Cause and Effect- Text Structures

​Text Structures

​Cause and Effect
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​Watch this video about the cause and effect text structure. Please use headphones.

Fill in the Blank

The cause tells us ____ something happened.

Fill in the Blank

The effect tells us ____ happened.

Open Ended

The effect is:

The baby started crying.

What could the cause be?

Remember to write in complete sentences.

Open Ended

The effect is:

The cat ran up the tree.

What could the cause be?

Remember to write in complete sentences.

Draw

Your mom decided to drive you to school this morning, but noticed one of the tires on the car was flat.

What could be the cause of having a flat tire?

Draw a picture of a cause of the tire being flat.

Take your time and read the next slide carefully to answer the questions that come after.

Open Ended

List key words and phrases that are signal words or clue words to show you the author is using the text structure of cause and effect.

Nearly a century ago, the grey wolf was hunted to near extinction throughout most of the United States. This included Yellowstone National Park. Many people were happy to be rid of the wild carnivore. They viewed wolves as scary predators that killed ranchers' livestock, like cattle and sheep. They believed things would be better without wolves around. Few anticipated the impact the wolf's disappearance would have on Yellowstone's ecosystem.

The elimination of wolves had a cascading effect in Yellowstone National Park. A cascading effect means that one change caused something else to change, which in turn, led to another change, etc. In Yellowstone, the chain reaction started with the elk. Wolves had been predators of elk. By preying on elk, wolves helped regulate the size of the herd. Therefore, without the wolves vegetation. The elks' over browsing young trees and shrubs affected not only the plant life but other animals, as well.

Young willow saplings were gobbled up before they could develop into sturdy trees. Consequently, beavers had less full-grown willow trees to eat and build their dams out of. As a result, the beaver population declined dramatically. Songbirdgs had fewer tall trees to build their nests in. The elk also ate the berries that grizzly bears relied on as a food source. Due to this lack of resources, the population of songbirds and grizzly bears decresased, as well.

Ravens and eagles also suffered the consequences of the wolves' elimination. The reason ravens and eagles were impacted is that they fed on the carcasses of the elk that the wolves had killed. Wolves were no longer hunting elk, so that food source was scarce.

People realized that wolves played a vital role in maintaining Yellowstone's ecosystem. Between 1995-1996, wildlife officials relocated 31 wolves from Canada to Yellowstone National Park. Since their reintroduction, wolves have contributed to restoring balance to the Yellowstone ecosystem.

When Wolves Disappeared from Yellowstone

Drag and Drop

What is an effect ​ of:

The grey wolf was hunted to near extinction and disappeared from Yellowstone Park.​

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The grey wolf is now sad.

Yellowstone Park was a happier environment.

Yellowstone no longer suffered from grey wolves.

The people were happy.

The elk population grew.

Grey wolves now live somewhere else.

Drag and Drop

What is an effect of:

Young willow saplings were gobbled up before they could develop into sturdy trees.​ ​ ​

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Songbirds had fewer tall trees to build their nest

The people didn't have pretty trees in their yards

Grey wolves didn't have a place to hide anymore

Elk got fat and happy from the trees

Beavers had less full-grown willow trees to eat on

Drag and Drop

What is a cause of:

Ravens and eagles lost their food source.

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Wolves were no longer hunting elk.

There were less carcasses of elk.

Grey wolves couldn't hunt the birds

Beavers stole all of the elk's food

People cut down all of the trees

Open Ended

-SCR QUESTION-

Use a piece of notebook paper to help plan your writing

Remember to write in complete sentences. Use your RAP strategy to answer the prompt below.

After reading "When Wolves Disappeared from Yellowstone" the reader can conclude that the author uses a cause and effect text structure. Explain the author's purpose of writing this informational text.