Why Do Meteors Burn Up?

This science reading comprehension worksheet helps students in Grades 4, 5, and 6 understand what happens when meteoroids enter Earth’s atmosphere by focusing on cause-and-effect relationships, scientific vocabulary, and physical processes. Learners read an informational passage explaining friction, air resistance, kinetic energy, and heat transfer, then answer questions that build comprehension, reasoning, and science literacy related to space phenomena.

Learning Goals

• Meteor Behavior & Atmospheric Entry (Grades 4-6) – Understand why meteoroids heat up and often burn apart when entering Earth’s atmosphere
• Cause-and-Effect Reasoning – Explain how friction, air resistance, and energy transformation create visible meteors
• Science Vocabulary Development – Apply domain-specific terms such as meteoroid, atmosphere, friction, and kinetic energy
• Reading Comprehension – Analyze an informational science text and respond to short-answer questions

Instructional Benefits

• Teacher-Created Resource – Designed by educators to align with upper elementary Earth and space science standards
• Clear Scientific Explanation – Breaks down complex physical processes into student-friendly language
• Integrated Question Set – Includes comprehension and critical-thinking questions to deepen understanding
• Cross-Curricular Support – Reinforces both science content and ELA reading skills
• Low-Prep Printable – Ready to use in classrooms or homeschool settings

This why-do-meteors-burn-up worksheet helps students connect observable space events to underlying scientific principles. By combining informational reading, vocabulary development, and cause-and-effect analysis, it strengthens science literacy and conceptual understanding of atmospheric processes. Whether used in a classroom space science unit or a homeschool lesson, this activity provides meaningful practice explaining natural phenomena through evidence-based reasoning.

This worksheet is part of our Asteroids, Comets, and Meteors collection.