Why Roller Coaster Loops Are Not Circles (Nonfiction)

Pair a biography with a history lesson or a science article with a unit on the same subject. Have students underline the evidence they plan to quote before they write each answer.

Read how energy explains roller coaster loops, from the lift hill to the Flip Flap Railway. The directions on the page read: Read the article on pages 1 and 2. Then answer the questions on page 3. An answer key is included.

Yes, both. We made it for 8th grade paragraphs & passages, and it works the same at home or at school. At home, a student can work through it alone and then go over it with you, which shows quickly what is solid and what needs another look. In class it works as independent practice, homework or a warm-up, and you can print one copy or a full set.

The biographies cover Thurgood Marshall, Dorothea Dix, Fred Korematsu, Ellen Ochoa, Althea Gibson and Mabel Ping-Hua Lee. A memoir excerpt from Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington is also included.

Science articles cover light pollution, rising bread, unusual elements, roller coaster loops, Crater Lake, weather satellites, fireflies and the microbes in the human body. Each one has questions on how ideas and events connect.

Robots or Astronauts? and Was Biosphere 2 a Success? ask students to find the claim, judge which reasons have strong evidence and explain how the author answers critics. St. Patrick's Day Facts and How We Know Them asks students to weigh sources.