Why We Have Seasons: Reading Comprehension Worksheet (Grade 3)
Free printable Grade 3 reading comprehension worksheet: an original non-fiction passage, "Why We Have Seasons", with 5 questions covering literal understanding, inference, vocabulary in context and main idea. Answer key included.
Reading Comprehension: Why We Have Seasons
Read the passage carefully, then answer the questions in full sentences.
Many people think summer happens because Earth moves closer to the sun. That is not true. The real reason is that Earth is tilted.
Imagine Earth as a spinning ball that leans slightly to one side. As Earth travels around the sun each year, this tilt stays pointed the same way. For part of the year, the top half of Earth leans toward the sun. That half gets more direct sunlight and longer days, so it has summer. At the same time, the bottom half leans away and has winter.
Six months later, Earth is on the other side of the sun, and the tilt is reversed. Now the half that had summer gets winter, and the other half warms up. This is why it can be snowy in one country while it is hot and sunny in another on the very same day.
- 1.What do many people wrongly believe causes summer?
- 2.What is the real reason for the seasons?
- 3.What kind of weather does the half tilted toward the sun have?
- 4.Why can it be summer in one country and winter in another at the same time?
- 5.What does the passage compare Earth to?