About this worksheet
Lightning forms when bits of ice bump together inside a storm cloud, and a bolt heats the air so fast that it bursts outward as thunder. The passage also explains why the flash arrives before the boom and ends on what to do when you hear thunder.
Nearly every question here is a why or a what causes question, so this is the sheet for practicing cause and effect in science writing. Question four asks for both a rule and the reason behind it, with two lines to write on, and a child who only gives the rule has answered half of it. Black and white, so it prints cleanly on any printer.
What students will practice
- Explain what causes lightning and thunder using the text
- Describe a cause and effect relationship in a science passage
- Give a safety rule and the reason for it
Details
- Grade level
- Grade 3
- Subject
- Reading · Comprehension
- Standard
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.3
- Pages
- 1
- Format
- PDF · US Letter and A4 included
- License
- Free for classroom use · Attribution appreciated
- Last updated
- September 17, 2026
