CPALMS Logo Generated on 9/18/2025 at 8:37 AM
The webpage this document was printed/exported from can be found at the following URL:
https://www.cpalms.org//PreviewStandard/Preview/15077
Apply knowledge of context clues, figurative language, word relationships, reference materials, and/or background knowledge to determine the connotative and denotative meaning of words and phrases, appropriate to grade level.
Standard #: ELA.7.V.1.3
Standard Information
Standard Clarifications
Clarification 1: Review of words learned in this way is critical to building background knowledge and related vocabulary.

Clarification 2: See Context Clues and Word Relationships. 

Clarification 3: See ELA.7.R.3.1 and Secondary Figurative Language.

General Information
Subject Area: English Language Arts (B.E.S.T.)
Grade: 7
Strand: Vocabulary
Standard: Finding Meaning
Date Adopted or Revised: 08/20
Status: State Board Approved
Related Courses
Related Access Points
  • ELA.7.V.1.AP.3 # Apply knowledge of context clues, figurative language, word relationships, reference materials and/or background knowledge to determine the connotative meaning of words and phrases, appropriate to grade-level content at the student’s ability level with guidance and support.
Related Resources
CTE Focus
  • CTE Case Study: Duty or Compassion? # Using this case study, students will be able to discuss, "How should a nurse navigate the tension between the duty to follow doctor’s orders and the ethical responsibility to advocate for their patient's safety?"
  • Case Study: Attaining Safety Compliance # Using this case study, students can discuss Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations and how it enhances the overall safety of a workplace.
Lesson Plans
  • Chef Dave Deals With Staff Shortage # Using the case study, Chef Dave Deals with Staff Shortage, Resource Number 215713, students will discuss strategies to complete numerous tasks in a timely manner. Using a flow chart and a task list students will identify tasks that may demand higher priority.
  • Employability Skills for We Need to Hire # Using the case study, We Need to Hire, students will discuss what traits and skills would be needed for a new receptionist. They will conduct research to define common employability skills and explain how each is important in healthcare. Then, students discuss what effect hiring a different position (ex. RN or pediatrician) would have on the traits/skills needed.
  • Leadership Part 1: Leadership- What does it mean? # Students will discuss the concept of leadership and design a poster illustrating their definition of leadership in this lesson.
  • The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: Frederick Douglass and the 14th Amendment # After rereading chapters 4-6 of The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, students will determine the meaning of the term citizen based on their background knowledge and the 14th Amendment. Students will read and annotate the 14th Amendment text. Students will then compare how the U.S. Constitution defined citizenship to the way enslaved people were treated by analyzing Frederick Douglass’ words and phrases in chapters 4-6 of his narrative. There are lessons that can be used to complement a study of The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and help students take a new perspective by merging ELA skills with civics knowledge. This resource uses a book that is on the Florida Department of Education's reading list. This book is not provided with this resource.
  • Women's Suffrage Texts: 19th Amendment & Women's Suffrage Vocabulary Assignment # Students will read the 19th Amendment and vocabulary associated with the era and subject. Students will be provided with a passage containing vocabulary and embedded context clues. After, students will complete a graphic organizer predicting definitions, examples and non-examples, visual mnemonics, etc. There are three lessons that can be used to complement a study of Women's Suffrage Texts and help students take a new perspective by merging ELA skills with civics knowledge.
  • Landmark Supreme Court Cases Wrap It Up Part 3 # This is lesson 3 of 3 in a mini-unit integrating civics and 7th Grade ELA. In this lesson, students will be continuing to review nine Landmark Supreme Court cases with an opening activity requiring the students to examine the court cases and pick out academic vocabulary. At this point, students should be ready for a final review which is a matching game. Students will match the court cases, amendments, and academic vocabulary terms to their descriptions or definitions. This activity can be played multiple times to ensure mastery of the standards.
  • So You're Running For President - Lesson 3 # In this lesson, students will use Scratch to create a political ad to promote themselves for class president.  They will use their knowledge from lesson 1 and 2 to include bias and symbolism in their ad and attempt to sway the audience in their favor. This is Part 3 of an intergrated civics and coding unit on bias, symbolism and propaganda. 
  • Language of Liberty: The Declaration of Independence # In this lesson, students will learn the basic rules for effective paraphrasing. Students will read an excerpt from the Declaration of Independence and paraphrase several key sentences to develop their paraphrasing skills and deepen their knowledge of this foundational document. Students will also use reference materials to determine the appropriate definitions of advanced vocabulary within the Declaration of Independence excerpt. Finally, students will answer text-dependent questions to deepen their analysis of the essential rights outlined in this foundational document.
  • So, You're Running for President - Lesson 1 # This is Part 1 of an intergrated civics and coding unit on bias, symbolism and propaganda. In this lesson, students will participate in a discussion about political communication and how they use bias, symbolism, and propaganda. They will also participate in a “put a finger down” activity and use logic to declare themselves fans of a rival school in this integrated lesson plan.
  • Frederick Douglass Narrative: Freedom and the 13-15th Amendments #

    After close readings of Douglass’ speech from Chapter 10 and the 13th-15th amendments, students will respond to text dependent questions and consider how the changes brought by the amendments impacted Douglass’ life in this integrated lesson plan.

  • We the People: What the Founders Established # In this lesson plan, students will study the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution. They will learn about its purpose and examine what the Founders hoped to establish and preserve for their own generation as well as future generations of Americans. Students will apply their knowledge of vocabulary skills to determine the connotative and denotative meanings of selected words used in the Preamble. Students will also practice their paraphrasing skills by paraphrasing the Preamble. 
  • The Preamble and the People # In this lesson plan, teachers will assist students in exploring the vocabulary of the Preamble, the goals and purpose of U.S. government, and people’s power in the constitutional system.
  • Cell Recycling: Nobel Awarded for Unveiling How Cells Recycle Their Trash # In this lesson, students will analyze an informational text intended to support reading in the content area. Cell biologist, Yoshinori Ohsumi, won the Nobel Prize for medicine for his research of how cells recycle unused materials in order to maintain homeostasis. The text describes his research and contains statements from other scientists supporting Ohsumi as the right choice for the award. This lesson includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys and a writing rubric.
  • Arctic Algae # In this lesson, students will analyze an intended to support reading in the content area. The article explains how climate change is reducing the amount of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean. Within this sea ice is found algae that forms the base of Arctic food webs. As the sea ice goes, so does the algae, which in turn could affect the entire Arctic ecosystem. This lesson includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric.
  • Pandas and Horses "Duke It Out" # In this lesson, students will analyze an informational text designed to support reading in the content area. The article introduces readers to a new threat to giant panda survival: horses. The article explains how both species are competing for the limited bamboo supply in the Wolong Nature Reserve. This lesson includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric.
  • Sneaky! Virus Sickens Plants, but Helps Them Multiply # In this lesson, students will analyze an informational text intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes one common virus that takes a sneaky route to success. It doesn't kill its leafy hosts, instead, it makes infected plants smell more attractive to bees. This ensures the virus will have a new generation of the plants to host it in the future. This lesson includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a rubric.
  • Bee Tongues Shrinking # In this lesson, students will analyze an article that explains how bees have made an evolutionary adaptation of shorter tongues due to their flower food source moving up a mountain as a result of climate change. This lesson is designed to support reading in the content area. This lesson includes two note-taking guides, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, and sample answer keys.
  • Evolution in the City # In this lesson, students will analyze an informational text intended to support reading in the content area. This article describes new research suggesting urban life creates evolutionary changes in plants and animals. Examples of changes to an urban growing plant (the white clover) and a Leapin' Lizard are described as they evolve to suit their new environment. This lesson includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric.
  • Spheres of Influence: Interactions of Earth's Spheres and Their Effect on Ocean Currents # In this lesson, students will analyze an informational text, maps, and data tables intended to support reading in the content area. The article, "Climate Change Could Stall Atlantic Ocean Current" explains how interactions between Earth's spheres can have a global impact on ocean currents, climate, and weather. This lesson includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys and a writing rubric.
  • What’s the Buzz about the Bee Population? # In this lesson, students will analyze an article that introduces readers to the importance and role of pollinators, factors contributing to their current decline, and easy steps that can be taken to help pollinators. This lesson is designed to support reading in the content area. This lesson includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric.
  • Proxima b: How Earth-like Is It? # In this lesson, students will analyze an intended to support reading in the content area. The article showcases the recent discovery of a planet orbiting our nearest star that may have the necessary ingredients to harbor life. The possibly Earth-like planet is 4 light years away, however. How might we explore it in greater detail? The lesson plan includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric. Numerous options to extend the lesson are also included.
  • Holy Jumping Earthworms, Batman! # In this lesson, students will analyze an informational text that shows how a seemingly harmless invasive species of jumping worm may cause much more destruction than once thought. The Asian jumping worm eats the debris on the forest floor at a rate that out-competes the native worms so much so that it is causing a number of problems, including forest re-growth. This lesson plan is designed to support reading in the content area. It includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric.
  • Zika Virus Arrives in the Americas # In this lesson, students will analyze an informational text that describes the spread of the Zika virus through the Americas and its arrival in the United States. The text describes how the virus is carried by specific species of mosquitoes that are common in Florida and other warmer areas of the United States. An added concern with Zika is the link to microcephaly, a neurological disorder affecting fetuses and infants from infected mothers. The text also describes other viruses in the larger group that Zika belongs to and how these viruses affect the human body. This lesson is designed to support reading in the content area. The lesson plan includes a reading guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric. Options to extend the lesson are also included.
  • Moons: Searching for Signs of Life on 'Water Worlds' # In this lesson, students will analyze an informational text that explains the importance of examining moons in our solar system for signs of life. The text provides evidence on several moons of Saturn and Jupiter and explains how these moons might be good candidates for potentially harboring life, in part due to the presence of water. This lesson is designed to support reading in the content area. The lesson plan includes a graphic organizer, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric. Numerous options to extend the lesson are also included.
  • Finding, Producing, and Moving Oil: Examining Effects on the Environment # Oil is a natural resource of vital importance to nations around the world. In this lesson, students will read a short informational text that outlines the benefits and burdens of responsible use of oil, including what needs to be considered when exploring and drilling, when using hydraulic fracturing, and when transporting oil. The article also briefly discusses actions the U.S. took after several major oil spills to help better protect the environment in the future. This lesson is designed to support reading in the content area. The lesson plan includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, and sample answer keys.
  • The Physics Behind the Fun # In this lesson, students will analyze an informational text that describes the physics of roller coasters. This informational text is designed to support reading in the content area. The article was written to answer the question, "Why don't I fall out when a roller coaster goes upside down?" The article is an interesting combination of scientific information about physics of roller coasters along with some fun facts. The lesson plan includes text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric.
  • A Search for Central Ideas: Examining Florida Wildlife # In this four-part series, students will read informational texts in the form of brochures created by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. Students will work in groups to complete a graphic organizer to identify text features, determine the meaning of selected vocabulary, and compare central ideas. Students will also conduct research about Florida wildlife to create an original brochure with a variety of text features.
  • Jabberwocky - Is it all a bunch of nonsense? # Students will read and analyze the poem "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll as they focus on how the nonsense words and use of figurative language create tone and meaning. They will use context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words and phrases and explore how Carroll’s use of figurative language affects the tone.
  • Using Evidence to Support the Theory of Plate Tectonics # In this lesson, students will analyze an informational text, a simulation and a video intended to support reading in the content area. The article addresses the use of computer models to predict that the Earth's tectonic plates will cease to move in the future. The evidence provided by these resources will be used to write an argument supporting the theory of plate tectonics. This lesson includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric.
Original Student Tutorials
  • Around the Horn: Using Context Clues # Learn how to use context clues—including definitions, synonyms, and antonyms—to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words in this baseball-themed, interactive tutorial.
  • Vocabulary Unleashed # Learn 12 new academic vocabulary terms in this interactive tutorial! You'll practice the words' synonyms, antonyms, parts of speech, and context clues in order to add them to your vocabulary.
  • Vocabulary Mastery # Learn 12 new academic vocabulary words in this interactive tutorial!  You'll practice the words' synonyms, antonyms, parts of speech, and context clues in order to add them to your vocabulary.  
  • Vocabulary in Action # Learn 12 new academic vocabulary words in this interactive tutorial!  You'll practice the words' synonyms, antonyms, parts of speech, and context clues in order to add them to your vocabulary.  
  • Vocabulary Power # Learn 12 new academic vocabulary words using synonyms, antonyms, parts of speech, and context clues in this interactive tutorial.  
Text Resources
  • Case Study: Sterile Processing Technician # Using this case study, students can discuss, "How should healthcare workers handle potential safety concerns?"
  • Case Study: A Career Path Dilemma # Using this case study, students will discuss, "What personality aspects should be considered when choosing a career?"
  • Case Study: Duck Duck.... Goose? # Using this case study, students can discuss, "How can public issues impact communities on local, state, and national levels?"
  • Case Study: Budgeting Bond # Using this case study, students can discuss, "How can identifying needs and wants help manage a plan for a budget?"
  • Behind the Tape # Using this case study, students can discuss, "How should evidence be properly collected by all team members at a crime scene?"
  • Case Study: Emergency Room # Using this case study, students can discuss, "What potential dangers are healthcare workers exposed to?"
  • Case Study: Breathing Problems # Using this case study, student can discuss, "How can respiratory therapists help patients with chronic respiratory conditions?"
  • Case Study: Fire Safety # Using this case study, students can discuss, "how can we prepare for and prevent fire emergencies?"
  • Case Study: The Impact of Parkinson’s Disease # Using this case study, students can discuss, "How does having a chronic illness impact overall wellness, independence, and quality of life?"
  • Case Study: Negatively Speaking # Using this case study, students can discuss, "Why is demonstrating a positive attitude essential to obtaining and maintaining a career?"
  • Case Study: Water and Wellness # Using this case study, students can discuss, "How does water intake impact body functioning and wellness?"
  • Case Study: The Right Dose Matters # Using this case study, students can discuss, “How does education and training in medication management empower individuals to take control of their health and limit potential medication errors?”
  • Case Study: History of Medicine # Using this case study students can discuss. "How has our understanding of medical practices evolved from ancient times to the present?"
  • Case Study: Risk Factors for Illness # Using this case study, students can discuss, "What factors contribute to a person developing illness or disease?"
  • Case Study: Out with the Old in with the New # Using this case study students can discuss, "Why is maintaining a positive work environment an essential business practice?"
  • Case Study: Efficiency and Effectiveness in the Workplace # Using this case study, students can discuss, "What are ways management can implement consistent, ongoing employee training for efficiency and effectiveness?"
  • Case Study: The Best Customer Service # Using this case study, students can discuss, "How will work ethic impact guest satisfaction?"
  • Case Study: Using Online Tools to Communicate Appropriately # Using this case study, students will answer the question, "How can employees communicate appropriately with team members through online tools?"
  • Case Study: A Closer Look into Kids and Technology # Using this case study, students can discuss, "How do the benefits of easily accessed technology outweigh the problems that children face using it?"
  • Case Study: Family Game Night: Fun or Fury? # Using this case study, students can discuss, "How can thinking about other people’s feelings and perspectives impact conflict and the ways to deal with it?"
  • Case Study: Teamwork # Using this case study, students can discuss, "How can members of a team address and solve problems while achieving the teams’ goals?"
  • Case Study: Beyond Transactions: A Personal Banker's Touch # Using the case study, students can discuss the question, "How can financial products and services help consumers?"
  • Case Study: Finding Bugs #

    Using this case study, students can discuss "How can coding be used to improve a malfunctioning and outdated website? What are the steps to debug CSS? Why is debugging important outside of computer science?"

  • Case Study: Be Careful What You Post Online! # Using this case study students can discuss, "Why is the relationship between your digital footprint and privacy online important?"
  • Case Study: Social Media Risks and Middle School Students # Using this case study, students can answer the question, "What risks occur when middle school students bring social media to school?"
  • Case Study Proposal - Internet Con # How should employees respect video and music works created by others?
  • Case Study: Janet's Real Estate Success # Using this case study, students can discuss, "What are the essential qualities of a successful entrepreneur or business owner?" This case study is aligned with CTE course Introduction to Marketing, Sales and Service
  • Case Study: Dena's Daycare # Using this case study, students will discuss "Why is it important to establish activities, routines, and transitions for children?"
  • Case Study: Energy Friendly Homes # Using this case study, students can discuss, "What considerations should a family make when purchasing an energy efficient home?"
  • Case Study: The Need for Effective Teamwork # Using this case study, students can discuss, "How can conflict arise during teamwork?"
  • Case Study: It's the Environment # Using this case study, students can dicuss, "How can individuals recognize bullying behavior in the workplace?"
  • Case Study: Growing Safely # Using this case study, students can discuss, "Why are specific safety precautions essential in the workplace?"
  • Case Study: Life's Double Duty # Using this case study, students can discuss, "How might students and their families cope with the stress of life’s challenges and changes?"
  • Case Study: Service With A Smile # Using this case study, students will discuss "Why is personal hygiene important in the food industry?"
  • Case Study: Outbreak in Room 2 # Using this case study, students can discuss, "How did an infection leave so many microorganisms behind?"
  • Case Study: Is the Customer Really Always Right # Using this case study, students can discuss, "In what ways can a manager or business owner respond to customer input regarding their employees."
  • Case Study: Creating Sustainable Grocery Stores # A large grocery store chain is working to become more sustainable. The company's Cheif Financial Officer and an enviornmentalist consultant are tasked with determining the areas of concern to address that will result in the greatest impact in reducing use of non-renewable resources while being affordable for the company to make a wide-spread change.
  • CTE Case Study: Duck, Duck, Who? # Using this case study, students can discuss, "At what point does 'fair use' become copyright infringement?"
  • Case Study: Too Much Testing # Using this case study, students can discuss, "How do we obtain and incorporate feedback to make our programs/games better?"
  • CTE Case Study: Rediscovering Purpose # Using this case study, students can discuss, "How can a person with a non-educational degree begin a career in education?"
  • Case Study: What’s Next? # Using this case study, students can discuss, "What are the factors that a student could consider when deciding their postsecondary options?"
  • A Catering Dilemma # Using this case study, students can discuss, "How can food service employees practice safe and sanitary procedures when preparing food?"
  • Melody's Dilemma # Using this case study, students can discuss, "What potential legal and ethical issues does sampling music on the Internet have for artists and the music industry?"
  • Case Study: Career Crossroads: Navigating the Path to Purpose # Using this case study, students can discuss, "How can exploring multiple career clusters help guide future career choices?"
  • On Women's Right to Vote: Analyzing the Significance of Connotation # This teaching resource provides teachers with the tools to help students analyze the connotation of specific words and phrases within Susan B. Anthony’s speech, “On Women’s Right to Vote.” The speech includes examples of language with positive, negative, and neutral connotations to help the author establish and achieve purpose. This resource will help teachers explain the concept of connotative meaning and make connections to individuals and interest groups that influence our government through the use of this historic speech.
  • Case Study: Suffering in Silence-The Effects of Cyberbullying # Using the case study students can discuss,"What are the effects of cyberbullying on the bully and the victim?"
  • Case Study: Real-Life Algorithms # Using this case study, students will answer the question, "How can real-life algorithms be used in problem-solving?"
  • Algae Embedded in Sea Ice Drive the Arctic Food Web # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Species that live in the open ocean may suffer as sea ice disappears. As sea ice disappears, the algae embedded and living in the sea ice will be reduced. This article explores the evidence collected to show the role of algae in driving the Arctic food web.
  • Text Resource: Sneaky! Virus Sickens Plants, but Helps Them Multiply # This informational text (intended to support reading in the content area) describes how one common virus takes a sneaky route to success. It doesn’t kill its leafy hosts, instead, it makes infected plants smell more attractive to bees. This ensures the virus will have a new generation of the plants to host it in the future.
  • Belly up to the Bamboo Buffet: Pandas vs. Horses # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. In parts of China, pandas are threatened by horses. The pandas have a specific diet - bamboo that grows on the gently sloping areas far from human populations. But some farmers allow their horses to roam free and graze upon bamboo, taking away the only source of food for pandas.
  • Bee Tongues are Getting Shorter as Temperatures Warm # This informational text resource supports reading in the content area. The text explains how bees have made an evolutionary adaptation of shorter tongues. This adaptation is due to their mutualistic relationship with their flower food source moving up a mountain as a result of climate change.
  • It's Blackberry Season! Summer Fruits Depend on Pollinators. But Where Have All the Bees Gone? # This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The article introduces the reader to the importance and role of pollinators, factors contributing to their decline, and easy steps that can be taken to help pollinators.
  • Plants, Animals Adapt to City Living # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. It describes new research suggesting urban life creates evolutionary changes in plants and animals. Examples of changes to an urban growing plant (the white clover) and a Leapin' Lizard are presented as they evolve to suit their new environment.
  • Earthworms: Can These Gardeners' Friends Actually Become Foes? # This resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The article describes new research on the ways Asian jumping worms are affecting American forests. Findings show they are much more of a problem than initially feared. Because Asian jumping worms have bigger appetites than other earthworms found in the U.S., they are much more successful at eating the debris on the forest floor. This exposes vulnerable areas that may bring more diseases and invasive plants. It can also prevent delicate seedlings from taking root.
  • Oil and the Environment # This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. Oil is a natural resource of vital importance to nations around the world. This article outlines the benefits and burdens of responsible use of oil, including what needs to be considered when exploring and drilling, when using hydraulic fracturing, and when transporting oil. The article also briefly discusses actions the U.S. took after several major oil spills to help better protect the environment in the future.
  • Satellite Data Help Australian Ranchers Meet the Rising Demand for Meat in a Changing World # This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The article is provided by NASA and discusses how farmers in Australia are able to use digital data provided by U.S. satellites. These farmers are able to use this satellite data to monitor the condition of their land, and enables them to better manage their farms. The author also provides additional examples of how this data is used by countries throughout the world. The article helps demonstrate how space technology positively impacts the world. The text also discusses the impact of human activities on the environment.
  • Fear Matters # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Prey species exhibit a variety of behaviors to avoid getting eaten by predators. For example, some animals may run away, find shelter, or move to a safer area if they sense predators are near. This article describes the responses of two prey species in detail: tree frog tadpoles that hatch early when predators are close by, and elk that avoid eating in dangerous areas when wolves are present. Their responses to fear can affect not only the prey species, but the entire food web.
  • The Money of Global Warming: Q&A with McKenzie Funk # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The climate on Earth is changing and there are individuals and companies positioning themselves to make money on these changes. For example, oil companies are acquiring leases in previously frozen regions, arid farmland is being purchased because the land may be better in the future for growing crops than it is now as a result of climate changes.
  • Water, Water, not Everywhere # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes the cause and effect of farming and agriculture on the groundwater reserve. The article explains the water cycle and how scientists used two satellites named Tom and Jerry to track the changes in the amount of groundwater on earth. The article also details how gravity played a role in helping satellites detect the changes in water level. Finally, the article explains how farming uses the groundwater reserve stored many years ago, and how it depletes this reserve as a result.
  • The quake that shook up geology # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area.   This article recounts the Great Alaskan Earthquake of 1964, a magnitude 9.2 event and the second strongest earthquake ever recorded. It also discuss how the earthquake helped shape the study of plate tectonics.  
  • Food Web Woes # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes two studies that show how the decline of large sharks has adverse effects on other organisms in their food web. The article explains that without apex predators like sharks, other large fish and rays tend to thrive and prey too heavily on shellfish populations.
  • Caught in the Act # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area.  This article describes several fascinating examples of rapid evolution by natural selection. It explains research on three organisms, cichlids, crickets and sea urchins, that demonstrates how these creatures have quickly adapted to their changing environments. This is a very useful article for students beginning to explore the concepts of natural selection, evolution, and extinction.    
  • Animals Under Antarctic Ice? # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article describes an exciting series of experiments aimed at determining whether complex life could exist in the extremely harsh Antarctic environment of Lake Vostok. Researchers found some evidence of complex life from DNA analysis, but confirming such extraordinary findings would require substantial additional data and repeated confirmation. The text offers a great overview of the complex nature of the scientific process and what it takes to truly confirm an experimental finding.
  • Fossil Forests # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Using fossilized trees, scientists can investigate how the Earth has changed over millions of years. Tree fossils in the Arctic show that this region was once considerably warmer and was home to large forests teeming with life. Chemical analyses can also show what the soil and water of these regions looked like millions of years ago. This information can help predict what the world might look like as the Earth warms once again.
  • Cell Phone Ownership Hits 91% of Adults # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. A Pew Research Center survey indicates that cell phone ownership is at an all-time high, with 91% of Americans owning a cell phone in 2013. Statistical tests show that cell phone usage is significantly higher in men, college-educated people, the wealthy, and those living in urban/suburban areas. This rise in ownership is associated with a variety of positive impacts of cell phone use, but previous research shows there are several negative impressions and impacts of cell phones as well.
  • Flu River # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article discusses how a drug widely used to flight influenza—Tamiflu—is contaminating bodies of water. It describes how this poses potential risks to humans and wildlife.
  • The Man Who Rocked Biology to its Core # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article is mostly a biography of Charles Darwin, including his studies and what drove him to be a biologist. The second half of the article discusses his theory of evolution by natural selection and his influences on the development of the theory. It gives a synopsis of how natural selection operates.
  • How Do Scientists Determine the Age of Dinosaur Bones? # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Scientists use radiometric dating to estimate the age of objects, including fossils and geological formations. Radiometric dating methods include measuring carbon-14 and uranium/potassium isotopes. This article details how these methods can be used to date a variety of objects, including the Earth itself.
  • What the Appendix is Good For # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The appendix has long been thought to be useless. However, new research suggests that the appendix actually can have a healthy function—to harbor bacteria beneficial to the immune system. This would have been vital early in humans' evolutionary history, when the chance of infection was much higher and medicine was lacking, and may still play that role for people in less developed parts of the world.
  • Gold Can Grow on Trees # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area.Tiny particles of gold have been found in the leaves of trees growing high above an underground supply of it. Biogeochemical prospecting uses living organisms to locate precious metals deep beneath the surface. From termite mounds to "roo poo" from a kangaroo, biological clues point prospectors in the right direction.
  • For Some Male Crickets, Silence Means Survival # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article discusses how crickets on two Hawaiian islands have evolved wings that make them silent in response to parasitoid flies that locate male crickets via sound (and eat them from the inside out!). The crickets on Kauai and Oahu evolved completely different silent wing types, which is evidence that these two cricket populations evolved their silent wings independently.
  • A Ghost Lake # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Through the author's personal experience and observations made by scientists, this article describes how the study of an extinct lake's history can be used to make predictions about how warming temperatures may affect the future of current lakes. From analyses of the shoreline, soil, algal growth, and minerals coated on rocks, the article offers evidence and clues that the desert was once under water.
  • Many Human Ails are ‘Scars’ of Evolution # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The human evolution of bipedalism (walking upright) has resulted in a change in the morphology of the spine, feet, and other features of modern humans that are also present in fossils of our hominid ancestors. These changes have resulted in unintended consequences - body pains and injuries that our non-bipedal primate relatives do not experience.
  • One Plus to Wearing Stripes # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article discusses current thinking and popular hypotheses for the function of zebra stripes. A recent study indicates that zebra stripes may protect the animals from fly bites, which are both a nuisance to the animals and a means of spreading infectious fatal diseases.
  • Your Inner Neandertal # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Scientists used ancient bones to compare Neandertal DNA to that of modern humans from around the globe. The results are surprising: many of us are closer to Neandertals than previously thought. Once considered very unlikely, scientists now believe that humans and Neandertals may have interbred.
  • Energy Companies Triggered Quakes, Study Says # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Scientists recently linked the injection of carbon dioxide into the ground with increased numbers of earthquakes in Texas. This may have consequences for plans to store CO2 underground to slow global warming or inject it during the process of oil mining.
  • Debate over Genetically Modified Foods Continues amid Confusion # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This text highlights the controversy surrounding genetically modified foods and their labeling. The article explains GMOs and their implications for health according to science and industry.
  • Solving Bad Breath One Walnut at a Time # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The science fair project of two junior scientists in Nigeria may hold the key to ending "morning breath." Through experimentation, the two teenage girls determined that African walnuts were able to kill bacteria that cause bad breath. Their project was presented at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.
  • World’s Biggest Volcano is Hiding Under the Sea # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article explores scientists' identification of the largest volcano on Earth—Tamu Massif—which is found below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. Due to its underlying geology, the volcano is mostly found below the ocean floor at the edge of two tectonic plates. It formed when magma emerged as the plates pulled apart. The article compares Tamu Massif to other giant volcanoes on Earth and on other planets.
  • Surprise! Fossils in a Flash # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. In this article, scientists explore the fossil of a dead fish whose cells were perfectly preserved from 100 million years ago. The remains led to further studies of decay and fossilization. Taphonomy, the study of what happens after plants and animals die, is discussed in detail, showing how studying fossilized animals can tell us about how they evolved.
  • A Success for Designer Life # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article reveals how scientists have found a way to make a synthetic chromosome and insert it into yeast cells. Scientists discovered that this chromosome can alter or create new traits in an organism. This research could lead to creating an entirely synthetic genome, which scientists expect to accomplish in the next few years.
  • The Sun's Giant Heat Elevators # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes the discovery of mega-plumes of plasma within the sun. These long-lasting, larger than Earth heat elevators may be the reason the latitudes of the sun rotate at different speeds. Two different scientists have analyzed data that support this possible explanation.
  • What Makes a Dog? # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Studying dog DNA may have many applications including helping scientists to have a better understanding of canine origins and how dogs became domesticated. Understanding and locating certain genes has many breeding applications. Studying and understanding dog diseases may be able to further the study of human diseases.
  • Tropical Species at Great Risk from Climate Change: Study # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article describes a study that suggests tropical animals are in danger of extinction due to climate change—more so than animals living in polar climates. This is because these species are already at their thermal tolerance limits, and further increases in temperature could greatly lower their fitness.
  • Some of Chocolate's Health Benefits May Trace to 'Bugs' # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Chocolate has been known to have health benefits for hundreds of years, but why? Because of the large size of the molecules found in chocolate, the body shouldn't be able to absorb their beneficial components. A team of scientists investigated to see if bacteria in the gut are responsible for breaking down these large molecules further, enabling the human body to absorb them and take advantage of chocolate's health benefits.
  • The Oldest Place on Earth # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Evidence that supports how Earth's climate and the position of its continents have changed over time has been found in an unlikely place: Antarctica. Preserved plants and insects over 20 million years old, similar to specimens on other continents, have been discovered. These discoveries provide scientists with evidence to support the continental drift of the landmass once known as Gondwana.
  • Discovery of Infrared Light # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article outlines the scientific mindset that led William Herschel to arrive at the discovery of infrared light, an unexpected consequence of an experiment he was conducting. More generally, the article demonstrates the scientific process, from hypothesis to observation and from inference to conclusion.
  • Native 'Snot' # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes how an algae species previously thought to be invasive is actually a "hidden" native species that blooms when environmental conditions change. It describes those conditions as well as the algae's ecological impact on other populations. The article concludes by connecting that human impact—climate change—is causing algae blooms to become more and more common.
  • Shuffling Shenanigans # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. A student in love with magic card tricks asks and answers his own math questions after pursuing a career as a mathematician in order to solve them. How many times must a deck be shuffled to achieve a truly random mix of cards? The answer lies within.
  • Brazil Approves Use of Genetically Modified Mosquitoes to Combat Dengue Fever # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The text describes a possible solution to the spread of mosquito-borne illnesses like malaria and dengue fever. Scientists have genetically modified mosquitoes to disrupt their reproductive cycle. The article ends with the concerns of the scientific community about the breeding program, while at the same time showing how several countries are already having success with use of the GM organisms.
  • When a Species Can't Stand the Heat # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article discusses how global warming could leave New Zealand's tuatara (a reptile species) dangerously short on females. When the temperature rises as little as one degree, far more males than females are born. One island habitat is now 75% males, with fewer, frailer females. Without intervention, the tuatara could become extinct. The article offers some possible solutions, including having the colonies relocated to cooler islands.
  • Between a Rock and a Wet Place # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article explains how natural selection can lead to changes in populations. Variations in body types were observed in a species of climbing goby (a fish) in Hawaii. These variations allow differential success in avoiding predators and climbing waterfalls. Depending on conditions on different islands, individuals with certain body types are more likely to thrive because their body type makes it easier for them to survive and reproduce.
  • How Earth's Surface Morphs # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article focuses on how plate tectonics change the surface of Earth, and how new research is changing the way we think about geological behavior. The article goes in depth about two new ideas that are changing the way we think about the planet's layers and the processes that have shaped Earth over its long history.
  • Explainer: How Invasive Species Ratted Out the Tuatara # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This short article is about how a changing environment has lead to a near extinction of tuatara (a lizard species) in New Zealand. It discusses how invasive species—in the tuatara's case, predatory mammals—can wipe out native species that are unable to adapt.
  • Early Tyrannosaurs Would Have Feared This Predator # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article discusses how the early tyrannosaur's rise to dominance was likely delayed by the existence of a newly discovered, fiercer predator with which it competed. The new dino, Siats meekerorum, likely postponed tyrannosaur's emergence as the top predator in its ecosystem.
  • Wily Bacteria Create "Zombie" Plants # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The text describes a newly found parasitic bacterial protein, SAP54, which turns host plants into non-flowering "zombies" for the sole benefit of the parasites. This knowledge may enable scientists to help plants defend against these attackers.
  • Why Are Bees Vanishing? # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Not many people will say they like bees, but they are a very necessary part of our environment. Scientists are struggling to find an answer—and, hopefully, a solution—as to why so many bee colonies are vanishing. They believe there are several environmental factors that are killing these insects.
  • Electronics May Confuse a Bird's "Compass" # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Scientists are finally able to support the hypothesis that electromagnetic radiation from human electronic equipment can confuse a bird's sense of direction; the radiation impacts the orientation necessary for birds' migration. When shielded by an aluminum screen (a Faraday cage), this interference is eliminated and birds can orient themselves properly.
  • Arctic Thaw is Spreading Wildlife Diseases # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes the effect of melting ice in the Arctic Ocean on the spreading of parasitic diseases. The author explains how grey seals and ringed seals have contracted one particular disease due to the Arctic thaw and goes on to explain how Beluga whales north of Alaska have contracted a second disease, which can be spread to humans.
  • Seeking a Break in a 252 Million-Year-Old Mass Killing # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The text describes how scientists are attempting to use several pieces of evidence to pinpoint when a mass extinction event occurred at the end of the Permian Period. The text points to a connection between increasing volcanic eruptions, an increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and their relationship to mass extinctions before alluding to the signs of how human activity could be pushing Earth towards one.
  • Where Native Americans Come From # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes how scientists have found that Native Americans have ancestral roots in Asia using DNA evidence from a 12,600 year old toddler skeleton from the Clovis culture in Montana.
  • From Stem Cell to Any Cell # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Stem cell research findings are discussed with examples of how biotechnology is impacting society. The article explains the different types of stem cells and highlights research on stem cells to cure diseases and help increase quality of life. Ethical questions are addressed using a balanced approach.
  • Drinking Water: Bottled or from the Tap? # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The National Geographic Kids article discusses the environmental problems caused by disposable water bottle use.
  • Virginia Acts to Reduce Population of Wild Pigs, the ‘Most Invasive Animal’ in U.S. # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes the extreme population growth and range expansion of wild pigs, as well as how this invasive animal is damaging local ecosystems.
  • Earthquakes, Megaquakes, and the Movies # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The text explains how large earthquakes are naturally occurring events and compares them to the fictional "megaquakes" portrayed in movies. It also dispels a number of myths about earthquakes.
  • Humans Threaten Wetlands' Ability to Keep Pace with Sea-Level Rise # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The text discusses the different benefits that wetlands bring to the environment, their potential resilience to sea level rise, and the different ways in which human-caused climate change is affecting their potential resiliency.
  • Deforestation # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article discusses deforestation, its causes, and its effects on ecosystems.
  • A Big Discovery About Little People # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The text describes the discovery of a new species of human, nicknamed "hobbits," believed to exist as recently as 12,000 years ago. It also covers the evidence in support of the hypothesis that hobbits are truly a new human species (and not deformed Homo sapiens).
  • Evolved to Run # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The text compares the bone and muscle structure of early Homo sapiens and Neandertals. It describes the ability to run long distances in one and not the other and explains how this difference may have evolved.
  • Trees Trap Ants Into Sweet Servitude # This informational text is intended to support reading in the content area. This is a news article describing the partnership between acacia trees and the ants which live on them, as well as the manipulation of the ants into an addictive relationship by the tree.
  • Predators as Climate Helpers # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This is a fabulous article that shows the role and relationship among predators and consumers while also incorporating the process of photosynthesis.
  • Changing Seas # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This text explains how carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is changing the oceans. The text describes ocean acidification and ocean warming. The text gives examples of ecosystems that are changing as a result.
  • Soft Skills for Managers # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This text is about the importance of managers having soft skills in addition to the technical skills, and it explains ten important soft skills for managers to have.
  • Earth's Interior: A Look at the Inner Earth # This informational text is intended to support reading in the content area. The article covers the composition and properties of Earth's layers.
  • Fish Fossil has Oldest Known Face, May Influence Evolution # The news article describes the discovery of a placoderm (armored fish) fossil with a facial structure similar to modern vertebrates. It may represent the origin of facial structure for all modern vertebrates. This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area.
  • Scientists Anticipated Size and Location of 2012 Costa Rica Earthquake # This informational text is intended to support reading in the content area. A group of scientists predict when and where an earthquake will occur in Costa Rica using the latest technology and research.
  • Faultline: Theory of Plate Tectonics # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This text explains both the history of plate tectonics and continental drift, and the land features that result from the earth's plate movement.
  • Rainforest Rodents Risk Their Lives to Eat # This informational text is intended to support reading in the content area. Researchers found that the hungrier an agouti is the more likely it is to take risks to find food; in turn, they determined that the more risks an agouti took the more likely it was to be killed by an ocelot.
  • Who Was Ida? # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The news article thoroughly describes a transitional primate fossil and includes artist illustrations of the animal in its environment, sidebar information describing the Messel Pit, life for animals in a maar, and how the fossil was named. The article also includes a pop-up glossary of potential problematic vocabulary.
  • Plate Tectonics # This resource supports reading in the content area. This text is about the different interactions the plates on the Earth's surface have with each other and how they affect the Earth's surface.
  • Mountain Maker, Earth Shaker # This resource supports reading in the content area. This is an informational text that provides the explanations and activities of the different movements of plate tectonics. This resource includes text-dependent questions.
  • Orb-weaving Spiders use Webs to Trap Pollen in Addition to Insects # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The text presents scientific evidence that spiders obtain their nutrition from both plants and animals. Traditionally spiders have been classified as carnivores. This new evidence indicates that they are omnivores.
  • Big Quake, Little Destruction # This informational text is intended to support reading in the content area. The article outlines the differences between recent large earthquakes in the Pacific and the earthquake that caused a devastating tsunami in 2004. It describes how tectonic plates can move in relation to one another in order to explain different geophysical (e.g. tsunami) outcomes.
  • Case Study: A Peer Review Committee Accepts a Challenging Task # Using this case study, students will answer the following question, "What skills and procedures should the committee apply during the meeting to reach an agreement for improving student morale at their school?"
  • Case Study: From Chaos to Clarity # Using this case study, students can discuss, "How can technology support business efficiency?"
  • Thirst for Water Moves and Shakes California # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Humans have been pumping large amounts of groundwater from the Central Valley of California for their own hydration needs. Recent research has found that this loss of mass is causing the Earth's crust to shift, which may be causing small earthquakes and the slight rise of mountains in California.
Original Student Tutorials for Language Arts - Grades 6-12
  • Around the Horn: Using Context Clues # Learn how to use context clues—including definitions, synonyms, and antonyms—to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words in this baseball-themed, interactive tutorial.
  • Vocabulary in Action # Learn 12 new academic vocabulary words in this interactive tutorial!  You'll practice the words' synonyms, antonyms, parts of speech, and context clues in order to add them to your vocabulary.  
  • Vocabulary Mastery # Learn 12 new academic vocabulary words in this interactive tutorial!  You'll practice the words' synonyms, antonyms, parts of speech, and context clues in order to add them to your vocabulary.  
  • Vocabulary Power # Learn 12 new academic vocabulary words using synonyms, antonyms, parts of speech, and context clues in this interactive tutorial.  
  • Vocabulary Unleashed # Learn 12 new academic vocabulary terms in this interactive tutorial! You'll practice the words' synonyms, antonyms, parts of speech, and context clues in order to add them to your vocabulary.
Print Page | Close this window