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4 Grade Showcase Project

Tips for Writing Complex Sentences
Use Parenthesis
Fact: polar bears live where there is artic sea ice
Fact: polar bears live where there are leads of water channels
Fact: polar bears live where there are polynyas of open water in the arctic ice
Sentence: Polar bears prefer to live where there is artic sea ice, especially in leads (ice with open
water channels) or polynyas (open water surrounded by artic ice).

Use A Series With Commas

Fact: polar bears prefer to eat seals
Fact: polar bears also eat walruses, beluga whales, reindeer, rodents, birds
Fact: if they cant eat that, they even eat plants like berries and kelp
Sentence: Polar bears eat a huge variety of food including seals, walruses, beluga whales,
reindeer, rodents, birds, and even berries or kelp.

Use An Appositive
Fact: polar bears are one of the largest land carnivores
Fact: polar bears eat seals, walruses, beluga whales, reindeer, rodents, birds
Fact: polar bears can weigh up to 500 pounds and can be up to 8 feet long
Sentence: Polar bears, one of the largest land carnivores easily weighing 500 pounds, eat mostly
seals, walruses, and beluga whales.

Use A Compound Sentence

Fact: polar bears live where there is artic sea ice northern hemisphere
Fact: polar bears can swim long distances without tiring up to 62 miles at a time
Fact: polar bears swim at about 6 miles an hour
Sentence: A polar bear habitat is always in the northern hemisphere where there is artic sea ice,
and they can swim up to 62 miles at a time at a speed of about 6 miles an hour.

Use An Introductory Phrase

Fact: polar bears have hearing and eye sight very similar to humans
Fact: polar bears rely the most on their sense of smell in order to hunt their prey
Fact: polar bears can smell prey up to 20 miles away
Sentence: Although polar bears have good hearing and sight, they can actually smell prey from 20
miles away which makes smell their most important sense.

Use A Colon or Semi-Colon

Fact: polar bears live where there is artic sea ice where it is easily 30 below freezing
Fact: polar bears can easily overheat
Fact: polar bears are insulated by a layer of 4 inches of blubber and thick fur
Sentence: Polar bears live in arctic sea ice where it easily gets to -30 F; however, they easily
overheat due to the fact that they are insulated by thick fur and a layer of blubber four inches thick.

Also, keep in mind helpful stretching words like: so, because, which, however,
until, therefore, although

And, of course, using a combination of these strategies will help you write
an amazing, complex sentence!