Moles

Moles

Moles
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 4 to 7
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	9.31

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		moles, passion, unwanted, highly, eyesight, odds, worldwide, resistance, focus, hence, species, actually, mole, mostly, pointy, living
	content words:		North America

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Moles

¹     Living mostly in the dark, underground world, moles don't have much need for acute eyesight. Hence, they hide their tiny eyes in their dense fur coats. To make up for their poor vision, moles have highly sensitive hairs around their pointy noses, allowing them to find their way around and to locate prey.

²     Aside from being able to maneuver in dimness and to sniff out earthworms and insect larvae, moles have several other amazing adaptations that make living below the ground very easy. For example, moles' hair is so soft that it can bend forward or backward without resistance. This special feature means that moles would never have a bad hair day even though they move in and out of narrow tunnels all the time! Additionally, moles rely on their thick fur coats to stay warm and to keep out water and dirt.

³     Of course, if all moles have are sensitive muzzles and dense fur coats, they still cannot live comfortably underground. Since they love digging tunnels, moles have five sharp claws on their spade-like front paws. When moles are ready for action, they turn their front paws outward and push dirt toward their hind legs. Then, they use their hind legs to push them along tunnels or to kick away dirt. To make traveling through these narrow paths easy, moles don't have external ears sticking out that may potentially slow down their progress. Hence, their bodies are cylindrically shaped. Though moles don't have external ears, they have very good hearing.

Paragraphs 4 to 5:
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