Worksheets and No Prep Teaching Resources
Worksheets and No Prep Teaching Resources
Reading Comprehension Worksheets
Animal Themes
Insects
Fleas

Animal Themes
Animal Themes

Fleas
Print Fleas Reading Comprehension with Sixth Grade Work

Print Fleas Reading Comprehension


Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 6 to 8
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   6.99

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    tube-like, plague, backward-pointing, best, blood-sucking, prestigious, notorious, outbreak, enable, organic, kingdom, unwilling, epidemic, worldwide, merely, maturity

Other Languages
     Spanish: Las Pulgas

Fleas   
1     In the animal kingdom, there are many superb jumpers. For example, kangaroos can reach a height of more than 10 feet in a single hop. Pumas -- or mountain lions -- can leap as high as 18 feet. Yet, none of these animals can lay claim to being the world's best jumper. This prestigious title is for the tiny common insect we often find in our home on our pet dogs -- fleas.
 
2     Certainly, fleas cannot compete with other contestants in terms of the actual height they can bounce. Their best record is merely one foot. Fleas win the title because they are able to jump the highest relative to their body size. Let's consider the facts. Kangaroos are about 6 feet tall; they can jump 2 times their height. Pumas are better than kangaroos. They are capable of reaching 5-6 times their height in one hop. For fleas, they can leap more than 130 times their height, making them the gold medalist in the high jump!
 
3     Of course, when we think of fleas, we often focus more on their notorious reputation than on their athletic achievement. That is because fleas suck blood and spread diseases. In fact, the rat flea is the culprit behind the devastating epidemic of bubonic plague, or "Black Death," that ravaged Europe in the 14th century. The outbreak killed more than 25 million people, or a third of the population in Europe at the time.

Paragraphs 4 to 5:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable
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Animal Themes
             Animal Themes

Insects
             Insects


Animals
    Amphibians  
 
    Birds  
 
    Deserts  
 
    Fish  
 
    Freshwater  
 
    Grasslands  
 
    Insects  
 
 
    Invertebrates  
 
    Mammals  
 
    Oceans  
 
    Polar Regions  
 
    Rain Forest  
 
    Reptiles  
 



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