Worksheets and No Prep Teaching Resources Reading Comprehension Worksheets Caring for Earth

Oil Spill Caring for Earth

---

Oil Spill
Print Oil Spill Reading Comprehension with Third Grade Work

Print Oil Spill Reading Comprehension with Fourth Grade Work

Print Oil Spill Reading Comprehension

Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 3 to 4
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	3.02

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		clean-up, seabirds, strainer, spills, spill, liver, shoreline, seals, whales, ship, sprayed, possible, cotton, kill, there, cause
	content words:		Exxon Valdez, Now Miss Pratt, Miss Pratt

---

Oil Spill By Jennifer Kenny

---

¹     On March 24, 1989, there was an oil spill from a ship called the Exxon Valdez. At least eleven million gallons of oil spilled. More than a thousand miles of Alaska's shoreline were hurt by oil. It was very bad. Clean-up went on for years. So many seabirds, bald eagles, sea otters, harbor seals, killer whales, and salmon were killed.
 
²     Oil spills happen all over the world. They cause pollution. They ruin the homes of animals. They kill animals and plants.
 
³     There was going to be an oil spill today in Meg's class. How? Why? The children were going to be scientists. They had watched a movie about the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Now Miss Pratt, their teacher, wanted to show them what happened.
 
⁴     At each table, there was a pan of water. Each group of children named the water so it seemed real. They put plastic animals in there to look like real animals. The teacher came around and dropped colored vegetable oil into the water.
 
⁵     Just as in a real oil spill, they could see the oil on the top of the water. Now, the children had to get the oil out of the water. The important part was to leave as much water in as possible but get the oil out.
 
⁶     What did the class try? The children tried to get the oil out with two spoons. Then they tried to use cotton balls. Then they used paper towels. Then they used a strainer.
 
⁷     What did the children think? They thought this was hard. It was!
 
⁸     In real life, scientists sprayed hot water on the oil for a long time. Now they think this may cause harm too. Some scientists use high pressure cold water. They spray the water with hoses, trap the water, and suck up the oil. Some scientists use mechanical clean-up. Some put special bacteria in places to eat the oil.
 
⁹     What about the animals? The children in class saw the animals covered with oil. They didn't know how to clean them off.

Paragraphs 10 to 19:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

---

Weekly Reading Books

Create Weekly Reading Books Prepare for an entire week at once!

---

Feedback on Oil Spill

Leave your feedback on Oil Spill   (use this link if you found an error in the story)

---

Caring for Earth

Caring for Earth

---

More Lessons

Earth Day Activities, Printables, Worksheets, and Lesson Plans for Kids

---

Science

Science

Careers in Science         Caring for Earth         Clouds         Dinosaurs         Earth's Land         Earth         Earthquakes         Electricity         Energy         Erosion         Food Pyramid         Food Webs and Food Chain         Forces and Motion         Fossils         Health and Nutrition         How Things Work         Landforms         Life Science         Light         Magnets         Matter

Moon         Natural Disasters         Photosynthesis         Plant and Animal Cells         Plants         Rocks and Minerals         Science Process Skills         Scientific Notation         Seasons         Simple Machines         Soil         Solar System         Sound         Space and Stars         Sun         Tsunami         Volcanoes         Water Cycle         Water         Weather

Copyright © 2025 edHelper