About This Worksheet
This Grade 7 reading worksheet helps students analyze the tone of a descriptive informational article. The passage describes daily life inside a Mars simulation habitat, including the small living space, careful routines, delayed communication, and scientific work. Students examine the author’s word choices to decide what overall feeling the article creates. For example, words such as “demanding,” “focused,” and “inspiring” create a serious and respectful tone.
Learning Goals
The main goal is to help students understand that tone is the author’s attitude toward the subject. Students should already be able to recognize descriptive words and explain their basic meanings. This activity moves them toward using several word choices together to identify the feeling of an entire passage. It supports CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.7.4 and CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.7.6, which ask students to analyze language, tone, purpose, and viewpoint.
Student Tasks
On this worksheet, students will read an article about scientists living and working in a Mars simulation habitat. They will choose the word that best describes the article’s overall tone from four answer options. Students must then copy or explain one sentence that helps create that tone. Their response should connect the author’s language to the feeling of the passage rather than relying only on the topic.
Common Challenges
Some students may choose “suspenseful” simply because the setting is Mars-related and unfamiliar. Others may focus on one difficult detail and overlook the respectful way the whole experience is described. Remind students that tone comes from the author’s language across the full passage, not from one event alone. Have them collect three descriptive words before deciding which answer fits best.
Teaching Suggestions
A teacher can read one paragraph aloud in a playful voice and then in a serious voice to show that tone changes how information feels. Students can underline words connected with discipline, challenge, teamwork, and discovery. At home, a parent can ask whether the writer seems impressed, amused, frightened, or angry about the simulation. That simple comparison helps children choose a tone word based on evidence.
Worksheet Features
The passage blends space science with vivid descriptions of daily routines and working conditions. A multiple-choice question gives students a clear entry point, while the follow-up requires evidence from the text. The article provides enough descriptive language for students to support their answer with confidence. This worksheet is a strong fit for tone instruction, close reading, science connections, or independent review.