Lesson 18:City Parks

y Kate Morgan
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURT

y Kate Morgan
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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.
2

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.
3

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.
4

Trees in Central Park
There are thousands of trees in Central
Park. Here are just a few of them.
Oak tree
This tree makes clumps
of acorns that fall at
the end of summer.
This tree has gray bark
with ridges but no
spines.
The seeds from this tree
have thick coverings.
Elm tree
Horse
Chestnut tree
5

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.
6

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.
7

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 filled 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!
8

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 flowers.
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.
The most famous
garden in Golden
Gate Park is the
Japanese Tea Garden.
9

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 fix up the park. Many
parks have special days for people
to plant flowers or clean up. Bring
your friends and family to help!
10

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.
roads
passages
Write About It
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.
11

TARGET VOCABULARY
absorb
clumps
coverings
dissolve
passages
pollen
spines
store
throughout
tropical
TARGET STRATEGY Question Ask questions
before you read, while you read, and after you
read.
This word also means a place people
go to buy things.
12

Level: L
DRA: 24
Social Studies
Strategy:
Question
Word Count: 650
3.4.18 Build Vocabulary
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