Environmentally Friendly Reading Passages for Fourth Grade and Up

Are you preparing for your Earth Day lessons? Or maybe you’re midway through your unit on Sustainability, and you need something to help you blend a bit more reading into your science block. We’ve got everything you need to help you teach your students about the ecological disaster known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

What is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a massive accumulation of plastic waste in the North Pacific Ocean, estimated to be twice the size of Texas. It is formed by ocean currents that combine plastic debris worldwide, creating a floating island of trash. The impact of this patch on the environment and marine life has been devastating, as the plastics break down into microplastics that are ingested by fish and other sea creatures, causing harm to their health and the health of the entire food chain. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch highlights the urgent need to reduce plastic waste and ocean pollution and promote more sustainable practices and behaviors.

Help your students learn this critical information and show them what they can do to help the problem with our printable reading comprehension passage and worksheets about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This resource download includes

• The Great Pacific Garbage Patch Reading Passage (4th-5th grade level)
• Vocabulary Building Worksheet
• 10 Question reading comprehension activity including multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, constructed response, and true/false questions.

Download and Print Your Reading Comprehension Worksheets

You’re just a click away from getting your new resources! Use the dropdown arrow on the Download button to select the Editable Google Slides resource file or the quick-print PDF version.