Name _______________________________
Text Structure Quiz
Directions: Identify which text structure each of the scenarios uses (description,
sequence, compare/contrast, cause/effect, problem/solution). Write the name of
this text structure on the line after each scenario. Then, create the appropriate
graphic organizer for the text structure on a separate sheet of paper for each
scenario.
1) A food chain is the transfer of food energy in a sequence of living things. Since
all living things need energy to live, a food chain will show how a living thing gets
energy from the food they eat. A diagram of the food chain will have arrows that
show the transfer of energy from one object to another. An example of a food
chain could start with the sun, which gives the grass energy. The grass is eaten by
the rabbit which is then eaten by the fox.
Text Structure: Description
Transfer of
energy
Example:
sun--grass-rabbit
Food
Chain
Arrows represent
the transfer of
energy from one
object to another
Shows how
living things
get energy
2) Our ocean has been polluted! The fish are all dying! Pollution is very dangerous
to food chains because if one living organism dies, the other living things that
depend on that organism no longer have a food and energy source. In this case,
the bears depended on these fish for their source of energy. Now what will the
bears eat? Without the fish, the bears are now forced to find another source of
food, move, or die. What will the bears do this time? Luckily for these bears, they
adapted well to this issue and survived by eating squirrels.
Text Structure: Problem and Solution
Ocean
pollution kills
the fish
Find
another
source of
food
Move to
another
location
3) Energy is the ability to cause change in matter. There are many types of energy.
Kinetic and potential energy are both forms of energy. Kinetic energy is the
energy of motion. Any moving object has kinetic energy. On the other hand,
potential energy is very different because it is energy something has because of
its position and condition. If an object is at rest, it has the potential to move,
which means it has potential energy. A ball that is sitting at the top of a bookshelf
has potential energy based on its position because it could easily turn in to kinetic
energy if the object began to fall.
Text Structure: Compare and Contrast
Kinetic Energy
Potential Energy
-Energy of motion
-Any moving object has
this energy
-Ex: Ball falling off
bookshelf
Both
-Forms of
energy
-Energy based on an
object's condition or
position
-Any object at rest has
this energy
-Ex: Ball sitting on top of
bookshelf
4) In November 2012, China is going to face the threat of bamboo shortage. As a
result of global warming and bamboo’s slow reproductive rate (only flowering
every 30 to 35 years), a study in China’s northwester Qinling Mountains has
predicted a large decline in the amount of bamboo. Because of this shortage of
bamboo, the 270 panda bears that find their home in the Qinling Mountains are
going to be in danger without their source of energy.
Text Structure: Cause and Effect
Global
Warming
270 panda
bears in Qinling
Mountains are
going to be in
danger
Bamboo's
slow
reproduction
rate
5) One type of food chain is the grassland food chain. First, this food chain begins
with the sun. Next, the grass takes energy from the sun in order to produce its
own food through photosynthesis. Then, the grasshopper will eat the grass for
energy. After that, the rat will eat the grasshopper and the energy will transfer
between the two organism. The snake comes along and eats up the rat to get the
energy from the organism. Finally, the hawk ends the food chain by soaring to the
ground and eating the snake. Now all the energy from the sun, grass,
grasshopper, rat, and snake are all in the hawk until something else comes along!
Text Structure: Sequence
Sun
Grass
Grasshopper
Rat
Snake
Hawk