Cecil County Public Schools s2

Cecil County Public Schools

Division of Education Services

Please Note: Materials used in this assessment are copyright © by McDougal Littell / Houghton Mifflin Inc. Cecil County Public Schools is recreating and printing with verbal permission from Houghton Mifflin Inc.

Grade 8 Unit 8/9

Facts and Information

Argument and Persuasion

Assessment Selections Booklet

2010-2011

Directions:

Read the excerpt from Tricky Twisters by Jacqueline Adams on pages 1-2 in this Assessment Selections Booklet and then answer questions 1-16.

Last November 6, a tornado tore through Indiana, killing 23 people. It was the deadliest tornado to hit the state in more than 30 years. But that was just the beginning. Six days later, nine twisters whirled through Iowa, followed on November 15 by a line of thunderstorms that spawned 35 tornadoes across five states.

The twist: Spring is considered peak tornado season in the U.S., so people weren't expecting a funnel-filled fall. Plus, some of these twisters sprang up out of unusual storm systems. New research suggests that tornadoes may arise from unsuspected storms more often than once thought.

10 Recipe for Disaster

Whether it's springtime or fall, a tornado doesn't just strike out of the clear blue sky. These whirlwinds form inside of a thunderstorm. Three main ingredients are needed to cook up a thunderstorm: moist air near-the ground, cold air above, and a trigger to make the moist air rise. "Where the air is forced to rise, that's where thunderstorms are triggered," says Paul Markowski, an. atmospheric scientist at the Pennsylvania State University.

The rising air forms a cloud. The condensation, or water that changed from vapor to a liquid, within the cloud produces warming that is critical to sustain the thunderstorm.

20 If a fourth ingredient--wind shear--gets added to the mix, trouble really brews. That's because these wild winds, which blow at different speeds or directions at different altitudes, can turn an ordinary thunderstorm into a supercell--a swirling thunderstorm most likely to produce a twister. Wind shear causes the air to spin like a rolling pin. Then, the storm's updraft, or rising warm air, tugs the rolling column of air upward. Scientists think a tug-of-war between downdrafts, or cool, sinking air, and warm updrafts stretch the rotating air column into a tornado.

Tornado Target

The Great Plains area, which extends from Texas to Nebraska, often

30 experiences the perfect mix of ingredients for tornadoes, earning the region the nickname "Tornado Alley" (see map). In this region, warm, moist air blowing north from the Gulf of Mexico collides with drier air from the high plateaus of Mexico. This collision, called a dryline, causes the moist air to rise and form thunderstorms. The gradually sloping terrain of the Great Plains region helps produce strong wind shear that's ideal for tornado formation. "Tornado Alley has more tornadoes than any other part of the world," says Markowski.

Most of Tornado Alley's twisters form from supercells that develop on spring afternoons-when the sun's heat has had plenty of time to warm the surface air. This warmer, less dense air rises, helping to trigger the thunderstorm.

40 Extra Ordinary

Most of what scientists know about tornado formation comes from studying supercells in Tornado Alley. But last fall's tornadoes show that terrible twisters can form anywhere-sometimes even developing from a completely different type of thunderstorm.

Some of last November's disasters began in a squall line. Unlike a supercell, this line made up of individual thunderstorms can stretch for hundreds of miles.

But how much of a threat do squall lines actually pose? To find out, Robert J. Trapp, an atmospheric scientist at Purdue University in Indiana, and his

50 colleagues studied storm records and radar images of 3,828 tornadoes that formed in the U.S. from 1998 to 2000. Their findings: Squall lines spin out tornadoes more often than previously thought, especially in regions outside of Tornado Alley. Overall, only 18 percent of the tornadoes they studied were spawned by squall lines. But when the team zeroed in on specific areas, some of the percentages were much higher. For example, they found that half of the tornadoes in Indiana-one of the states hit hardest last fall-spun out of squall lines.

Cecil County Public Schools is reproducing with permission from Houghton Mifflin Inc.

Directions:

Read “Put a Laptop in Each Lap” by Richard Olivares on pages 3-4 in this Assessment Selections Booklet and then answer questions 17-29.

Laptops belong not only in the classroom, but also in every student's lap! Computers may just be the best equalizer of education to be had. The quick and easy availability of the vast numbers of resources that computers provide helps compensate for geographic, economic, and cultural differences in our nation's schools. With the Internet at their fingertips, young people in a one-room rural school can easily locate most of the knowledge available in a big city library.

Computers also help students develop the technical skills they will need in an increasingly computer-based world. If kids are going to be ready to deal with the many real-world tasks that are now computerized, such as voting, withdrawing

10 cash from the bank, and paying bills, they will have to be comfortable with touch screens, dialogue boxes, and hyperlinks, as well as with conducting physical operations such as dragging and dropping.

Some will argue that computerization is a long way off because people can still do all of these activities "the old-fashioned way." For example, you can walk up to a bank teller to perform your transactions rather than stop at the ATM machine. However, banks now often charge their customers an extra fee for the privilege of talking to a teller, so how long will it be before that cost is too prohibitive to pay? Gradually, the old ways of doing business are being phased out. It's only a matter of time before everyone will be required to vote, bank, pay

20 bills, and do all sorts of other everyday activities online. Trying to resist this trend is like trying to buy new music on vinyl records or recently released movies on videotapes-virtually impossible.

Furthermore, because computers are our future, we need to take the opportunity now to teach students to become discriminating consumers of Web-based information sources. If no one is looking over the shoulder of the student asking, "Is that really a reputable source?" or explaining the criteria for determining a source's credibility, when and where will kids learn these skills? They certainly will not get them from their less tech-savvy parents! And if they don't learn these skills in school, we will all suffer. Do you want your future

30 government officials to be elected by people who cannot distinguish a reputable source of information from a campaign advertisement? Do you want your medications prescribed by a doctor who thinks that a pharmaceutical company's Web site provides impartial information?

Finally, students who use computers in the classroom also benefit personally and academically, according to a survey on computer-equipped classrooms. Teachers report that students who used computers in the classroom showed gains in independence, concentration, and motivation. These students also tended to develop confidence in their own abilities and judgment and take risks that they might not otherwise have taken. The latter may be true because almost everything

40 done on computers is reversible, making it easier for students to try out a new writing style, tackle a challenging math problem, or use a drawing program and learn from their mistakes without being evaluated by their teachers or even by their peers.

The many benefits of having computers in the classroom are undeniable. If our kids are to get the most out of their educational experience and be ready to enter the world of the twenty-first century, we must support the purchase of a laptop for each and every student. Truly, that is the only way that no child will be left behind.

Directions:

Read the Problem-Solution Essay on page 5 in this Assessment Selections Booklet and answer questions 51-58.

(1) After the school day ends, many Valley Junior High students enjoy spending time together. (2) However where can students do this? (3) Many have gathered in the parking lot of Tot's convenience store. (4) The store owner, Gordon Bancroft, has expressed concern about student loitering. (5) He claims that student loitering has kept customers from shopping and has hurt sales. (6) As a solution, Valley Junior High needs to extend the student lounge hours.

(7) Carl Purdy, editor of the valley junior scout courier student newspaper, recently wrote an article suggesting that students need a safe place to gather after school. (8) Currently this place is Tot's parking lot. (9) The parking lot is not a safe gathering place, though. (10) Students need an enclosed area in which they can sit and talk comfortably, and the student lounge would provide such an area. (11) The student lounge closes early. (12) If the lounge stayed open later, students could socialize safely.

(13) As Purdy's article, "a note to valley administration: what your students need" suggests, Valley students should have a safe place to gather. (14) Keeping the lounge open would solve the student loitering problem. (15) It would improve business at Tot's convenience store. (16) Most importantly, the students of Valley Junior High would have an area in which to socialize in comfort and safety.

Directions:

Read the persuasive essay on page 6 in this Assessment Selections Booklet and then answer questions 59-70.

(1) Are you tired of being unable to play ball because the field is littered with garbage? (2) Do you wishes that someone would clean up the mess in hayden Park? (3) If you answered yes to either of these questions, their is a solution for you. (4). Several members of the community have proposed starting an organization called Park Protectors. (5) This organization would help the park.

(6) Park Protectors would require small groups of people to volunteer each week. (7) Duties such as picking up garbage, clean bleachers, and washing equipment would be part of the responsibilities of the volunteers. (8) The leader of the organization would post a calendar of available weeks. (9) Anyone wanting to help could sign up for a time convenient for him or her.

(10) Our community would benefit from the needed services of this organization. (11) Adults and children would be able to use the park without encountering rusty cans, stepping on food wrappers, or tripped on torn plastic bags. (12) Volunteers would benefit from the knowledge that they are helping people. (13) They would also benefit from the exercise and fresh air.

(14) Park Protectors is an idea for our community. (15) You can show your support by signing up today at merrick Middle School. (16) Be the first in line to join.

Grade 8 Unit 8/9 Assessment Selections 3

2010-2011