Inferences

English Language Arts, Grade 4

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When you guess, you make a prediction based on very little information. A guess has about a 50 percent chance of being right. One example is guessing if a baby boy or girl will be born. When you infer, you make a prediction based on evidence and logical thinking. An inference is a reasonable guess. You can defend your inference by pointing to the evidence. One example is when you see dark clouds and flashes of lightning in the distance. You infer that a rainstorm is coming toward you. You used evidence (dark clouds and lightning) and logic (dark clouds and lightning often bring rain) to infer. Read this paragraph and then answer the inference questions: When the giant panda was first discovered, scientists thought it was related to the red panda. Just like the red panda, the giant panda's diet is 95 percent bamboo. Both animals are endangered. But that is all that the two species have in common. Red pandas are mostly nocturnal. That means that they sleep during the day and are awake at night. Answers: 1. FALSE. Reread the first sentence. It is clear that the red panda was discovered first. 2. FALSE. You can use the illustrations to make that inference. You can also use the statement that the species have only two things in common: what they eat, and the fact they’re both endangered. 3. TRUE. The sentence about red pandas being nocturnal comes after the statement, “But that is all the two species have in common.” That means that giant pandas are not nocturnal. Otherwise, it would be a trait they share with the red pandas. Circle the correct response. 1. The red panda got its name because scientists thought it was a relative of the giant panda. TRUE FALSE 2. Red pandas look similar to giant pandas. TRUE FALSE 3. Giant pandas are not nocturnal. TRUE FALSE Giant Panda Red Panda Inferences Visit www.newpathlearning.com for Online Learning Resources. © Copyright NewPath Learning. All Rights Reserved. 92-4039
Read the passage below. For each inference, circle TRUE or FALSE. Then, on the lines provided, defend your answer. Wonderful, Weird Bamboo Bamboo is the tallest member of the grass family. It grows faster than any other plant on Earth. It can grow almost 3 feet in a single day and reach its full height of 93 feet in just four months! Although bamboo is a grass, it has a woody stem. And it’s so tall that it looks like a thin tree. Different kinds of bamboo grow on every continent but Antarctica. Bamboo must flower to produce seeds. But bamboo is very strange. It may not flower for 120 years! No one knows what causes it to flower. Flowering bamboo is a big problem. All the bamboo plants in the forest flower at once. Animals that eat bamboo will not eat it once it flowers. At that point, it has no nutrients. When the blooms’ seeds drop, the bamboo stalks die. Then there is no food in the forest until the new bamboo shoots poke out of the ground. The giant panda relies on bamboo for its food. One giant panda can eat 40 pounds of bamboo stalks, stems, and leaves each day! When a bamboo forest flowers, it often wipes out the wild panda population in that area. 1. Algae is the world’s fastest-growing plant. TRUE FALSE _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ 2. Some people get confused and think bamboo is a tree. TRUE FALSE _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ 3. Bamboo plants produce seeds every five years. TRUE FALSE _______________________________________________________ 4. Bamboo grows in Europe. TRUE FALSE _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ 5. Why do wild pandas die when a bamboo forest flowers? _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ Inferences Visit www.newpathlearning.com for Online Learning Resources. © Copyright NewPath Learning. All Rights Reserved. 92-4039