Fourth Grade
Semester 1 Unit 12
Informative/Explanatory
Prompt
This assignment replaces the
prompt provided in the program.
Follow all steps on the rubric for
full points.
Interesting Materials
Source #1
Tomorrow’s Materials
It is common to see buildings made of wood, spoons made of metal, and clothing
made of cotton. All of these materials have been used for many years because they
are strong and available in nature. But scientists and inventors are always looking for
new materials to make useful objects.
Let’s take a look at two of tomorrow’s materials. They just might amaze you.
Our first material of tomorrow is called Neptune balls, also known as sea balls. They
are made of Neptune grass, a type of seaweed found in the Mediterranean Sea.
Pieces of dead Neptune grass get rolled into balls in the waves, and then the balls
wash up on the shore. They are a common sight on the beach, but nobody thought
they were useful until recently. Somebody studied Neptune balls closely and decided
to try using them as insulation.
Insulation is a material that keeps something from losing heat. People put insulation
inside the walls of houses to help keep them warm inside. Neptune balls work very
well as insulation. They keep heat from escaping. In addition, they do not rot or grow
mold, and they do not catch on fire. Neptune balls are totally natural and found
easily on beaches. Nobody uses them for anything else. Today, Neptune balls are
collected in the countries of Albania and Tunisia. Then a company in Germany
shakes the sand from the balls, chops them into smaller pieces, and sells the
material. Next, we will explore a material that can be found not just in one sea, but
all over the world. It’s spider silk! Some people have been using spider silk as a
material for centuries. For instance, it has served as fishing line and in bandages for
cuts. Scientists are now trying to make a material that acts in exactly the same way.
They believe this material would be very profitable. However, nobody has been able
to gather large amounts of spider silk for human use. Small amounts will never
make much money.
Why do people want to use spider silk? First, it’s extremely strong. A piece of spider
silk is about five times stronger than a piece of steel of the same weight. Some
experts say that a spider web with strands as thick as a pencil could stop a jumbo jet
in flight! Second, spider silk is very flexible.
You can stretch a strand by nearly half of its original length. Finally, spider silk is
lightweight. Inventors are always searching for materials with these qualities.
Spider silk could be used to make strong but flexible car parts, such as bumpers and
airbags. Sponges and long-lasting clothing are other possibilities for this material.
These are only a few of the ideas that have come up.
Tomorrow, or perhaps the next day, you just might hear more about Neptune balls or
spider silk. In fact, you might have seaweed to thank for keeping you warm inside on
a cold day. And you might have a spider to thank for a coat that lasts for years. Stay
on the lookout!
Source #2
Rubber: From Tree to Tire
Rubber is a waterproof, long-lasting material. Like many other materials today, it
comes in both natural and man-made forms. The source of natural rubber is latex.
This milky fluid is found in many types of plants, including the rubber tree. Latex
hardens into rubber. Then it can be dried and pressed into objects such as balls and
shoes. Rubber got its name when people started using it to rub pencil marks off
paper.
As a material, rubber had some growing pains. Using pure natural rubber can be a
problem because it softens in heat, hardens in cold, and begins to rot and smell over
time. In 1839, Charles Goodyear invented vulcanization. This process causes rubber
to strengthen and then keep its strength and level of hardness. Thanks to
vulcanization, Goodyear made a lot of money on a product that still bears his name:
tires. Today man-made rubber has replaced natural rubber in many products. About
half of the man-made rubber produced in the world is used in tires.
That does not mean people have stopped using natural rubber. Rubber trees still
grow on large farms called plantations. The latex is used to make products such as
rubber bands and erasers.
No more than 90 percent of the world’s rubber comes from farms in Asia. The major
rubber-producing countries are Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia. A rubber tree
produces about 19 pounds of latex every year.
Directions:
The sources that you read were about different materials. Write an informative essay
in which you contrast two interesting materials that you read about and how the
materials are used. Use information from the sources in your essay.
Manage your time carefully so that you can:
• Read the passages;
• Plan your responses;
• Write your response; and
• Revise and edit your response.
Be sure to include:
• an introduction
• support for your controlling idea using information from the passages; and a
conclusion that is related to your controlling idea.
Your writing should be in the form of a well-organized, multi paragraph essay.
Planning Sheet
Fourth Grade
Semester 2 Unit 7
Opinion Prompt
This assignment replaces the
prompt provided in the
program. Follow all steps on the
rubric for full points.
Bikes in Your Community
Source #1
Bike Sharing Programs
Bike sharing programs allow people within a city to use bikes for a fee. People in
Europe have been using bike sharing programs for years. Bike sharing stations have
started to pop up in many of our own cities, too. This creative idea has been
spreading across the country over the past few years. At the beginning of 2013, there
were 22 programs running in American cities. Because the idea is so popular, people
think that the number of programs will double very soon. These cities have other
types of public transportation, too, such as subways and buses.
Bike sharing programs were started so that people would be able to use a bike easily
when they needed one. The programs give people the option to use bikes to travel
short distances around a big city. There are many bike stations that are set up in the
city. People take a bike out of one station, use it for some time, and then return it to
another station within the city.
People can use the bikes on any day and at any time. All of the stations are self-
service stations. Each “dock,” or area that holds the bikes, has an electronic
machine. This machine takes payment from the customer and releases one of the
bikes. The machine also starts to track the time that the bike is being used. The
machine at the dock where the bike is returned can then calculate the total time the
bike was in use.
Many people are using the bicycles in these programs. And cities are welcoming the
stations. These are signs that bike sharing programs are a success.
Source #2
Bike Sharing: A Great Idea
New and exciting programs have started in many cities: bike sharing programs.
These innovative programs allow people to borrow and use bikes for a small price.
They are a wonderful idea for many reasons.
When you decide to ride a bike to get somewhere instead of driving a car, that
decision brings positive changes. One change that happens is that it takes a car off
the road. This helps in a few ways. For one thing, it reduces traffic. If more people
decided to ride a bike to get to and from work every day, fewer cars would be on the
road at the same time. Rush hour traffic might not be that bad if this happened. It also
helps to get rid of some of the pollution that cars produce. Over time, having fewer
cars on city streets would help the environment greatly. Just think how much cleaner
the air would be if this program were successful in all the major cities in the United
States!
Bike sharing is also convenient for many of us. People living in a big city might not
want to buy their own bicycles. Bikes can be expensive. They are also not easy to
store in a small apartment. Unfortunately, bikes often are a target to be stolen. The
bike sharing program is a great way to avoid all of these problems. The cost to use
the bikes in these programs is low. When you are finished using the bike, you drop
the bike off at a docking station. Where you will store the bike is not a problem. Also,
if you don’t own the bike, you won’t worry about it being stolen after you have
dropped it off.
Riding a bicycle is great exercise. Even short bike trips can help people live a
healthier lifestyle. Bike sharing programs make it easier for busy people to be more
active. These programs also create jobs. When a bike needs to be fixed, someone
will need to fix it. Who will be there to answer any questions the public may have
about the programs? People will need to be hired to do these tasks. Because the
programs have become so successful, hundreds of jobs have already been created.
As the programs spread to other cities, the number of available jobs will increase.
Bike sharing programs add so much value to the city and the people who live and
work there. More and more cities are seeing the benefits. Many of them are making
plans to start a bike sharing program. It is even possible that we may one day see
these wonderful programs in every large city across America!
Source #3
Bike Sharing: In Need of Repair
Bike sharing involves the use of bikes in a city for a fee. People pick up a bike at a
bike docking station and then return it later to any station in the city. The number of
cities with bike sharing programs continues to grow. Some of the larger cities have
thousands of bikes and hundreds of stations as part of their program. At first, this
sounds like a great idea, but unexpected problems have come up. Not everyone sees
these programs as a good solution. They were designed to make life easier, but they
have actually been causing some big headaches.
First of all, the bike docking stations are self-service, allowing people to use the bikes
at any time. This means that an employee is not present at any of the stations. If
something does not work properly when you try to take out a bike, nobody is there to
help. This has been known to happen quite often. You can try to pay again and see if
the bike will unlock the second time. You can also just leave the bike and lose your
money. Calling customer service is another option, but that will take time. One of the
hopes for these stations is that people will start using bicycles instead of other forms
of transportation. If you need to be somewhere at a certain time, waiting to speak to a
customer service representative to fix the problem is not something you would want
to do. It is certainly easy to see how frustrating this can become.
Secondly, think about the space one or two bicycles take up. Then imagine
thousands of them on already-crowded streets and sidewalks. That crowded picture
in your head is a reality. These bikes are sitting on the street so that the public can
access them. They are sitting in front of stores and apartment buildings where people
live. Some docking stations hold up to 50 or 60 bicycles. These docks are taking up a
lot of valuable space all over the city.
Finally, if you have ever walked around busy city streets, you know that you need to
be alert. You need to watch for cars and buses, and you need to be careful not to
bump into anyone walking beside you. Now, add thousands of people on bicycles.
This can be a dangerous situation. The people riding the bikes may not always be
experienced bike riders, either. As a result, someone could get seriously hurt.
The overall idea of the bike sharing program may be a good one. Is it worth the
problems it creates, though? If people want to use a bike to get around, they have
options. They can either buy their own or rent one from a bike store. Having a bike
sharing program as a third option is simply not necessary.
Directions:
The passages you read were about bike sharing. Write an essay in which you give
your opinion about whether or not a bike sharing program would work in your
community. Use information from the sources in your essay.
Manage your time carefully so that you can:
• Read the passages;
• Plan your responses;
• Write your response; and
• Revise and edit your response.
Be sure to include:
• an introduction
• support for your opinion using information from the passages; and
• a conclusion that is related to your opinion.
Your writing should be in the form of a well-organized, multi paragraph essay.
Planning Sheet
