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Nonfiction Text Features

English Language Arts, Grade 4

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headline heading caption byline explanation A wolf in Yellowstone. Photo courtesy of NPS. Nonfiction text has a title that may be called a headline. The writer’s name, or byline, may appear in small print right after the headline. Text headings introduce different sections. Use them to scan the article to find the part you want to read. There may be an image with tiny print beneath. The tiny print is a caption. It tells something about the image or is a byline telling who created the image. If you see an asterisk (*) or a tiny number1 in the text, look at the end of the article for more information. In this article, the asterisk leads you to an explanation. Rewilding Yellowstone National Park Debra Housel By the end of the twentieth century, humans had taken over the world. In doing so, they got rid of any animals that caused them trouble. Over time, problems arose. Without the animals that had been killed, ecosystems became unbalanced. No Wolves Equals Trouble By 1926, people had killed all the wolves in Yellowstone Park. Without wolves, the elk in the park had no predators. Their numbers grew out of control. They started to eat all the willow in the park. Willow roots had held the stream banks in place. Without the willows, there was too much erosion.* The beavers left the park. There wasn’t enough willow for them to cut and make dams. Wolves Return In 1994, scientists decided to bring wolves back to the park using a process called rewilding. First, wolves were caught in Canada. Next, they were trucked to Yellowstone. Then, they lived in huge pens in the park to get used to the new area. Dead animals found in the Park were thrown into the pens. This let the wolves get used to their new diet. Finally, the wolves were released. Changes in the Park What about the elk? Their numbers dropped. Willow grew along the streams again. The beavers returned and built dams in the streams. This created ponds, which offered a home to many different kinds of animals. There were people who feared that the Yellowstone wolves would kill people. They fought against the rewilding. But it has been more than two decades since the wolves returned, and not a single person has been harmed. *Erosion occurs when water carries away dirt and rocks. Text Features Visit www.newpathlearning.com for Online Learning Resources. © Copyright NewPath Learning. All Rights Reserved. 92-4035

First, read the article. Then, add an appropriate headline, two text headings, and a caption for the map. ______________________________________ D. J. Barry On April 25, 2015, the county of Nepal had its worst earthquake in 80 years. A strong tremor of 7.8 on the Richter scale rocked the tiny nation. Its buildings were not made to withstand such a bad quake. Many of them crumbled. One was the Maju Deval Temple, which was built in 1690. It had been a popular tourist site. ______________________________________ The human loss was even worse than the destruction of so many old buildings. More than 7,000 people died immediately. They were buried under the rubble of fallen structures. The quake caused landslides, too. Huge boulders and mounds of dirt slid down the sides of mountains. These landslides blocked many of the only roads into tiny mountain villages. The people in these places were cut off from food and medical care. This caused thousands more to die. ______________________________________ Nepal is the home of Mount Everest, the world’s tallest mountain. People come from all over the world to climb it each spring. Sadly, the quake happened during the climbing season. More than 20 climbers died when the quake caused a huge avalanche. An avalanche is like a landslide but with snow. The climbers were buried under tons of snow. Maju Deval Temple before the earthquake CHINA NEPAL INDIA BANGLADESH BHUTAN earthquake epicenter Mt. Everest Kathmandu ______________________ Text Features Visit www.newpathlearning.com for Online Learning Resources. © Copyright NewPath Learning. All Rights Reserved. 92-4035

Nonfiction Text Features

English Language Arts, Grade 4

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