"Prairie Changes" is a one page, nonfiction passage about the changes in the prairie over time and the effect it has on plants, animals, and habitats. It is followed by an open-ended question which requires students to provide evidence from the story; it includes underlining the most important information in each paragraph, determining the main idea, and then writing a summary of the passage using evidence from the text. Extended assignments include writing about the author's purpose and writing about why it's important to save the prairies.This passage aligns with Common Core Anchor Reading Standards 1 and 2 requiring close reading, textual evidence, main idea, integrating ideas from different sources, and summarizing.