Cross-Curricular Reading Comprehension Worksheets: C-11 of 36
Name:__________________________________
The Tundra Biome
Cross-Curricular Focus: Life Science
Some animals have adapted to live in extremely harsh
environments, places where you would not expected to find
much of anything alive. Organisms that live under such difficult
conditions have changed something about their behavior, or
have some sort of physical characteristic that helps them
survive.
The tundra is a very cold environment. It is so cold, in
fact, that snow covers the ground for most of the year. The
winter season is longer than in many other places. No trees
grow in the tundra biome. This does not sound like a very
friendly place to live. Animals that live in the tundra need to be
able to keep as much heat as possible inside their bodies. The
arctic fox is a tundra animal that has a warm fur coat to keep it
warm, and tiny ears that do not let much heat escape. It is
also a very short animal, which helps protect it from the wind.
Summers in the tundra biome are very short. During the
summer season, small brownish plants grow very close to the
ground. Interestingly, many tundra animals have fur coats that
change color with the short seasonal change. When the snow
begins to melt, their white winter fur coats change into brown
summer fur coats that blend with the summer plants. In this
way, they are able to blend into their surroundings and hide
from animals that may want to eat them.
Answer the following questions based on the
reading passage. Don’t forget to go back to the
passage whenever necessary to find or confirm
your answers.
1) What makes the tundra a harsh
environment? ________________________
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2) How do many tundra animals keep warm?
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3) How does having small ears help the arctic
fox? ________________________________
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4) What is interesting about the fur of some
tundra animals? _______________________
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5) Which season is longer in the tundra,
winter or summer? ____________________
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