Classroom Resource

Using Fresh Water

Subject Area

English Language Arts
Science

Grade(s)

5

Overview

The teacher will present an informational text from the website, ReadWorks. Students will interact with this non-fiction text by annotating the text digitally. The students will answer the questions associated with the article as an assessment. This learning activity will describe the freshwater distribution on the Earth's surface and provide a graphical representation of freshwater reservoirs. This activity can serve as reinforcement after students have already learned this concept or be used as an assessment at the conclusion of a lesson. 

Science (2015) Grade(s): 5

SC15.5.15

Identify the distribution of freshwater and salt water on Earth (e.g., oceans, lakes, rivers, glaciers, ground water, polar ice caps) and construct a graphical representation depicting the amounts and percentages found in different reservoirs.

Unpacked Content

UP:SC15.5.15

Vocabulary

  • Fresh water
  • Salt water
  • Oceans
  • Lakes
  • Rivers
  • Glaciers
  • Ground water
  • Polar ice caps
  • Reservoir
  • Graph

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Nearly all of Earth's available water is in the ocean.
  • Most fresh water is in glaciers or underground; only a tiny fraction is in streams, lakes, wetlands, and the atmosphere.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Graph the given data (using standard units) about the amount of salt water and the amount of fresh water in each of the following reservoirs, as well as in all the reservoirs combined, to address a scientific question:
    • Oceans.
    • Lakes.
    • Rivers.
    • Glaciers.
    • Ground water.
    • Polar ice caps.
  • Use the graphs of the relative amounts of total salt water and total fresh water in each of the reservoirs to describe that:
    • The majority of water on Earth is found in the oceans.
    • Most of the Earth's fresh water is stored in glaciers or underground.
    • A small fraction of fresh water is found in lakes, rivers, wetlands, and the atmosphere.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • Standard units are used to measure and describe physical quantities such as the amounts of salt water and fresh water in various reservoirs.

Scientific and Engineering Practices

Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking

Crosscutting Concepts

Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 5

ELA21.5.5

Demonstrate fluency when independently reading, writing, and speaking in response to grade-level literary and informational text, including stories, dramas, poetry, and cross-curricular texts.

Unpacked Content

UP:ELA21.5.5

Vocabulary

  • Fluency
  • Independently
  • Literary text
  • Informational text
  • Stories
  • Dramas
  • Poetry
  • Cross-curricular texts

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Fluency is the ability to read, write, or speak at a pace that does not negatively impact meaning or understanding.
  • Responding to text through writing and speaking demonstrates comprehension.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Independently read grade-level literary and informational text fluently.
  • Demonstrate fluency when writing.
  • Demonstrate fluent speech.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • The ability to read fluently supports comprehension, or understanding, of the text.
  • The ability to write and speak fluently helps clearly communicate with others.
  • One way to demonstrate comprehension of literary and informational text is to respond in writing or through speaking.
English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 5

ELA21.5.22

Determine the implied and/or explicit main idea in literary and informational texts.

Unpacked Content

UP:ELA21.5.22

Vocabulary

  • Implied main idea
  • Explicit main idea
  • Literary text
  • Informational text

Knowledge

Students know:
  • The main idea is the most important idea presented in the text.
  • Sometimes an author will clearly state the main idea, while other times an author will merely suggest the main idea.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Identify the implied or explicit main idea of a text.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • Most texts have a main idea, or most important message.
  • An author can choose to state the main idea in the text or provide clues through details in the text to imply the main idea.
Link to Resource
https://www.readworks.org/article/Using-Fresh-Water/bb4d5150-8910-40d1-8d63-b3b…

CR Resource Type

Learning Activity

Resource Provider

ReadWorks.org
Accessibility

Accessibility

Audio resources: includes a transcript or subtitles
Text Resources: Content is organized under headings and subheadings
License

License Type

Custom

Custom License Type (URL)

https://about.readworks.org/terms-of-use.html

Comments or Notes

ReadWorks is a website that provides K-12 teachers with free literacy resources (About ReadWorks). ReadWorks has literary and informational texts on a variety of subjects and reading skills. You may narrow your search using grade level or Lexile level, making this website a wonderful tool for differentiation. Students will complete their work digitally, and you will provide their score and feedback digitally. This makes it easy to go paperless for this activity.

Prior to implementing this activity, you will need to sign up for an Educator Account on ReadWorks. After setting up an account, create a class from the Class Admin tab, this will provide you with a Class Code to give to students. Next, use the Find Content tab to search for the informational article that will be used during this activity, "Using Fresh Water." After navigating to the article, click on the blue Assign button to assign it to your class.

Each student will need access to a digital device, such as a tablet or laptop. The first time students enter the website they will need to enter the Class Code that is listed on your Class Admin page. Alternatively, you can print the article and corresponding questions for students, if digital devices are not available. 

Approved Date

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