Amazon Rainforest

19. Topic: Amazon Rainforest

From: http://mrnussbaum.com/sand-dollar-reading-comprehension/

Date:    2014, November 4 

 

              The Amazon is the world's largest tropical rainforest. 

It covers an area of nearly 2.8 million square miles, which is nearly the size of the continent of Australia. The Amazon Rainforest gets its life from the majestic Amazon River, the world's second largest river, which runs directly through the heart of the region. The rainforest itself is simply the drainage basin for the river and its many tributaries. 

             The vast forest itself consists of four layers, each featuring its own ecosystems and specially adapted plants and animals.
The forest floor is the lowest region. Since only two percent of the sunlight filters through the top layers to the understory, very few plants grow here. 

              The forest floor, however, is rich with rotting vegetation and the bodies of dead organisms, which are quickly broken down into nutrients integrated into the soil. Tree roots stay close to these available nutrients and decomposers such as millipedes and earthworms use these nutrients for food.

Money

18. Topic: Money
From: http://mrnussbaum.com/money/

Date:    2014, October 28 

              Money is what you use to buy things. You may earn money from completing household chores, getting good grades, for your allowance, or for losing a tooth! Money is very important in our world and comes in many different forms.

              People have been using money for hundreds of years. Before money gave specific values for things, people simply traded items. In the United States, we use the dollar as our currency or money, but people in different parts of the world use different currencies, though some countries also use or accept our dollars.

               People earn money from the jobs they work and use that money to save for the future, pay for their houses, cars, food, taxes, medical needs and household items among other things. Even things such as turning the lights on, using the air conditioning or heat, and connecting to the internet cost money.

The Bald Eagle

17. Topic: The Bald Eagle

From: http://mrnussbaum.com/readingcomp/baldeagle

Date:    2014, October 21 

The Bald Eagle is a majestic bird. The adult bird has a brown body, brown wings, white head, and large, hooked yellow bill. Younger birds appear all brown.

Bald Eagles almost always live near water because their main food source is fish. Sometimes, however, Bald Eagles will eat dead animals (carrion). They will even steal food from other birds such as ospreys and gulls! It was for this reason that the famous Patriot Benjamin Franklin preferred the Wild Turkey as America's National symbol. Nevertheless, the Bald Eagle remains America's symbol.

White Shark

16. Topic: White Shark

From: http://mrnussbaum.com/readingcomp/sharkscomp/

 Date:    2014, October 14    

      

               The Great White Shark is the largest predatory shark, and is probably the most well-known and feared shark. The Great White Shark is gray or bluish above and white below. The largest Great Whites can reach lengths of 22 feet and weigh up to 5,000 pounds. Most are between 13 and 16 feet and weigh 1,500-2,400 pounds.

          The Great White has massive teeth, which are positioned in rows and serrated. When the Great White attacks, it bites its prey and shakes it head back and forth. The serrated teeth act as a saw and literally tear the victim apart. The Great White Shark often swallows many of its own teeth in an attack.

          The Great White Shark normally feeds on fish, seals, dolphins, porpoises, otters, and turtles. It is thought to locate its prey by electrosense and by smell. Like all sharks, Great Whites have special pores called Ampullae of Lorenzini, which enable them to detect the electromagnetic fields radiated by moving organisms. Great Whites can detect voltage as small as one half billionth of a volt.

The Tyrannosaurus Rex

15. Topic: The Tyrannosaurus Rex

From: http://mrnussbaum.com/trexcomp/

Date:    2014, October 7

The Tyrannosaurus Rex, also known as T-Rex, was one of the largest land predators to have ever lived. The T-rex could grow to 40 feet in length (a little longer than a school bus) and could stand 13 feet tall at the hips (about three feet taller than a basketball hoop). It lived in what is now western North America and may have even been partly covered in feathers.

                The Tyrannosaurus Rex was a fearsome predator with strong jaws and up to 60 teeth. Some of these teeth could grow to be almost a foot long. The T-Rex was a strict carnivore (meat-eater) and hunted other dinosaurs. Scientists aren’t sure how fast the T-Rex could run, or, even if it could run at all.

                In 1990, a fossil hunter found the most complete skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex ever found! It was sold to a museum for $8 million dollars, the highest amount ever paid for dinosaur fossils.

Influenza Reading

14. Topic: Influenza

From: http://mrnussbaum.com/influenza-reading-comprehension/

Date:    2014, September 30

               Have you ever had the flu? If you have, you know how miserable it can make you feel. Most kids will get the flu sometime during their school years. When you have the flu, you usually get a fever (which can be high), have a cough, feel very tired, and may have a sore throat as well. It can make you feel sick for a few days or for as long as a week. 

               Sometimes, it can be hard to tell if you have the flu or a cold, but with the flu, you'll usually have a higher fever and feel much worse. The flu is a type of virus, which means medicine will only help the symptoms such as the cough and fever. For most kids, the flu comes and goes, but for some, it can be a serious illness.

               Most kids get the flu in the winter because germs spread more easily when kids are inside in settings such as classrooms. The best way to prevent from getting the flu is to wash your hands often, keep your hands to yourself, and go to your doctor for the flu shot or mist.

Penguins

13. Topic: Penguins
From: http://mrnussbaum.com/penguins_young/

Date:    2014, September 23

               Penguins are among the most popular of all birds. They only live in and around the South Pole and the continent of Antarctica. No wild penguins live at the North Pole. There are many different kinds of penguins. 
              The largest penguin is called the Emperor Penguin and the smallest kind of penguin is the Little Blue Penguin. There are 17 different kinds of penguins in all and none of them can fly.

Penguins have to be able to survive in the some of the Earth's coldest and windiest conditions. 

              Penguins are great swimmers and have thick layers of fat to protect them from the bitter cold. Even in their freezing cold habitats, penguins still have to watch out for predators such as killer whales and seals.