Question

day 1
earth has a variety of habitats. one of the most extreme habitats is the desert. a desert is an area that receives just a few inches of rainfall each year. desert regions are located on nearly every continent. some are dry and cold, and others are dry and hot. one of the greatest problems in a hot desert is evaporation. ground water quickly evaporates leaving many plants to rely on adaptations such as short roots and absorbent leaves to survive. without much precipitation, deserts often lack clouds. when it does rain, it is limited to short bursts. deserts get less than two inches of rainfall each year. still, many animals thrive in this hostile environment.

common core standard ri.1 inference

1. the passage suggests which of the following?

a. more animals live in the desert than in other habitats.
b. there are different types of deserts.
c. when clouds do appear, they are present for long periods.

common core standard ri.6 author’s purpose

1. the author includes the last sentence in order to-

a. show desert survival is possible
b. explain how some desert animals survive
c. compare the desert to other habitats

day 2
with just a small amount of rainfall and extreme temperatures, how do animals live in the hostile desert? they survive using special adaptations. the daytime home of a desert animal can be an underground burrow or a cozy spot under a leaf. it hides there to escape the sun’s harmful rays. plants have their own strategies for survival. just like desert animals, desert plants have adaptations that help make life possible. having shallow roots is one too! in areas that do not have extreme temperatures, plant roots can reach three, five or ten feet into the soil. this is not the case with desert plants. desert plant roots extend just a few inches in order to capture the small amount of rainfall that comes into the desert each year.

common core standard ri.3 interactions between ideas

1. closely read the text. based from what you know about the desert, why would having roots that extend several feet into the soil be a problem for plants in the desert?

common core standard ri.7 visual and audio elements

1. video and audio recordings convey information that could not be given in a written article alone. compare information that could be gathered by an audience that watches a video about the desert to the information that could be gathered by reading today’s passage.

Explanation:

1. For question 1: The text states deserts are extreme habitats with <2 inches rain yearly, but many animals thrive there. It does not claim more animals live there than other habitats, nor that clouds are present long. It confirms deserts have animals, so the passage suggests deserts have animal life.
2. For question 2: The final sentence "Still, many animals thrive in this hostile environment" follows details of desert harshness and animal adaptations, showing survival is possible despite the harsh conditions.
3. For Day 2 question 1: Desert plants need to capture the small, infrequent rainfall. Long roots would grow past the shallow layer where limited rain reaches, so they can't access the scarce water.
4. For Day 2 question 2: A video can show visual details like desert animal behaviors, plant structures, and the landscape, while audio can add sounds of the desert. A written article only uses text, so video/audio adds sensory, dynamic info that text can't convey as directly.

Answer:

1. b. There are different types of deserts.
2. a. show desert survival is possible
3. Long roots would grow past the shallow layer of soil where the small amount of desert rainfall stays, so plants would not be able to access the scarce water they need to survive.
4. Video and audio can convey dynamic, sensory details (like animal behaviors, desert sounds, and visual landscape features) that a written article cannot show directly; a written article only uses text to describe these elements, so the audience gets a less immersive, less immediate understanding compared to video/audio.