This reading comprehension article helps students explore the environmental cost behind the materials used in smartphones and why a small device can have such large global impacts.

Students learn about copper, lithium, cobalt, and rare earth elements while also examining how mining, refining, manufacturing, and disposal affect ecosystems, water use, human communities, and global supply chains. This resource includes a reading passage, 10 comprehension questions, 5 extension questions, and a full answer key.

It is a strong fit for environmental science, Earth science, chemistry, technology, and sustainability discussions because it connects everyday electronics to mining, materials science, and global environmental management.

This resource covers the following topics:

✅ Grade 8 and Up Reading on smartphone materials such as copper, lithium, cobalt, and rare earth elements and their environmental costs.
✅ No-Prep, Editable Resource: Easy to assign as print or digital literacy practice.
✅ Includes Reading Comprehension & Extension Questions: Comes with 10 comprehension questions, 5 extension questions, and a full answer key.
✅ Helps students strengthen science literacy, critical thinking, vocabulary, and evidence-based reasoning.

How this product will help your students:

• Students will build a stronger understanding of how smartphones depend on mined materials and why those materials create environmental and human costs long before a phone is sold.
• They will also practice reading comprehension, scientific vocabulary, and critical thinking as they connect mining, manufacturing, recycling, and e-waste to the devices they use every day.

How this product will help you:

• This resource gives you a ready-to-use science reading that works well for independent work, homework, class discussion, sub plans, enrichment, or cross-curricular literacy practice.
• The included questions and answer key make it easy to assign and assess.
• Provide you with a concise introduction to your topic.
• Provide you with an engaging and easy-to-leave substitute plan which will keep your students engaged and on task.
• Provide you a means of measuring your students’ literacy skills.

This resource covers the following topics:

• Copper, lithium, cobalt, and rare earth elements
• Mining and refining of smartphone materials
• Water stress, tailings, and acid mine drainage
• Human-rights concerns in mining
• Battery materials and rare-earth magnets
• E-waste and low recycling rates
• Urban mining
• Repair, refurbishment, and reuse
• Producer responsibility and recycling policy
• How smartphones connect to global resource systems

Google Classroom and Distance Learning Ready

• This resource is perfect for in-class or distance learning and integrates seamlessly with Google Classroom.
• Automatically creates a copy of the reading and puts it directly into your Google Drive with a single click.
• Purchase --> Open --> Click --> Assign to your students
• The reading also includes a Microsoft Word and PDF version.

No prep, no formatting, no issues. Simply download, print (or upload to your class site) and you're all set.

The Problem You Face - Not having the time to properly teach scientific literacy (disciplinary literacy) or improve your student's reading comprehension and analysis skills.

The Solution

This fully editable, NO PREP reading comprehension article is composed of relevant, applicable, and engaging reading activities which can be used to:

• introduce your topic

• improve your student's reading comprehension and scientific literacy skills

• improve your students' analysis skills

• provide an extension activity to students who move at a faster pace

• provide extra credit to students in need

• measure your student's literacy skills

This resource will take your students between 60-90 minutes to complete and includes some open-ended questions. An answer key is also included for your reference.

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You might also be interested in my other individual reading comprehension articles covering the following topics which can be found inside my Grade 8 and Up Reading Mega Bundle.

• Chemistry
• Energy
• Biology
• Health
• Earth and Space
• Physics
• Ecology and the Environment
• Natural Disasters
• General Science