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Water

Flowing from a River Near You

Flowing from a River Near You
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 3 to 4
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   6.13

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    freshwater, groundwater, rainwater, saltwater, sediment, survival, unmoving, material, coastline, natural, inland, actually, backyard, drain, collection, however
     content words:    North America, Great Salt Lake, Mississippi River, United States, Nile River, Mediterranean Sea, Amazon River, South America, Atlantic Ocean, Great Lakes

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Flowing from a River Near You
By Trista L. Pollard 		  
1     "Raindrops are like baby oceans falling from the sky." Sounds silly? Well, rain drops may not be "baby oceans," but those water balls travel many miles after hitting the ground in your backyard. (Imagine the frequent flow miles these water drops are getting!) These drops help to make river systems. River systems are very important to the survival of the earth's oceans.
 
2     When rainwater falls to earth, it is absorbed by the soil and the rocks. This water, groundwater, travels far below the ground and may stay there for many years. The water that is not absorbed flows into streams. Streams are small bodies of running water that usually begin in mountains. A stream's main job is to collect and drain water from land. Rainwater from the sky and the water that is not absorbed into the ground are collected by streams. As streams flow, they combine with other small streams to form larger streams. These larger streams are called lakes. Lakes are bodies of water that are found inland away from the ocean and the coastline. Another type of inland body of water is a pond. A pond is a still or unmoving body of water that is smaller than a lake. Water from ponds does not flow into lakes.
 
3     Now, you probably think the water stops here. Actually, it keeps rolling along.

Paragraphs 4 to 6:
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