name an octopus is amazing - eduplace.coman octopus is amazing this is a selection about how an...

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Grade 3 Baseline Test 1

Name

An Octopus is Amazing

This is a selection about how an octopus lives. You will read about many things that an octopus can do.

Read the selection. Then answer the questions that follow.

An octopus is an animal that lives in the sea. It has a soft, bag-shaped body

and eight rubbery arms.

The common octopus lives in a den near shore. It may make its den in a

cave or a wrecked ship, in a shell or a tin can, under a rock or in a crack in

a rock.

Every octopus lives alone. Its den is small, just big enough to hold the

octopus. An octopus can squeeze into a small space because it has no

backbone. In fact, it has no bones at all.

An octopus can change color in a flash.

Usually the octopus matches its surroundings and is hard to see. If it

climbs into an empty shell, it turns pink and gray. If it crawls among rocks and

seaweeds, it may turn brown and gray and green.

An octopus can have colored spots or stripes. It can be half one color and

half another.

Color changes help an octopus to hide or to escape from enemies. They

may also show how an octopus is feeling. Scientists say an angry octopus turns

dark red. A frightened one turns pale. An octopus that is enjoying a meal

shows pleasure by changing color.

HM_FCAT_G3_Base_001-018.indd 11HM_FCAT_G3_Base_001-018.indd 11 7/25/07 1:08:04 PM7/25/07 1:08:04 PM

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Page 12 Baseline Test Grade 3

Name

An octopus has a big appetite. Crabs are its favorite food, but it also likes

lobsters, clams, and other shellfish.

Sometimes an octopus waits in its den until a meal passes by. Then it

reaches out an arm and grabs.

Each arm is lined with suckers. They work like little rubber suction cups.

The common octopus has 240 suckers on each arm.

The octopus holds its food with its suckers and examines it.

The octopus carries its catch toward its mouth. The mouth is on the

underside of the body, and inside it is a hard, curved beak. The octopus uses its

beak to crack the shell of its prey. It squirts the prey with poison from a gland

in its mouth. When the prey is paralyzed or dead, the octopus feeds.

Sometimes an octopus leaves its den and hunts for food. It hunts by sight,

using its sharp eyes.

The octopus may crawl along, using its suckers to hold on to rocks and

pulling itself forward.

Or it may jet, by drawing in water and shooting it out through a tube,

which is called the siphon. With each spurt, the octopus jets through the sea.

Once the octopus spies something to eat, it spreads its webbed arms. It

floats down and wraps itself around its prey. It may store crabs or clams in its

suckers and take them home to eat.

When an octopus has eaten, it tidies up its den. It clears out the shells,

using its siphon to blow them away.

Sometimes other animals try to eat an octopus. The octopus does not fight.

Instead, it tries to hide or escape.


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Grade 3 Baseline Test Page 13

Name

If a big fish attacks, the octopus changes colors and jets off. The octopus

no longer looks like the animal the fish was going to attack. And so the fish is

fooled.

An octopus can also give off an ink-black liquid through its siphon. The

ink forms a blob that has the shape and smell of an octopus. The enemy attacks

the blob. The octopus, which has turned black, escapes.

That is how an octopus defends itself against the moray eel, one of its most

dangerous enemies. A moray eel is big enough to swallow an octopus whole. It

has sharp teeth and a keen sense of smell, which it uses in hunting.

When an octopus sees a moray, it turns black and gives off a blob of ink.

The moray picks up the scent of the black blob and attacks it. The octopus

turns white and jets away.

Sometimes a moray eel is able to tear off one of the octopus’s arms before

the octopus escapes. If this happens, the octopus can hunt and travel with seven

arms. And in time, it grows a new arm.


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Read the questions. Write your answers on the lines. You may look back at the selection to help you with your answers.

1. Tell what an octopus’s body looks like.

2. Why can an octopus squeeze into a small space?

3. List two places where an octopus might make its home.


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4. Give two reasons why an octopus might change color.

5. How does an octopus hold its food?


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Read each question. Choose the answer. Fill in the circle next to your answer.

6. Where does an octopus live?

a. in a river

b. in the sea

c. in the desert

d. in a box

7. What is an octopus’s home called?

a. a den

b. a living room

c. a nest

d. a shell

8. What color is an angry octopus?

a. blue

b. pale

c. dark red

d. striped


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9. What is an octopus’s favorite food?

a. seagulls

b. lobsters

c. seaweed

d. crabs

10. What happens if an octopus loses its arm?

a. It stops hunting for a while.

b. It cannot travel any longer.

c. It gets weak and dies.

d. It grows a new one.


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Self-Assessment

★ How much did you like the selection? Mark an X in one of the spaces on the line.

I did not like it.

I liked it fairly well.

I liked it very much.

★ How well did you understand the selection? Mark an X in one of the spaces on the line.

I did not understand it.

I understood it fairly well.

I understood it very well.


BaselineC

opyr

ight

© H

ough

ton

Mif

flin

Com

pany

. All

rig

hts

rese

rved

.


Name

An Octopus is Amazing

This is a selection about how an octopus lives. You will read about many things that an octopus can do.

Read the selection. Then answer the questions that follow.

An octopus is an animal that lives in the sea. It has a soft, bag-shaped body

and eight rubbery arms.

The common octopus lives in a den near shore. It may make its den in a

cave or a wrecked ship, in a shell or a tin can, under a rock or in a crack in

a rock.

Every octopus lives alone. Its den is small, just big enough to hold the

octopus. An octopus can squeeze into a small space because it has no

backbone. In fact, it has no bones at all.

An octopus can change color in a flash.

Usually the octopus matches its surroundings and is hard to see. If it

climbs into an empty shell, it turns pink and gray. If it crawls among rocks and

seaweeds, it may turn brown and gray and green.

An octopus can have colored spots or stripes. It can be half one color and

half another.

Color changes help an octopus to hide or to escape from enemies. They

may also show how an octopus is feeling. Scientists say an angry octopus turns

dark red. A frightened one turns pale. An octopus that is enjoying a meal

shows pleasure by changing color.


Baseline

Cop

yrig

ht ©

Hou

ghto

n M

iffl

in C

ompa

ny. A

ll r

ight

s re

serv

ed.


Name

An octopus has a big appetite. Crabs are its favorite food, but it also likes

lobsters, clams, and other shellfish.

Sometimes an octopus waits in its den until a meal passes by. Then it

reaches out an arm and grabs.

Each arm is lined with suckers. They work like little rubber suction cups.

The common octopus has 240 suckers on each arm.

The octopus holds its food with its suckers and examines it.

The octopus carries its catch toward its mouth. The mouth is on the

underside of the body, and inside it is a hard, curved beak. The octopus uses its

beak to crack the shell of its prey. It squirts the prey with poison from a gland

in its mouth. When the prey is paralyzed or dead, the octopus feeds.

Sometimes an octopus leaves its den and hunts for food. It hunts by sight,

using its sharp eyes.

The octopus may crawl along, using its suckers to hold on to rocks and

pulling itself forward.

Or it may jet, by drawing in water and shooting it out through a tube,

which is called the siphon. With each spurt, the octopus jets through the sea.

Once the octopus spies something to eat, it spreads its webbed arms. It

floats down and wraps itself around its prey. It may store crabs or clams in its

suckers and take them home to eat.

When an octopus has eaten, it tidies up its den. It clears out the shells,

using its siphon to blow them away.

Sometimes other animals try to eat an octopus. The octopus does not fight.

Instead, it tries to hide or escape.


BaselineC

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ight

© H

ough

ton

Mif

flin

Com

pany

. All

rig

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rese

rved

.


Name

If a big fish attacks, the octopus changes colors and jets off. The octopus

no longer looks like the animal the fish was going to attack. And so the fish is

fooled.

An octopus can also give off an ink-black liquid through its siphon. The

ink forms a blob that has the shape and smell of an octopus. The enemy attacks

the blob. The octopus, which has turned black, escapes.

That is how an octopus defends itself against the moray eel, one of its most

dangerous enemies. A moray eel is big enough to swallow an octopus whole. It

has sharp teeth and a keen sense of smell, which it uses in hunting.

When an octopus sees a moray, it turns black and gives off a blob of ink.

The moray picks up the scent of the black blob and attacks it. The octopus

turns white and jets away.

Sometimes a moray eel is able to tear off one of the octopus’s arms before

the octopus escapes. If this happens, the octopus can hunt and travel with seven

arms. And in time, it grows a new arm.


Score 0 1 2

Criterion No response or completely inaccurate.

Partially correct. May say it is big or looks scary.

Substantially complete and correct. States that an octopus has a soft, bag-shaped body and/or eight rubbery arms.

Score 0 1 2


Partially correct. May say it can make itself smaller.

Substantially complete and correct. States that an octopus has no bones.

Score 0 1 2


Partially correct. May say it makes a home in the sea or list only one place.

Substantially complete and correct. States that an octopus may make its home in any two of the following places: a cave, a wrecked ship, a shell, a tin can, under a rock, in a crack in a rock.

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Read the questions. Write your answers on the lines. You may look back at the selection to help you with your answers.

1. Tell what an octopus’s body looks like.

2. Why can an octopus squeeze into a small space?

3. List two places where an octopus might make its home.


Score 0 1 2


Partially correct. May say with its arms.

Substantially complete and correct. States that an octopus holds its food with the suckers on its arms.

Score 0 1 2


Partially correct. May say because it climbed into a shell.

Substantially complete and correct. States that an octopus changes color for any two of the following reasons: to hide, to escape from enemies, to show its feelings.

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Name

4. Give two reasons why an octopus might change color.

5. How does an octopus hold its food?


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Read each question. Choose the answer. Fill in the circle next to your answer.

6. Where does an octopus live?

a. in a river

b. in the sea

c. in the desert

d. in a box

7. What is an octopus’s home called?

a. a den

b. a living room

c. a nest

d. a shell

8. What color is an angry octopus?

a. blue

b. pale

c. dark red

d. striped


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pany

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rved

.


Name

9. What is an octopus’s favorite food?

a. seagulls

b. lobsters

c. seaweed

d. crabs

10. What happens if an octopus loses its arm?

a. It stops hunting for a while.

b. It cannot travel any longer.

c. It gets weak and dies.

d. It grows a new one.


Baseline

STOP


Name

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Hou

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Self-Assessment

★ How much did you like the selection? Mark an X in one of the spaces on the line.

I did not like it.

I liked it fairly well.

I liked it very much.

★ How well did you understand the selection? Mark an X in one of the spaces on the line.

I did not understand it.

I understood it fairly well.

I understood it very well.


name an octopus is amazing - eduplace.coman octopus is amazing this is a selection about how an...

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