7th Grade Reading Challenge
Encourage your child to read the text below and answer the three short questions independently. Observe if they can complete the reading in about 2 minutes. The key is for them to use their knowledge of letter sounds to sound out the words. Ensure your child isn’t guessing the words based on pictures, context, or just recognizing the first letter.

GOOD NEWS FOR PANDA LOVERS
White coats with black markings and black patches around the eyes make the Giant Panda one of the most recognizable animals on Earth. The future of this species, however, has been in peril. Since the 1980s, Giant Pandas have been on the list of Earth's endangered species. In 2016, scientists announced that the pattern of decline has been stopped. The number of adult pandas is still not great but it is higher than the number identified a decade ago. The Chinese government and international organizations have put many projects in place to help Giant Pandas. Initiatives have focused on restoring bamboo forests in south-central China, the habitat of Giant Pandas. An adult panda eats about 27 pounds of bamboo daily. As humans logged trees in the forests where bamboo grows, available bamboo in the Giant Panda's habitat decreased. Now, restored forests are reserved for Giant Pandas. These areas are like national parks but are available only to staff and scientists, not tourists.
Another project has been to create passages between reserves so that Giant Pandas can move over a larger area. An increase in the size of the habitat supports Giant Pandas in finding mates. Baby pandas stay with their mothers for around two years, but grown pandas are solitary creatures. They do not congregate in specific areas nor do they move in packs. The breeding season of pandas is short. If females and males are out of range of one another during that time, a female can go for a year without having a baby. Panda babies are 1/900 the size of their mothers at birth, making the babies vulnerable to attack and sickness. Low birth and survival rates can jeopardize the future of a species. An increase in the number of Giant Pandas does not mean that challenges faced by this species for survival are over. But the recent increase in numbers shows that human cooperation and hard work can give a species like the Giant Panda a chance for survival on Earth.