Worksheets and No Prep Teaching Resources Reading Comprehension Worksheets Animal Themes Prehistoric Mammals Theme Unit

Elephants in Furs! Animal Themes

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Elephants in Furs!
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Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 4 to 6
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	4.69

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		clone, deinotheres, mastodon, movie-makers, underfur, nipple, shaggy, scruffy, Full-grown, elephant-like, mummy, Saber-toothed, mainly, petersburg, leathery, adult
	content words:		Poor Dima, Ice Age, So Manny, North America, Ross MacPhee, American Museum, Natural History

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Elephants in Furs! By Colleen Messina

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¹     Little Dima had a sticky time. Separated from the herd, she went right into an oozing bog. Poor Dima! Her feet got stuck. She couldn't move. She became a mummy. She was discovered thousands of years later.
 
²     Don't worry; little Dima wasn't a person even though the word Dima means "little girl." She was a baby mammoth! Dima was discovered in Siberia in 1977. She had been buried in permafrost. Permafrost is ground that has been frozen for thousands of years. Dima had been mummified. She still had muscles and other soft tissues. This helped scientists learn a lot about mammoths.
 
³     Scientists figured out that Dima was only 6 to 8 months old when she died. Her mummified skin looked black and leathery. Her feet still had tufts of fuzzy, brown fur on them. She looked like she lived a short time ago. Scientists are sure that she had gotten lost before she died. Mammoth babies stayed with their mothers, but Dima was alone. Dima is now in St. Petersburg. She is one of the best preserved mammoth mummies in the world. Scientists are happy that they found her.

Paragraphs 4 to 9:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

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Animal Themes

Animal Themes

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Prehistoric Mammals Theme Unit

Prehistoric Mammals Theme Unit

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