Reading comprehension Worksheets

Learning Objectives

• Explain how tectonic activity, weathering, erosion, and deposition shape Earth’s surface.
• Distinguish between weathering and erosion using examples from real landscapes.
• Describe how deposition can change the location of sediments over time.+ Show more

Learning Objectives

• Classify bitumen separation steps as physical or chemical processes based on how substances change.
• Explain how density, particle size, temperature, and additives affect emulsions and dissolved organics.
• Use evidence from a process description to describe mixture behavior and expected product outcomes.

Learning Objectives

• Explain what the Henderson–Hasselbalch equation represents in buffer chemistry
• Use the Henderson–Hasselbalch equation to calculate pH from buffer components
• Predict how changing acid/base ratio affects buffer pH+ Show more

Learning Objectives

• Explain how galaxy redshifts provide evidence for the expansion of the universe.
• Describe how large-scale structure and gravity influence galaxy clustering over time.
• Summarize what the cosmic microwave background reveals about the early universe.+ Show more

Learning Objectives

• Explain how engineering and technology can reduce harm from natural hazards to Earth systems and human populations.
• Evaluate trade-offs among effectiveness, cost, and environmental consequences when proposing an impact mitigation tool.
• Use evidence to connect mitigation choices to uncertainty, limits, and system-wide effects.

Learning Objectives

• Explain how human activities change the movement of matter through Earth’s geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere.
• Analyze how land-use change, extraction, and waste management can alter carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and water cycles.
• Evaluate evidence-based impacts of altered cycles on erosion, nutrient loading, air quality, and greenhouse-gas concentrations.

Learning Objectives

• Explain how phylogenetic trees represent evolutionary hypotheses using shared derived characters and branching patterns.
• Interpret rooted versus unrooted phylogenetic trees and relate node placement to inferred divergence events.
• Evaluate tree support and distinguish homologous traits from convergent similarities when inferring relationships.

Learning Objectives

• Explain how scientific questions lead to testable hypotheses and investigations.
• Distinguish correlation from causation using evidence and reasoning.
• Evaluate alternative explanations and identify limits of what evidence can justify.+ Show more

Learning Objectives

• Explain how mutations can introduce new alleles and heritable genetic variation.
• Describe ways mutations can affect gene expression, protein structure, or regulatory timing.
• Evaluate how natural selection changes allele frequencies based on fitness in a specific environment.+ Show more

Learning Objectives

• Compare eukaryotic and prokaryotic cell structures and explain how differences relate to cell function
• Describe the roles of major cell components such as the cell membrane, cytoplasm, nucleus, and genetic material
• Explain how specialized cell structures support growth, maintenance, and reproduction in living systems

Learning Objectives

• Explain how energy moves through ecosystems from sunlight to producers and then to consumers and decomposers
• Describe why energy transfer efficiency decreases at each trophic level and how this limits the number of trophic levels
• Use net primary productivity (NPP) to interpret energy capture as biomass and connect energy flow to population and food-web patterns

Learning Objectives

• Explain how specialized cell structures help cells perform specific functions in multicellular organisms.
• Compare how different specialized cells support transport, protection, absorption, and signaling.
• Use examples (nerve and muscle cells) to connect cellular structure to tissue-level performance.

Learning Objectives

• Differentiate kinetic energy and gravitational potential energy in terms of motion and position
• Explain how height and speed affect potential and kinetic energy in everyday systems like roller coasters
• Use reference levels and energy transfer ideas to interpret energy changes during motion

Learning Objectives

• Explain how net force determines the direction and magnitude of acceleration
• Use the relationship between net force, mass, and acceleration to predict motion
• Analyze real-world scenarios with multiple forces acting on an object+ Show more

Learning Objectives

• Explain how matter cycles through Earth’s reservoirs using geologic and biological processes.
• Describe how water, carbon, and nutrients move through the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and geosphere.
• Use evidence-based reasoning and simple models to predict how changes in cycles can affect surface conditions and climate.

Learning Objectives

• Differentiate homogeneous solutions from heterogeneous mixtures based on uniformity and particle distribution.
• Identify the roles of solute and solvent in solutions and describe how concentration relates to appearance and behavior.
• Select appropriate physical separation methods using differences in physical properties such as size, solubility, or boiling point.

Learning Objectives

• Compare DNA and RNA structural features, including strand structure, sugar type, and base composition
• Explain how complementary base pairing and strand directionality relate to replication and transcription
• Describe how structural differences influence the stability and functions of DNA and RNA

Learning Objectives

• Explain how geologic and atmospheric indicators are used to characterize the origin, frequency, and potential impacts of natural hazards.
• Analyze spatial patterns and triggering mechanisms to describe why some places experience higher hazard and risk.
• Evaluate how recurrence intervals and paleoevidence support risk assessment for human and ecological systems.

Learning Objectives

• Explain how climate models represent Earth’s energy balance and atmospheric circulation.
• Describe how greenhouse gas scenarios influence temperature and precipitation projections.
• Evaluate the role of feedbacks and uncertainty when interpreting model results.

Learning Objectives

• Explain how molecular signals regulate gene expression and protein activity in cells
• Describe how receptor-ligand binding and signal transduction cascades control cellular responses
• Use examples such as insulin signaling to connect molecular regulation to physiological outcomes+ Show more

Learning Objectives

• Explain how plate convergence and continental collision produce mountain building through folding, thrust faulting, and crustal shortening.
• Identify key tectonic processes (magmatic intrusion and isostatic rebound) and describe how they change rock structure and elevation.
• Use rock types, structural patterns, and timing clues to infer tectonic history and reconstruct past plate motions.

Learning Objectives

• Explain how observations, measurements, and logical reasoning support scientific claims.
• Identify how to state investigable questions and develop testable hypotheses.
• Evaluate alternative explanations using evidence, patterns, and independent checks.+ Show more

Learning Objectives

• Explain how energy can be stored in electric and magnetic fields and relate it to energy density.
• Describe how work done to assemble charge or current distributions becomes field energy in circuits.
• Use energy flux ideas (Poynting vector) to connect microscopic fields to macroscopic power transfer.

Learning Objectives

• Explain how carbon and nitrogen move through environmental reservoirs using pathway and mass-balance reasoning
• Apply steady-state and reservoir-exchange-rate concepts to interpret flux measurements
• Evaluate how human activities alter carbon fluxes and nitrogen inputs and predict system-level consequences (e.g., eutrophication)

Learning Objectives

• Explain how distillation separates components based on differences in boiling point and vapor pressure
• Describe the particle-energy changes that occur during boiling and condensation
• Compare simple distillation and fractional distillation for mixtures with small vs. large boiling-point differences+ Show more

Learning Objectives

• Explain how producers capture energy and how consumers obtain energy in a food web.
• Identify primary, secondary, and higher-level consumers and describe their roles.
• Describe how energy transfer limits affect ecosystem productivity and stability.

Learning Objectives

• Identify physical properties that can be used to separate components of a mixture
• Explain why mixture separation does not create a new substance
• Choose an appropriate separation method for a given mixture based on its properties+ Show more

Learning Objectives

• Explain how a food web shows feeding relationships and alternative energy pathways.
• Describe how changes to one species can cause cascading effects through an ecosystem.
• Use food web ideas (connectivity, redundancy, and specialization) to predict stability after disturbances.

Learning Objectives

• Explain the difference between atoms and molecules and how molecules form from atoms.
• Describe how chemical bonds change during reactions while individual atoms are conserved.
• Interpret simple chemical diagrams and formulas for reactants and products.

Learning Objectives

• Explain how habitat fragmentation and edge effects can change conditions for native species
• Analyze how land use (agriculture, urban development, infrastructure) alters hydrology, soil properties, and connectivity
• Use cause-and-effect reasoning to predict how fragmentation may isolate populations and reduce gene flow+ Show more

Learning Objectives

• Explain how coefficients in a chemical equation preserve conservation of atoms and conservation of mass
• Identify the difference between changing coefficients and changing subscripts in formulas
• Balance simple equations by adjusting coefficients and checking atom counts+ Show more

Learning Objectives

• Explain how genetic diversity within and among populations supports adaptation to changing conditions.
• Describe how mutation, gene flow, population size, genetic drift, and natural selection shape genetic variation.
• Predict how low genetic diversity can increase disease vulnerability, inbreeding depression, and extinction risk.+ Show more

Learning Objectives

• Explain speed as distance divided by time and identify appropriate units
• Distinguish constant speed from average speed using distance-time reasoning
• Use proportional reasoning to predict how changes in distance, speed, or time affect the others+ Show more

Learning Objectives

• Explain how structural changes in cells support specialized functions in the body
• Compare how different cell types are specialized for tasks such as movement, absorption, and communication
• Use examples to describe how features like increased surface area, shape, and organelle abundance improve performance

Learning Objectives

• Explain how mechanical and chemical digestion work together to break food into absorbable molecules
• Describe how tissue specialization (microvilli and enzyme-secreting cells) improves digestion and absorption
• Connect digestive processes to circulatory transport of nutrients for cellular energy, growth, and repair

Learning Objectives

• Explain how limiting factors like food, predation, disease, and weather affect population size over time
• Describe carrying capacity and how it helps explain why populations do not grow indefinitely
• Analyze how changes in conditions can cause populations to grow, stabilize, or decrease

Learning Objectives

• Explain how human use of land, water, and air can change Earth systems.
• Describe cause-and-effect relationships between resource use and environmental outcomes.
• Use evidence from text to identify impacts of extraction, pollution, and land conversion.

Learning Objectives

• Explain how membrane-bound compartments and cytoplasm support cell functions and homeostasis.
• Describe the roles of the nucleus, mitochondria, and chloroplasts in maintaining cellular activity.
• Compare prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell organization and relate the differences to observable structures.

Learning Objectives

• Identify kinetic and potential energy and describe how mechanical energy changes form
• Explain how forces doing work can transfer energy from one object to another
• Describe how friction and air resistance convert some mechanical energy into thermal energy

Learning Objectives

• Explain how latitude affects the angle of incoming sunlight and why this changes climate.
• Describe how greenhouse gases, ocean currents, and atmospheric circulation influence regional climate.
• Use evidence from radiation and heat-transfer ideas to predict how changes in drivers can shift climate.

Learning Objectives

• Explain how mechanical energy shifts between gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy as an object moves up or down
• Use conservation of mechanical energy to predict how speed changes on a roller coaster track
• Distinguish gravitational potential energy from kinetic energy using height and motion

Learning Objectives

• Explain how energy enters ecosystems through primary sources and moves through trophic levels.
• Describe how energy is lost at each transfer and how this limits food-web size and diversity.
• Connect the roles of producers, consumers, decomposers, and detritivores in energy and matter recycling.

Learning Objectives

• Explain how primary producers convert energy into organic matter and support food webs
• Describe factors that influence primary productivity, including light and soil nutrients
• Compare land producers (grasses, shrubs, boreal trees) and aquatic producers (algae) in Alberta food chains+ Show more

Learning Objectives

• Explain how grounding, insulation, and overload protection reduce electrical shock and fire risks.
• Describe how protective devices and correct component specifications support safe system design.
• Analyze environmental implications of electricity generation and electrical infrastructure impacts.

Learning Objectives

• Explain how different pollutants change ecosystem chemistry and disrupt nutrient cycles.
• Describe how excess nutrients can lead to eutrophication, algal blooms, and oxygen loss in aquatic systems.
• Connect contaminant pathways and bioaccumulation to health effects in organisms and food webs.+ Show more

Learning Objectives

• Identify ecosystem components (producers, consumers, decomposers) and describe their trophic roles
• Explain abiotic factors and how climate shapes biome structure and community composition
• Model energy flow and matter cycling using examples such as food webs and energy pyramids+ Show more

Learning Objectives

• Explain how systems thinking identifies components, interactions, and boundaries in physical and ecological contexts
• Use box-and-arrow models and conservation statements to track energy or matter flow
• Interpret how perturbations change system outputs and describe emergent properties using evidence

Learning Objectives

• Describe how electricity moves through generation, transmission, and distribution in an electric power grid
• Explain how voltage conversion and grid controls help reduce losses and keep supply and demand balanced
• Use examples from regional generation mixes (e.g., Alberta wind, hydro, and thermal) to discuss reliability and intermittency+ Show more