Energy Resources
Reading Mystery Worksheets · Grades 3–6 · Sources of Energy
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Inside the case file
Power up your nonfiction reading. This printable Energy Resources Reading Mystery turns a passage about where our energy comes from into a reading-detective investigation for Grades 3–6 classroom teachers, homeschoolers, and tutors. It drops straight into an energy, Earth science, or environment unit and makes close reading the whole point.
Careful reading is the key — each text-based answer knocks a suspect off the list until only the culprit stands. Nothing to prep or laminate.
Quick Details
Grade Levels: Grades 3–6
Format: Printable PDF
Resource Type: Reading Mystery worksheets
Reading Skills: Nonfiction comprehension, text evidence, main idea, compare and contrast, and inference
Tech Needed: None — no apps, locks, passwords, or student logins required
The Case
The power has gone out and no one knows why, and a line-up of suspects is waiting. The only way to crack the case is to read closely about energy resources — fossil fuels, solar, wind, water, and other sources of energy — using every comprehension answer as a clue to rule a suspect out, until just one remains.
How the Reading Mystery Works
Students work as Reading Detectives, reading about energy resources and clearing a suspect with each text-based answer until the culprit is all that's left. The answers are all in the passage.
What's Included
- A "You are a detective" case-file page that sets the scene and the mission
- An engaging nonfiction passage on energy resources (fossil fuels, solar, wind, water, and other energy sources)
- Multiple-choice comprehension questions (all answers found in the text)
- Open-ended comprehension questions
- A suspect line-up page for eliminating suspects one clue at a time
- Vocabulary support and extension activities for early finishers
- A full answer key
- Color and black-and-white versions
- Print-and-go PDF format
Skills Covered
- Reading and understanding nonfiction science text
- Finding and using text evidence
- Identifying main idea and supporting details
- Compare and contrast and drawing inferences
- Science vocabulary in context
- Logic, reasoning, and critical thinking
Best Used For
- Energy, Earth science, and environment units
- Earth Day and sustainability lessons
- Nonfiction and science reading comprehension
- Reading and science centers, early finishers, and sub plans
- Homeschool reading and science
