Brown Bears

Brown Bears

Brown Bears
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 4 to 7
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	8.85

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		classification, concave, facial, fatty, largely, present-day, selection, rank, naturally, various, coastal, environment, hibernators, description, destruction, breed
	content words:		North America, IUCN Red List, Threatened Species

Print Brown Bears

Print Brown Bears (font options, pick words for additional puzzles, and more)

Quickly Print - PDF format

	Quickly Print: PDF (2 columns per page)
	Quickly Print: PDF (full page)

Quickly Print - HTML format

Quickly Print: HTML

Proofreading Activity

Print a proofreading activity

Feedback on Brown Bears

Leave your feedback on Brown Bears (use this link if you found an error in the story)

Brown Bears

¹     Living in northern North America, Europe, and Asia, brown bears have the widest range of habitats of all bear species. In fact, their broad selection of living environments -- including open plains, tundra, meadows, mountain forests, and coastlines -- is why brown bears have an "identity crisis." Well, there is no confusion that brown bears are bears. The underlying issue is "what exactly are brown bears?"

²     By definition, brown bears have two unique physical features that other bear species lack. The two characteristics are prominent shoulder humps and dished-in (concave) facial profiles. Grizzly bears (or, simply, grizzlies), Kodiak bears, Alaskan bears, Siberian bears, Manchurian bears, Hokkaido bears, and several others all fit the description. Scientists have debated for years whether all these bears are separate, independent species or just subspecies of brown bears. Although a consensus has yet to be reached, most scientists are leaning toward the subspecies theory.

³     If you think the classification (or taxonomy) of brown bears is confusing, you will find the coloration of brown bears even more perplexing. Contrary to their names, brown bears are not necessary brown. For example, grizzly bears have fur colors ranging from black to various shades of brown to blond. The grizzled effect given off by their silver-tipped hairs is how grizzly bears got their name.

Paragraphs 4 to 7:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

Copyright © 2009 edHelper