Open Up - Grade 3 - ELA - Module 4 - End of Unit 1 Assessment - Formative Library | Library

Directions: Read the text and answer the questions that follow:

Water Pollution

Did you know that the water we use today is the same water the dinosaurs used? We cannot create new water. For millions of years, the water we have has been used again and again. We have been able to do this because there are natural cycles that clean the water each time we use it.

People are polluting our water. Businesses and cities dump chemicals and waste products into our rivers, lakes and oceans. People throw trash–furniture, garbage, old tires, cars, old fencing, anything they can think of–into the water. People also pollute the water by accident, by allowing their cars to leak oil and gas onto the ground. That oil and gas eventually washes into the water during rain storms and when people clean their driveways off with water.

Acid rain, caused when pollution in the air mixes with rain, falls and poisons water on the surface of the earth. Beneath the earth are layers of dirt and rock that act as containers for water. We call them aquifers. Rainwater drains through the soil into the aquifers. We call the water in the aquifer groundwater. Groundwater supplies wells and springs. It is a very important source of water for all the plants and animals.

Acid rain soaks into the soil. Like clean rainwater, it drains down into the aquifer through layers of rock that clean the water. However, the acid eats away at much of the rock and does not allow the water to filter properly, so when it reaches the groundwater, the acid rain pollutes it. It becomes unusable.

What is the cure for acid rain? We have to clean up the air.

880L. “Water Pollution.” Kids Ecology Corps. Web. . Used by permission.

Part A: What is a verb? (L.3.1a)

Part B: What is the function of the verb dump in this sentence? “Businesses and cities dump chemicals and waste products into our rivers, lakes and oceans.” (L.3.1a)

Part A: What is an adjective? Underline the best answer. (L.3.1a)

Part B: What is the function of the adjective clean in this sentence? “Like clean rainwater, it drains down into the aquifer through layers of rock that clean the water.” (L.3.1a)

Part A: What is an adverb? Underline the best answer. (L.3.1a)

Part B: What is the function of the adverb eventually in this sentence? “That oil and gas eventually washes into the water during rain storms and when people clean their driveways off with water.” (L.3.1a)

Part A: What is one of the main ideas of the passage? Underline the best answer. (RI.3.2)

Part B: Which three details from the passage best support the main idea? Underline the three best answers. (RI.3.1, RI.3.2)

What are the similarities and differences between the main ideas and supporting details of pages 24–25 of One Well and “Water Pollution”? Use your Determining the Main Idea Note-catcher: Pages 24–25 of One Well from Lesson 11 to complete the chart below to show two similarities and two differences. (RI.3.9)

What question is answered by “Water Pollution” that isn’t answered by pages 24–25 of One Well? Underline the best answer. (RI.3.9)

Source: Open Up Resouces (Download for free at openupresources.org.)