way down, bacteria break down much of it. So only a small part of what starts at the surface reaches the bottom.

Marine snow also plays a part in Earth's climate. The plankton in it took carbon dioxide from the air while they grew. When their remains sink into deep water, some of that carbon is carried away from the surface. It can stay in the deep ocean for a very long time. So the quiet fall of tiny flakes helps move carbon from the air into the depths.

▲ This passage · 265 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.8

Deep in the ocean, far below where sunlight reaches, a slow and steady shower falls through the dark. Researchers who shine lights into the deep water see drifting flakes, like snow falling in a night sky. Scientists call it marine snow, although it is not frozen at all.

Marine snow is made of bits of organic matter. Dead plankton, pieces of animal waste, fragments of shells, and scraps of larger dead creatures all clump together, held by sticky threads that tiny organisms release. Most flakes are small, but some grow large enough to be seen easily. Because they are only slightly heavier than the water, they sink slowly, and a flake may take many days or even weeks to reach the sea floor.

This falling food matters, because the deep ocean has no sunlight to power plant growth. Animals that live there depend largely on what drifts down from above. Some feed on the flakes as they pass. Others wait on the sea floor, where the snow settles. Along the way, bacteria break down much of the material, so only a small portion of what starts at the surface reaches the bottom.

Marine snow also plays a part in Earth's climate. The plankton that make up much of it took carbon dioxide from the air while they grew. When their remains sink into deep water, some of that carbon is carried away from the surface and can stay in the deep ocean for a very long time. In this way, the quiet fall of tiny flakes helps move carbon from the air into the depths.

■ Harder · 283 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.4

Deep in the ocean, far below the point where sunlight can reach, a slow and steady shower of particles falls through the darkness. Researchers who shine lights into the deep water see drifting flakes that look like snow falling in a night sky. Scientists call this marine snow, although it is not frozen in the slightest.

Marine snow consists of bits of organic matter. Dead plankton, pieces of animal waste, fragments of shells, and scraps of larger dead creatures all clump together, bound by sticky threads that tiny organisms release. Most of the flakes are small, but some grow large enough to be seen easily. Because they are only slightly heavier than the surrounding water, they sink slowly, and a single flake may need many days or even weeks to reach the sea floor.

This falling food is important, because the deep ocean has no sunlight to power the growth of plants. The animals that live there depend largely on what drifts down from above. Some feed on the flakes as they pass, while others wait on the sea floor, where the snow eventually settles. Along the way, bacteria break down much of the material, so only a small portion of what begins at the surface actually reaches the bottom.

Marine snow also contributes to Earth's climate. The plankton that make up much of it absorbed carbon dioxide from the air while they were growing. When their remains sink into deep water, some of that carbon is carried away from the surface and may remain in the deep ocean for a very long time. In this way, the quiet descent of tiny flakes helps to move carbon from the air into the depths.

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 organic, plankton, fragments, bacteria and carbon 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 4 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 "Marine Snow Falling Into the Dark"?

It was written for 8th grade. It has 265 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 6.8. 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. 3 ask for something the text says directly and 3 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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