edHelper.com
 Water Pollution in the Hudson River: Captain Maher's Story

Water Pollution in the Hudson River: Captain Maher's Story
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 7 to 8
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   6.99

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    high-reaching, riverfront, tar-like, wastewater, enactment, profound, riverboat, byproducts, storm-water, sewage, unprecedented, better, asphalt, gastrointestinal, currently, federal
     content words:    Captain Maher, Hudson River, Henry Hudson, New York City

Print Water Pollution in the Hudson River: Captain Maher's Story
     Print Water Pollution in the Hudson River: Captain Maher's Story  (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 Water Pollution in the Hudson River: Captain Maher's Story
     Leave your feedback on Water Pollution in the Hudson River: Captain Maher's Story  (use this link if you found an error in the story)

Water Pollution in the Hudson River: Captain Maher's Story
By Jennifer Kenny 		  
1     Captain Maher is in charge of a riverboat. He's not a ferry captain. He's not a captain taking people on a vacation cruise. Instead, he's part of a scientific team which studies the Hudson River.
 
2     In 2009, the Hudson River communities will be celebrating. What's the special occasion? It will be the 400th anniversary of the historic voyage of Henry Hudson up the body of water that was later named after him. Has 400 years changed the river at all? It certainly has. Unfortunately, it hasn't always been for the better.
 
3     For many, many years the Hudson River was deluged with waste in certain areas. Around 40 years ago, federal clean water laws were developed. The enactment of those laws may have made the Hudson River its cleanest ever, but it still has many hurdles to overcome.
 
4     What does Captain Maher see as the major threats to the Hudson River? Old storm-water treatment systems, past abuses, unprecedented building along the waterfront, and climate change are just to name a few. These issues are so profound that people question Captain Maher on a daily basis as to whether the water is safe enough to swim in. Unfortunately, it's not a joke when people ask. Captain Maher contends that some areas should never have humans swimming in it. Other areas can be very good one day and very bad the next. He finds the conditions alter day by day, section by section. He comments that residents know to stay out of the river right after it rains, just in case raw sewage has been washed in. Where does the sewage come from? Old wastewater treatment plants do much of the dumping. Each year they dump billions of gallons of raw sewage into the Hudson River.

Paragraphs 5 to 12:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable
Extended Activities:

1.  Research ten interesting facts about Henry Hudson.

2.  Create a poster reinforcing the need to clean the river.

3.  Find out what the problem is between the old General Motors plant and the Hudson River.

4.  Create a three dimensional riverboat.

5.  Find out details regarding the fish decline in the Hudson River.

6.  Find out if local bodies of water in your area are clean and safe.


Weekly Reading Books

          Create Weekly Reading Books

Prepare for an entire week at once!

More Lessons
             World Problems

More Activities, Lesson Plans, and Worksheets


Back to School
Graphic Organizers
Alphabet Worksheets
Sight Words
Math Worksheets
Mazes
50 States

Monthly Themes
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Fractions
Place Value
Time and Calendar
Money
Earth Day
Solar System
Analogies
Nouns
Following Directions
Listening
Capitalization
Cursive Writing
Patterns and Sequencing
Dinosaurs
All About Me

Kindergarten
First Grade
Second Grade
Third Grade
Fourth Grade
Fifth Grade
Sixth Grade
Multiplication
Division
Main Idea
Cause and Effect
Measurement
Decimals
Rounding
Order of Operations
Verbs
Community Helpers
Adjectives
Plants
Grammar
Addition and Subtraction
Contractions
Bulletin Board Ideas
Word Searches
Crossword Puzzles
Printable Puzzles

Reading Comprehension
Reading Skills
English Language Arts



Copyright © 2011 edHelper