Earth's Systems Readers and Passages

The carbon cycle shows how carbon travels through the atmosphere, living organisms, and the Earth. It maintains the bala...

The phosphorus cycle explains how phosphorus moves through rocks, soil, water, and living things. Essential for DNA and ...

The carbon cycle explains how carbon moves through the environment, plants, and animals. Processes like photosynthesis a...

The oxygen cycle explains how oxygen circulates through air, water, and living organisms. Plants produce oxygen during p...

This passage introduces the Great Barrier Reef, a magnificent underwater ecosystem off the coast of Australia. It descri...

The oxygen cycle illustrates how oxygen moves through the atmosphere, water, and living organisms. Driven by photosynthe...

The water cycle describes how water continuously moves through our planet via evaporation, condensation, precipitation, ...

The nitrogen cycle describes how nitrogen moves through the air, soil, and living organisms. It involves processes like ...

The phosphorus cycle details how phosphorus travels through rocks, soil, water, and organisms. Essential for DNA and bon...

This educational reading passage explores the water cycle - Earth's natural system for recycling water that has existed ...

Earth's carrying capacity refers to the maximum number of people the planet can support sustainably. This depends on fac...

The Gaia Hypothesis, proposed by James Lovelock, suggests that Earth functions like a living organism, with all its part...

Measuring carbon stored in vegetation is crucial for understanding climate change. Plants absorb CO₂ during photosynthes...

Forests play a critical role in maintaining clean water supplies and regulating the water cycle. Conserving upstream for...

Forests play a vital role in regulating the atmosphere by absorbing CO₂, producing oxygen, cooling temperatures, and imp...

The ocean is made up of water, dissolved salts, gases, and organic matter. Its composition varies with depth and influen...

Stream flow refers to the movement of water in rivers and creeks. It is influenced by precipitation, slope, and human ac...

A mineral is a naturally occurring, inorganic solid with a specific chemical composition and crystal structure. Minerals...

Rocks are mixtures of minerals, while minerals are naturally occurring, inorganic solids with a specific composition and...

Convection currents in the ocean are driven by temperature and density differences. They play a key role in the thermoha...

Runoff from precipitation replenishes rivers and lakes but can cause flooding and pollution. Solutions like rain gardens...

The ocean floor features diverse landscapes like continental shelves, abyssal plains, and mid-ocean ridges. These format...

Porosity and permeability are key properties of soil and rock that affect water movement underground. They influence gro...

Transpiration is the process by which plants release water vapor into the atmosphere. It cools plants, contributes to hu...

All minerals have a crystalline structure, but not all form visible crystals. The size and shape of crystals depend on f...

Ocean circulation involves the movement of seawater driven by wind, temperature, and salinity. It includes surface curre...

Surface ocean currents are driven by wind and influenced by Earth’s rotation. They transport warm and cold water, regula...

This science passage explains how divergent plate boundaries form where Earth's crust pulls apart, creating features lik...

This science passage describes three types of convergent plate boundaries (oceanic-continental, oceanic-oceanic, contine...

This NGSS aligned nformational passage examines transform plate boundaries where tectonic plates slide horizontally past...

This science passage explores how geologists use rock formations, fossil distributions, and seafloor structures to ident...

This science passage explains how metamorphic rocks form through metamorphism, detailing the effects of heat (150°C-1,00...

This explanatory passage examines the San Andreas Fault as a transform plate boundary where the Pacific and North Americ...

This passage explains the formation of intrusive igneous rocks through slow cooling of magma beneath Earth's surface. It...

This science passage explains the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), a key equatorial weather system. Covering NGSS ...

This passage explains frost wedging as a mechanical weathering process. Aligned with NGSS MS-ESS2-1 (Earth’s systems) a...

This passage explains chemical weathering processes, aligned with NGSS MS-ESS2-1 (Earth’s systems) and ESS2-2 (surface ...

This passage explains limestone cave formation through carbonation, aligned with NGSS MS-ESS2-1 (Earth’s systems) and L...

This informational science passage explores seismometers and their role in measuring earthquakes, designed specifically ...

This educational reading passage explains the critical difference between magma and molten rock beneath Earth's surface ...

This science reading passage explores obsidian, a volcanic glass that forms when lava cools so rapidly that crystals can...

This NGSS-aligned middle school science passage explains natural causes that increase carbon dioxide levels in the carbo...

This engaging science passage aligned to NGSS standard MS-ESS2-5 explores the unusual but real weather phenomenon known ...

This NGSS-aligned science passage introduces middle school readers to Yakutsk, the coldest city on Earth. Students will ...