EnglishFreePrintable
World Changers Comprehension Activity
A free english worksheet ready for your classroom. Open in Kuraplan to grab the print-ready PDF, customize it for your students, or generate a fresh version in seconds.
Name:Date:
World Changers Comprehension Activity
Big changes do not always begin with a grand plan. Sometimes they start when someone notices a problem and decides to act.
Wangari Maathai grew up in Kenya, where she saw trees disappearing from the land. Without enough trees, soil washed away more easily, and families had to travel farther to find firewood and water. In 1977, she helped begin the Green Belt Movement. The movement supported women in planting trees in their communities. Over time, millions of trees were planted. The work also gave women opportunities to earn income and take part in decisions affecting their lives. Maathai received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her work for sustainable development, democracy and peace.
Malala Yousafzai grew up in Pakistan and believed that girls should be able to go to school. As a young teenager, she wrote online about life in a place where girls’ education was being restricted. In 2012, she was seriously injured in an attack. After recovering, she continued to speak publicly about education. Her efforts helped bring worldwide attention to the barriers girls face. The Malala Fund, which she co-founded, works to support girls’ education.
New Zealand has also taken steps to address climate change. The Zero Carbon Act became law in 2019. It set a framework for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and established an independent Climate Change Commission to advise the government. The commission’s role is to provide guidance and track progress. Laws and advice alone cannot solve climate change, but they can help a country plan and be accountable for its choices.
The internet is another example of change built by many people over time. Early computer networks developed in the late twentieth century, and later the World Wide Web made it easier to share information online. Today, people use the internet to learn, keep in touch and organise around shared concerns. It can help useful ideas travel quickly, though people still need to check whether online information is reliable.
Marie Curie pursued science at a time when women had fewer opportunities to study at universities. Born in Poland, she moved to Paris to continue her education. Her research on radioactivity led to the discovery of two elements, polonium and radium. During the First World War, she helped make mobile X-ray technology available to medical teams near battle zones. Curie’s research changed science and medicine, and her achievements encouraged others to challenge barriers in education and research.
These stories show different routes to making a difference: restoring the environment, defending education, planning for a changing climate, sharing knowledge and carrying out scientific research. Their results came from persistence, new ideas and work that reached beyond one person.
Understanding the Reading
Use details from the passage to answer each question.
1.What problem did Wangari Maathai notice, and what did the Green Belt Movement encourage people to do?
- Lack of schools; build classrooms
- Trees disappearing; plant trees in local communities
- Unsafe roads; organise transport
- Dirty beaches; collect rubbish
2.Name one way the Green Belt Movement benefited women, apart from planting trees.
3.Which person wrote online as a young teenager to draw attention to girls’ education, and what cause did she continue to support after recovering from an attack?
4.According to the passage, what is one role of New Zealand’s Climate Change Commission?
- To plant every tree in the country
- To advise the government and track progress
- To run schools about climate science
- To set the price of electricity
5.Give one example from the passage of how the internet can help people, and one caution the passage gives about using it.
6.Describe one way Marie Curie’s work helped people during the First World War.
Compare and Reflect
Support your ideas with information from the passage.
7.Compare how Wangari Maathai and Malala Yousafzai worked for change. Include one similarity and one difference.
8.Choose one person from the passage. Explain how their work showed persistence and how it made a difference beyond their own life.
9.The passage gives examples of people, organisations and laws creating change. Which example do you think could have the widest effect, and why? Use at least one detail from the reading.
3 printable pages
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
About This Worksheet
Free in Kuraplan
Sign up free, grab the PDF, and customize it for your class.
Print-Ready
Formatted for standard paper. Clean layout, easy to read.
AI-Generated
Created with Kuraplan's AI, designed for real classroom use.
For Teachers & Parents
Use in classrooms, for homework, tutoring, or homeschool.
Need a custom version of this worksheet?
Kuraplan's AI generates custom worksheets in seconds — differentiated for every learner, aligned to your curriculum.
Generate Custom Worksheets — Free No credit card Curriculum-aligned Under 60 seconds
