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Describe the Key Details is a free printable Grade 2 English worksheet on describing details from something presented orally, aligned to Common Core standard SL.2.2. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two pupils in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Describe the Key Details

SL.2.2

NameDate

Read the text, then answer the questions.

1.Read the text, then answer the questions.

Volcanoes

A volcano is an opening in the Earth's crust where hot rock reaches the surface. Deep underground, rock is so hot that it melts. Melted rock is called magma. Magma is lighter than the solid rock around it, so it rises. When magma reaches the surface it is called lava. Lava can pour out slowly in rivers, or it can burst out in an explosion, depending on how thick it is. As lava cools it hardens into new rock. Layer after layer, this new rock builds the mountain we call a volcano.

  1. 1. What builds the mountain?
  2. 2. What is melted rock called underground?
  3. 3. What is it called once it reaches the surface?
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.

How a Polar Bear Stays Warm

A polar bear lives where the sea freezes. It has three ways of keeping its heat in. Under its skin is a layer of fat up to eleven centimetres thick. Fat is a poor conductor, so heat does not pass through it easily. Above that is dense underfur, packed tight so cold water cannot reach the skin. On top are long guard hairs. Each one is hollow and clear, not white. They look white because they scatter the light, the way snow does. A polar bear is so well insulated that it can overheat if it runs too far.

  1. 1. What is under the guard hairs?
  2. 2. How thick can a polar bear's fat layer be?
  3. 3. What colour are the guard hairs really?

LessonPrint · SL.2.2 · Set 2 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Describe the Key Details

Set 2. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Layer after layer of hardened lava. 2. Magma. 3. Lava.
  2. 2.1. Dense underfur, packed tight. 2. Up to eleven centimetres. 3. Clear, not white.

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to SL.2.2 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.