3 4 18 city parks (social studies)

These city parks are special places... Why Are City Parks Important?City parks are places for people to relax.. The trees in city parks can help to absorb the pollution from the city.. C

by Kate Morgan

by Kate Morgan

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ISBN-10: 0-547-25295-1

ISBN-13: 978-0-547-25295-7

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A Green Space in a Big City

Many people live and work in a city Cars and buses speed along the busy

streets Tall buildings are full of people at work or at home

But a city has more than tall buildings

In the middle of many big cities are large green open spaces These city parks are special places

Why Are City Parks Important?

City parks are places for people to

relax They can take walks or play sports They can have picnics on the grass

City parks are homes for animals, too Small birds, squirrels, and rabbits live in these parks Sometimes, visitors can see

a fox or a hawk

The trees in city parks can help to

absorb the pollution from the city They

help make the air cleaner

Many cities in our country have great parks Let’s visit four of them

Central Park in New York City, New York

Central Park is in the middle of one

of the biggest cities in the world In the summer, visitors can go for a boat ride or skate with friends They can see a play, a puppet show, or a movie In the winter, they can ice skate or go sledding

There are 21

playgrounds

throughout

the park.

Trees in Central Park

There are thousands of trees in Central Park Here are just a few of them

This tree makes clumps

of acorns that fall at the end of summer.

Horse Chestnut tree

The seeds from this tree have thick coverings.

This tree has gray bark

with ridges but no

spines.

Elm tree

Oak tree

Hermann Park in Houston, Texas

Visitors to this city park can ride in boats on a lake or play a game of golf They can ride around the park on a small train, too!

Children can cool off at a water

playground Families can hike or bike on nature trails People of all ages can visit a log house museum At the zoo, they can walk into a tropical rain forest

Seward Park in Seattle, Washington

Seward Park is in a big city, but it is

very wild The park juts out into a lake Long passages lead into a thick forest

The forest has living trees that are more than 200 years old It also has many dead trees that have fallen

The dead trees dissolve slowly into

the ground Then they become food for plants and animals An old dead tree

can store food to feed many other living things

Visitors can look at the lake from the edge of the park They can watch eagles hunting for ducks in the water

Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California

Today almost one million trees grow

in Golden Gate Park But it was not a park years ago It was a place i lled with sand dunes The land was too dry for most plants Later windmills were built

in the park They used wind power to pump water Then more trees could be planted

Golden Gate Park is full of many

things to see It is home to museums, a big greenhouse, and a herd of buffalo!

The most famous garden in Golden Gate Park is the Japanese Tea Garden.

The park is famous for its gardens

One garden is full of wonderful smells

It was planted for people who are blind

They can walk through the garden and

smell different l owers

Flowers and trees grow around ten

lakes In the spring some of the lakes

look yellow Here’s why Cypress trees

have dropped pollen on the water.

Caring for City Parks

There are wonderful parks all across the country What can you do to help take care of a park near you?

1 Don’t leave food or trash

2 Don’t pick plants or break tree branches

3 Do help i x up the park Many parks have special days for people

to plant l owers or clean up Bring your friends and family to help!

passages roads

Responding

TARGET VOCABULARY Word Builder

What kinds of passages have you used to

get from one place to another place? Copy

this word web and add more words.

Text to Self You have just read about

passages through the woods Write a

paragraph about a hike or ride you would

like to take Include at least two words

from the Word Builder in your description.

Write About It

clumps

coverings

dissolve

passages

pollen spines store throughout tropical

TARGET VOCABULARY

TARGET STRATEGY Question Ask questions before you read, while you read, and after you read.

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN

Online Leveled Books

Level: L

DRA: 24

Social Studies

Strategy:

Question

Word Count: 650

3.4.18 Build Vocabulary