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Quiz by Carolyn
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A seed grows A small seed falls to the ground and becomes buried in the soft soil. The seed is buried in the soft soil, and the rain falls. The rain soaks into the soil that holds the small seed. The small seed soaks up water from the rain. The water feeds the seed, and roots grow down deep into the soil. The leaves and a stem grow up through the ground. The leaves gather in the sunshine. The plant uses sunshine to make food. The rain and the soil feed the small plant. The plant grows taller, and more leaves grow on the stem. The roots grow longer. They go deep in the ground. The big plant grows flowers. The flowers make seeds. A new seed falls into the soft soil. What will happen next?
Princess Julian and Sutan Rumandung Long ago, there lived a king named Tuanku Raja Kecik. He wished to find a husband for his beloved granddaughter, Princess Julian. Therefore, he held a big party, inviting all young men in the kingdom . One night before the royal party, Princess Julian had a strange dream. In the dream, she met a young man named Sutan Rumandung. She believed deep in her heart that this man would be her future husband. Day after day, the party went on, but no one named Sutan Rumandung appeared. On the very last day, a ship arrived at the harbor, led by a young, handsome captain. Hearing the news, the kingâs soldiers brought the young captain to the palace. In that moment, Princess Julian saw him, she realized that he was the same man from her dream. And it was true â the young man introduced himself as Sutan Rumandung. Knowing this, the kingâs family was overjoyed, and soon the two were engaged. Before leaving to continue his voyage, Sutan Rumandung made a promise: if he married another woman, he would sink with his ship. Princess Julian also made a promise: if she married another man, she would turn into a white siamang. Days turned into months, and months into years. For two years, Princess Julian waited, but no message ever came. In the third year, another grand ship docked at the harbor. The captain was handsome and noble, and slowly, Princess Julianâs heart turned toward him. He too fell in love with her, and they decided to marry. On the wedding day, when the priest asked her for her answer, Princess Julian suddenly screamed â a cry like a siamangâs. Before everyoneâs eyes, her body changed into a white siamang. The king could only watch, knowing the curse of her broken promise had come true. Not long after, the villagers found the white siamang lifeless in a tree. Soon came the news: Sutan Rumandung had died, his ship sinking into the sea. He, too, had broken his promise. And so ended the tragic tale of two lovers who betrayed each other.
Lesson 2: Plate Tectonics There are a few handfuls of major plates and dozens of smaller, or minor, plates. Six of the majors are named for the continents embedded within them, such as the North American, African, and Antarctic plates. Though smaller in size, the minors are no less important when it comes to shaping the Earth. The tiny Juan de Fuca plate is largely responsible for the volcanoes that dot the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The plates make up Earth's outer shell, called the lithosphere. (This includes the crust and uppermost part of the mantle.) Churning currents in the molten rocks below propel them along like a jumble of conveyor belts in disrepair. Most geologic activity stems from the interplay where the plates meet or divide. The movement of the plates creates three types of tectonic boundaries: convergent, where plates move into one another; divergent, where plates move apart; and transform, where plates move sideways in relation to each other. They move at a rate of one to two inches (three to five centimeters) per year. Convergent BoundariesWhere plates serving landmasses collide, the crust crumples and buckles into mountain ranges. India and Asia crashed about 55 million years ago, slowly giving rise to the Himalaya, the highest mountain system on Earth. As the mash-up continues, the mountains get higher. Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth, may be a tiny bit taller tomorrow than it is today. These convergent boundaries also occur where a plate of ocean dives, in a process called subduction, under a landmass. As the overlying plate lifts up, it also forms mountain ranges. In addition, the diving plate melts and is often spewed out in volcanic eruptions such as those that formed some of the mountains in the Andes of South America. At ocean-ocean convergences, one plate usually dives beneath the other, forming deep trenches like the Mariana Trench in the North Pacific Ocean, the deepest point on Earth. These types of collisions can also lead to underwater volcanoes that eventually build up into island arcs like Japan. Divergent Boundaries At divergent boundaries in the oceans, magma from deep in the Earth's mantle rises toward the surface and pushes apart two or more plates. Mountains and volcanoes rise along the seam. The process renews the ocean floor and widens the giant basins. A single mid-ocean ridge system connects the world's oceans, making the ridge the longest mountain range in the world. On land, giant troughs such as the Great Rift Valley in Africa form where plates are tugged apart. If the plates there continue to diverge, millions of years from now eastern Africa will split from the continent to form a new landmass. A mid-ocean ridge would then mark the boundary between the plates. Transform Boundaries The San Andreas Fault in California is an example of a transform boundary, where two plates grind past each other along what are called strike-slip faults. These boundaries don't produce spectacular features like mountains or oceans, but the halting motion often triggers large earthquakes, such as the 1906 one that devastated San Francisco.
Of the 7 billion people on Earth roughly 0:02 6 billion own a cell phone which is 0:05 pretty shocking given that only 4 and2 0:07 billion have access to a working toilet 0:09 so how are these popular gadgets 0:11 changing your body and brain If you're 0:13 looking down at your phone right now 0:15 your spine angle is equivalent to that 0:17 of an 8-year-old child sitting on your 0:19 neck which is fairly significant 0:21 considering people spend an average of 0:23 4.7 hours a day looking at their phone 0:26 this combined with the length of time 0:28 spent in front of computers has led to 0:30 an increase in the prevalence of myopia 0:32 or nearsightedness in North America in 0:34 the 1970s about one quar of the 0:36 population had myopia where today nearly 0:39 half do and in some parts of Asia 80 to 0:41 90% of the population is now nearsighted 0:44 and it can be hard to put your phone 0:46 down take for example the game Candy 0:48 Crush as you play the game you achieve 0:50 small goals causing your brain to be 0:52 rewarded with little bursts of dopamine 0:54 and eventually you're rewarded in the 0:56 game with new content this novelty also 0:58 gives little bursts of dopamine and 1:00 together create what is known as a 1:01 compulsion Loop which just happens to be 1:04 the same Loop responsible for the 1:05 behaviors associated with nicotine or 1:07 cocaine our brains are hardwired to make 1:10 us novelty seeking and this is why apps 1:12 on our phones are designed to constantly 1:14 provide us with new content making them 1:16 hard to put down as a result 93% of 1:19 young people aged 18 to 29 report using 1:21 their smartphone as a tool to avoid 1:23 boredom as opposed to other activities 1:26 like reading a book or engaging with 1:27 people around them this has created a 1:29 new term nomophobia the fear or anxiety 1:32 of being without your phone we also see 1:35 a change in brain patterns Alpha rhythms 1:37 are commonly associated with wakeful 1:39 relaxation like when your mind wanders 1:41 off whereas gamma waves are associated 1:44 with conscious attentiveness and 1:46 experiments have shown that when a cell 1:47 phone is transmitting say during a phone 1:49 call the power of these Alpha Waves is 1:52 significantly boosted meaning phone 1:54 Transmissions can literally change the 1:56 way your brain functions your smartphone 1:58 can also disrupt your sleep the screen 2:00 emits a blue light which has been shown 2:02 to alter our circadian rhythms 2:03 diminishing the time spent in deep Sleep 2:06 which is linked to the development of 2:07 diabetes cancer and obesity Studies have 2:10 shown that people who read on their 2:11 smartphone at night have a harder time 2:13 falling asleep and produce less 2:15 melatonin a hormone responsible for the 2:17 regulation of sleep wake Cycles Harvard 2:20 medical school advises the last 2 to 3 2:22 hours before bed be technology free so 2:24 pick up a book before bed instead of 2:26 course smartphones also completely 2:28 change our ability to access information 2:30 most notably in poor and minority 2:32 populations 7% of Americans are entirely 2:35 dependent on smartphones for their 2:37 access to the internet a 2014 study 2:40 found that the majority of smartphone 2:41 owners use their phone for online 2:43 banking to look up medical information 2:45 and searching for jobs so while phones 2:47 are in no way exclusively bad and have 2:50 been part of a positive change in the 2:51 world there's no denying that they are 2:53 changing us but many successful people 2:56 have now decided to take smartphone 2:58 vacations in order to increase 3:00 productivity in our new ASAP thought 3:01 video we break down the top six reasons 3:04 you should take a smartphone vacation 3:06 and how it could benefit your life right 3:08 now and subscribe for more weekly 3:09 science videos
The following days are a jumble of gunfire, digging, gobbled food, soldiers running in and out of the forest in small groups, distant explosions, stray shells, bandaged heads and unexpected lulls. On the very first day, before dawn, I am ordered into one of the newly dug trenches. I huddle there, squeezing my magic buttons and singing songs to the dog. When the fighting stops, the dog disappears, but a new companion takes his place. A strange little soldier crawls along the trench toward me. âPrivate Sasha!â he cries. âIâve been looking for you all day long!â Heâs old, like a grandfather, a dedushka. He has a black patch over one eye, a tape measure around his neck and a row of pins threaded into his sleeve. Hanging from his belt is the most enormous pair of scissors I have ever seen and I wonder if he uses them as a weapon. He doesnât tell me his name, so in my head he becomes Dedushka. Dedushka squats, cups his hand to his ear, peers over the top of the trench and smiles. âItâs safe to be upright . . . for now.â He helps me to my feet, dusts me off and commands me to stand as tall and straight as I can. Then he measures me. Everything from head to toe â even my toes! He writes numbers in a little notebook, strings his tape measure back around his neck, salutes and hurries away. Itâs all very strange, and I wonder if Dedushka has been bumped on the head during the battle and is now a little bit muddled. I should have given him a hug before he left. I chase after him but stop when Iâm hit by a shovelful of flying dirt. Sleepy Bear is digging a cave! âAre you going to hibernate?â I ask. Sleepy Bear chuckles. âNo, although that would be wonderful! I could do with a lo-o-o-ong sleep.â He sighs and closes his eyes. He doesnât open them again and I realise that he has gone to sleep. Standing up! I shake his arm, and he opens his eyes and keeps talking. âNo, Iâm not hibernating. Iâm digging a little nook where I can sleep and eat. Iâll hang up my raincape as a door that can open and close so it feels just like a real home . . . except for the lice . . . and the bad smells . . . and the bombs that make the walls shake and crumble.â He points further along the trench to where other soldiers are digging. âWeâre all making little houses in the ground.â âLike rabbits and moles,â I say. Sleepy Bear chuckles. âYes! And soldiers who need to hide from German bullets and bombs.â He stops digging to roll a cigarette. âShould I be making a house?â I ask. âI want to hide from German bullets and bombs, too.â Sleepy Bear flops to the ground, lights his cigarette, closes his eyes and takes a deep puff. I wait for him to answer, but, instead, he begins to snore! I poke him in the side. He snorts and he murmurs, âI think someone has already built you a house, Sasha. Keep going along this beautiful village street and you are sure to find it.â He falls asleep once more. I kiss his dusty cheek and whisper, âThank you, Sleepy Bear.â A little way along, I see Cook in a cloud of smoke. He has lit a fire, right here in the middle of the trench, and is stirring a cauldron full of kasha. He squats as he stirs. âWhat are you doing?â I ask. âCooking supper, of course!â he cries. âBut why are you doing it here?â Cook points his spoon at the ground above the trenches. âBecause if I do it up there, my pot will be filled with holes from German bullets and all of the kasha will leak out onto the ground. Itâs bad enough that our supplies canât get through German lines and thereâs nothing to cook but buckwheat for kasha. But if we lost the kasha, too . . .â âHungry soldiers,â I say. Cook nods. âAnd grumpy!â âLike Boris!â I gasp. âEven worse,â warns Cook. I picture the kasha pot full of bullet holes. And then I realise that if the kasha pot were full of holes, then Cook would be, too. I wrap my arms around Cookâs neck and say, âI think this is a very good place for cooking our supper.â I kiss his smoky cheek and run along. At the end of the trench, I find the biggest hole of all. Itâs wide and deep and as busy as a beehive in a blossom tree. Above, a group of soldiers is rolling logs into place for a roof, while below, typewriters rattle and pencils scratch and papers flutter and voices crackle out of five different radios. Their words tangle together to tell a strange wartime fairy tale about German guns and a loving father called Stalin and a Red Army regiment that is lost in the deep, dark forest and a wicked beast called Hitler and a delivery of vegetables that was hit by a bomb and blown into a million tiny pieces too small even to make soup. In the middle of it all, wrestling with a rumpled map, his rifle still slung over his shoulder, is Major Scruff. âMajor Scruff!â I run and jump into his arms. âIs this our new home?â âYes, Sasha. I suppose it is.â âIs it safe from German bullets and bombs?â I ask. He stares at me. âWere you scared in the trenches today, Sasha?â âNo,â I reply. âI had magic buttons and a dog and some songs to sing. Were you scared in the forest, Major Scruff?â âYes,â he says. âPoor Major Scruff!â I press my hand against his cheek. The dark, rough stubble is grubby with grit and his eyelids are taking a long time to open after every blink. âYou need a shave and a nap!â I scold. He chuckles. âI am too tired to shave and too busy to nap.â I scrunch my nose while I consider his problem. âI know!â I cry. âYou nap and I will shave your whiskers. That will be two jobs tumbled into one!â And so thatâs what we do. Major Scruff slumps into a chair and snoozes while I lather his face with soapy water and shave his whiskers. The soap suds travel from his face, up into his hair and down the front of his uniform, and I have to shave his jaw and chin three times because I keep missing bits, but I finally get it all done. I am just wiping his cheeks dry when the dog appears. He licks my hand, then stretches up and licks soap suds from Major Scruffâs ear. Major Scruff wakes with a start. He feels his newly shaved face and cries, âWonderful, Sasha! I feel smooth, clean, rested and ready for action.â He ruffles my hair. âWe must do this again tomorrow. Although next time, you might wake me with a gentle shake of the shoulder instead of licking my ear.â
I'd Like to Be I'd like to be a happy clown and make everyone laugh. I'd wear big clothes, and a bright red nose, and be pleased with all I have. I'd like to be an athlete, and play basketball each day. I'd leap so high I could touch the sky, and make baskets along the way. I'd like to be a gardener and grow healthy things to eat. I'd plant my seeds, water them, and pull weeds. My garden would be hard to beat. I'd like to be a mermaid and swim in the deep blue sea. The fish and whales could tell their tales, while dolphins sang to me. I'd like to be a cowboy and ride horses every day. And then at night, I would tie them tight and feed them lots of hay. I'd like to be a dancer and twirl and jump and fly. I'd wear fluffy skirts and fancy shirts. People would clap as I danced by. I'd like to be an artist and try to paint the land. I would paint the water blue and the great skies, too. The ground would be the color of sand. I'd like to be a pirate. I would have to be brave and bold. I would sail with a crew on oceans of blue to look for treasure and gold. I'd like to be an astronaut and fly up to the moon. In outer space, I'd find a place to eat without a spoon. I'd like to be a zookeeper and care for birds and snakes. I'd give them food, and watch their moods, and on birthdays give them cakes. I'd like to be a musician and play songs every day. I would play the trumpet, or guitar and strum it, making music my own way. The moral of this lesson is to be what you can be. Dare to dream, and listen to your talents to find what you will be.
Groundhog Goes Outside It was the deep of winter. Gus was worried. He couldnât find his shadow anywhere. âHave you seen my shadow?â Gus asked Dad. âWhen did you see it last?â Dad asked. âHave you seen my shadow?â Gus asked Mom. âGo back, step by step, until you find it,â Mom said. âHave you seen my shadow?â Gus asked Grace. âTry looking where you left it,â Grace said. Gus stopped looking. He began to shout: âHAS ANYBODY SEEN MY SHADOW?â âHave you tried looking outside?â asked Dad. Gus hadnât been outside in months. He hadnât seen his shadow in months. Maybe his shadow was outside! Gus left the burrow and went outside. As soon as he did, someone began to cheer. Children waved and jumped up and down. People shot photos of him. They all looked really happy. Gus forgot about his shadow. Gus was a star! Back in the burrow, his family gathered around him. Gus grinned from ear to ear. âDid you find it?â asked Mom. âFind what?â asked Gus.
Ocean Animals Many kinds of animals live in the ocean. They are part of the ocean community. Let's meet some of these ocean animals. Most of the ones in this book are mammals, fish, or reptiles. I am a dolphin. I have a sleek body and a strong tail to swim fast. I live in a group called a pod, and I like to eat fish. I whistle to talk to other dolphins. I am a walrus, and I have ivory tusks. I use them to dig for clams and to protect myself. I live on ice and in cold water. My thick layer of fat keeps me warm. I am a hammerhead shark, and my head has a very funny shape. My eyes and nostrils are at the ends of lobes. I like to eat fish. I am a California sea lion. I am smart, noisy, and playful. I bark like a dog, and I am covered by short fur. I eat squid, octopus, and fish. I am an octopus. I have a soft body and no skeleton. I have eight arms with suckers. I shoot black ink from my body to hide and escape from danger. I can also change the color of my skin. I am a great white shark. I am a large and fierce shark. I have very sharp teeth that are shaped like triangles. I eat seals, dolphins, and fish. I am a manta ray. I have fins that look like wings. I am related to stingrays, but I do not sting. I am a sea horse, but I am not a horse. I am a fish. I change color to hide. Shrimp are my favorite food. Male sea horses, not females, carry eggs until they hatch. I am a leatherback turtle, the biggest turtle in the world. I lay eggs on land. Jellyfish are my favorite food. I am covered with leathery skin instead of a shell. I am a blue whale. I am the largest mammal ever to live. I make deep sounds that move through water. I eat tiny animals called krill. The ocean is home to all these animals. Many of them are endangered. They all suffer because of pollution and hunting. Keeping our oceans clean will help keep these animals alive.