Space Junk
By Josh Adler
Many people know that trash is a big problem on planet Earth. What many people
don’t know is that trash is becoming a problem in outer space too. Years of space
exploration have left tons of “space junk” in orbit around the planet.
According to the news organization BBC, there are more than 22,000 pieces of
junk in space around the Earth. And these are just the items that are easy to see.
There may be millions of smaller pieces of junk that we can’t see.
Objects, like bits of old space rockets or satellites, move around the planet at very
high speeds, so fast that even a very small piece can become dangerous. If they
crash into each other it could cause explosions that might even hurt people on
Earth’s surface.
If the tiniest piece of junk crashed into a space shuttle it could blow open a hole
as big as an elephant. That’s because the faster objects are moving, the more
force, or push, they have when they meet.
To make things worse, space junk can attract more space junk to itself – like a
magnet. When the space junk snowballs into a larger clump it becomes even
more dangerous to other objects looping around the planet.
To help solve this problem, countries around the world have agreed to limit the
time their space tools stay in orbit to 25 years. Each tool must be built to fall
safely into the Earth’s atmosphere, or upper parts of the sky, after that. There, it
will burn up, or move further out into space where it won’t crash near the Earth.
Many scientists are also proposing different ways to clean up the junk. In England
a metal harpoon is being tested that can be fired into trash, grip to it, and then
pull it into the Earth’s atmosphere where it would burn up.
The Germans are planning a space mission with robots that would collect the
trash and bring it back to Earth so it can be safely destroyed.
In 2007 the Chinese tried to blow up one of its satellites with a missile.
Unfortunately the explosion only created thousands of pieces of smaller space
junk! The same problem happened to the United States when one of their
satellites crashed into a Russian satellite to make over 2,000 extra bits.
"In our opinion the problem is very challenging and it's quite urgent as well," said
Marco Castronuovo, an Italian Space Agency researcher who is working to solve
the problem. One reason that it’s urgent is that countries are sending more and
more objects into space. Many of these objects are tools that help people use
their cell phones or computers.
"The time to act is now; as we go farther in time we will need to remove more
and more fragments," he says.
While people are coming up with lots of creative ideas, as of 2013 there is no
clear solution in the race to clean up outer space.
© 2013 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved.
Questions on following
page:
Questions: Space Junk
Name: _____________ Date: _______________________
1. What has left tons of “space junk” in orbit around the Earth?
A robots sent on space missions
B years of space exploration
C lack of recycling
D missiles in outer space
2. Countries around the world have agreed to limit the time their space tools
stay in orbit to 25 years. As explained in the passage, what problem does this
solution address?
A tons of space junk in orbit around the Earth
B space agencies exploring space
C Chinese efforts to blow up a satellite
D objects moving around the planet at very high speeds
3. Trash is becoming a problem in outer space too.
What evidence from the text supports this statement?
A Space junk can attract more space junk to itself – like a magnet.
B In England, a metal harpoon is being tested that can be fired into
space, grip the trash and pull it back into the Earth’s atmosphere to
burn up.
C The Germans are planning a space mission with robots to collect trash
and bring it back to Earth.
D According to BBC, there are more than 22,000 pieces of junk in space
around the Earth.
Write answers in complete sentences:
4. What would most likely happen if countries stopped sending objects into
space?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
5. What was the passage mostly about?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
6. Read the following sentences: “‘In our opinion the problem is very challenging
and it's quite urgent as well,’ said Marco Castronuovo, an Italian Space Agency
researcher who is working to solve the problem. One reason that it’s urgent is
that countries are sending more and more objects into space. Many of these
objects are tools that help people use their cell phones or computers.”
What does the word urgent most nearly mean?
A easy to solve
B unnecessary
C needs immediate attention
D minor
7. Choose the answer that best completes the sentence below.
Years of space exploration have left tons of “space junk”, _______ many
scientists are trying to find a way to clean up outer space.
A so
B instead
C because
D similarly
8. When the space junk snowballs into a larger clump it becomes even more
dangerous to other objects looping around the planet.
Use evidence from the text to support this statement.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
© 2013 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved. 2
Questions: Space Junk
9. An Italian researcher said, “In our opinion the problem is very challenging
and it’s quite urgent as well.” Why did he describe the space junk problem as
being urgent?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
10. If scientists do not come up with a way to clean up space junk, what might
happen as a result?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
© 2013 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved. 3
China Map
River
Amur
Huang He (Yellow River)
Liao He
Xi Jiang West River)
Yangze River
Length in Miles
2,744
2,903
1,448
1,630
3,915
11. What ocean borders China on the east? __________________________________
12. What is the name of the major river that flows by Shanghai?
______________________________
13. The longest river in China is the ___________________________________.
Nonfiction books and articles often include graphic aids, such as maps, charts, and
graphs. These graphic aids help readers understand complicated ideas quickly and
easily. The same information can be shown on more than one kind of graphic aid.
14. What information about China is shown on the chart and the bar
graph?_______________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
9,000,000
8,000,000
7,000,000
6,000,000
5,000,000
4,000,000
3,000,000
2,000,000
1,000,000
0
Beijing
Shanghai
Tianjin
Wuhan
Weihai
City
Population
Beijing
Shanghai
Tianjin
Wuhan
Weihai
Ankang
7,362,425
8,214,436
5,855,068
3,340,000
1,731,287
859,163
Ankang
15. The information on the previous page can be shown on more than one
kind of graphic aid. Which do you think is the better way of showing the
information, the bar graph or the table? Support your answer with facts and
reasons.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Teacher Guide & Answers: Space Junk
Teacher Guide & Answers
Passage Reading Level: Lexile 1110
1. What has left tons of “space junk” in orbit around the Earth?
A robots sent on space missions
B years of space exploration
C lack of recycling
D missiles in outer space
2. Countries around the world have agreed to limit the time their space tools stay in orbit to
25 years. As explained in the passage, what problem does this solution address?
A tons of space junk in orbit around the Earth
B space agencies exploring space
C Chinese efforts to blow up a satellite
D objects moving around the planet at very high speeds
3. Trash is becoming a problem in outer space too.
What evidence from the text supports this statement?
A Space junk can attract more space junk to itself – like a magnet.
B In England, a metal harpoon is being tested that can be fired into space, grip the
trash and pull it back into the Earth’s atmosphere to burn up.
C The Germans are planning a space mission with robots to collect trash and bring it
back to Earth.
D According to BBC, there are more than 22,000 pieces of junk in space
around the Earth.
4. What would most likely happen if countries stopped sending objects into space?
A There wouldn’t be space junk orbiting Earth anymore.
B People wouldn’t be able to use their cell phones or computers.
C All satellites would burn up and be destroyed.
D Space junk would crash into Earth’s surface.
5. What was the passage mostly about?
A different missions scientists are trying in space
B the effects that tiny pieces of space junk could have on the Earth
C the problem of space junk and scientists’ attempts to solve this problem
D the problem of trash on planet Earth
© 2013 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved. 1
Teacher Guide & Answers: Space Junk
6. Read the following sentences: “‘In our opinion the problem is very challenging and it's
quite urgent as well,’ said Marco Castronuovo, an Italian Space Agency researcher who is
working to solve the problem. One reason that it’s urgent is that countries are sending
more and more objects into space. Many of these objects are tools that help people use
their cell phones or computers.”
What does the word urgent most nearly mean?
A easy to solve
B unnecessary
C needs immediate attention
D minor
7. Choose the answer that best completes the sentence below.
Years of space exploration have left tons of “space junk”, _______ many scientists are
trying to find a way to clean up outer space.
A so
B instead
C because
D similarly
8. When the space junk snowballs into a larger clump it becomes even more dangerous to
other objects looping around the planet.
Use evidence from the text to support this statement.
Suggested answer: Larger clumps will travel at faster speeds and have a stronger force
when they meet, causing greater damage. The larger objects can crash into one another
causing explosions that could even hurt people on Earth’s surface.
9. An Italian researcher said, “In our opinion the problem is very challenging and it’s quite
urgent as well.” Why did he describe the space junk problem as being urgent?
Suggested answer: He described the problem as being urgent because people will
continue to send objects into space, therefore, creating more space junk. The tiny
fragments will start forming larger clumps and there will be more opportunities for
explosions. The problem is urgent because it needs to be solved immediately or it will get
worse.
10. If scientists do not come up with a way to clean up space junk, what might happen as a
result?
Suggested answer: There will be more and more fragments of space junk to remove. The
tiny fragments will be pulled to one another forming larger clumps that can explode and
potentially hurt people on Earth.
© 2013 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved. 2
11. The Pacific Ocean
12. The Yangtze River
13. The Yangtze River
14. The chart and the bar graph show the populations of cities in China.
15. Answers will vary.
Continued
0-GR.6-S.1-GLE.1
ee
Student Name:
2013
Standards and Grade Level Expectations Addressed in the Assessment:
RWC10-GR.6-S.1-GLE.1
RWC10-GR.6-S.2-GLE.2
RWC10-GR.6-S.3-GLE.1
RWC10-GR.6-S.3-GLE.2
RWC10-GR.6-S.3-GLE.3
RWC10-GR.6-S.4-GLE.1
RWC10-GR.6-S.4-GLE.2
RWC10-GR.6-S.4-GLE.3
Quarter 2
6th Grade Reading