Fossil fuels and their environmental effects are the focus of this Grade 4 science reading resource. Students explore how coal, oil, and natural gas provide energy while examining how extracting and burning these fuels can affect land, habitats, air, and Earth's climate.

From underground resources to everyday energy

The reading passages connect familiar energy uses with the processes behind them. Students examine how coal is removed from underground mines and open pits, how oil is drilled on land and beneath the sea before being processed into fuels, and how natural gas travels through pipelines to homes, businesses, and power stations.

The environmental connections are specific to each resource. Mining can disturb soil and vegetation; drilling and pipeline construction can affect habitats; and poorly controlled gas leaks can release gas into the air. Students also explore what happens when fossil fuels burn, including the release of carbon dioxide and air pollutants. The passages connect carbon dioxide with heat trapped in Earth's atmosphere and explain why air pollution can affect people's health.

Reading for main ideas and supporting evidence

Each passage is paired with a main idea and supporting details graphic organizer. Students read informational text, identify its central message, highlight the main idea and relevant supporting details, and record that information in the organizer. This gives students practice distinguishing the most important point from facts and examples that explain it.

The final topic moves from environmental effects to ways people can reduce some of them. Students consider careful energy use, efficient appliances, checking wells and pipelines for leaks, and restoring disturbed land with soil and native vegetation. These examples help connect the science content with practical ways to reduce environmental impacts.

What is included

• Informational reading passages about coal, oil, natural gas, and the effects of using fossil fuels.
• Main idea and supporting details graphic organizers paired with the reading.
• Picture layouts accompanying the topics, with spaces planned around key details.

Classroom use

Use this Grade 4 science reading activity during a unit on natural resources, energy, or human impacts on the environment. Students can complete the reading and organizer independently or work with a partner to discuss which details best support each passage's main idea. The resource also provides focused informational text practice alongside science content, making it useful when teaching reading skills through Earth science topics.

The resource names the NGSS performance expectation 4-ESS3-1, connecting the topic with science learning about energy resources and environmental effects.