3rd grade nonfiction passage about ants and colonies: 141 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.
3rd gradenonfictionants and colonies141 words
Ants Work as a Team
An ant is tiny, but ants do big things together. Most ants live in a group called a colony. A colony may have a few dozen ants or millions of them.
Each ant has a job. The queen lays the eggs. Worker ants, which are all females, look for food, build tunnels, and care for the young. Some ants guard the nest.
How does an ant tell the others where food is? It leaves a trail of scent, or smell, on the ground. Other ants follow the trail, and they add their own scent when they carry food home. A strong trail leads many ants to the food.
Ants can carry things much heavier than themselves. Working as a team, a colony can move a big crumb that one ant could never lift. That is why scientists like to study them.
Questions
What is a colony? in the text
Which ant lays the eggs? in the text
What jobs do worker ants do? in the text
How does an ant tell the others where food is? in the text
Why does a strong trail lead many ants to the food? think about it
Why can a colony move a crumb that one ant cannot? think about it
Words to know
colony
a large group of animals that live together
queen
the ant that lays the eggs for the colony
worker
an ant that does the daily jobs of the colony
scent
a smell
tunnels
long paths dug underground
Name ____________________________ Date ______________
Ants Work as a Team
3rd grade reading passage
An ant is tiny, but ants do big things together. Most ants live in a group called a colony. A colony may have a few dozen ants or millions of them.
Each ant has a job. The queen lays the eggs. Worker ants, which are all females, look for food, build tunnels, and care for the young. Some ants guard the nest.
How does an ant tell the others where food is? It leaves a trail of scent, or smell, on the ground. Other ants follow the trail, and they add their own scent when they carry food home. A strong trail leads many ants to the food.
Ants can carry things much heavier than themselves. Working as a team, a colony can move a big crumb that one ant could never lift. That is why scientists like to study them.
Questions
What is a colony?
Which ant lays the eggs?
What jobs do worker ants do?
How does an ant tell the others where food is?
Why does a strong trail lead many ants to the food?
Why can a colony move a crumb that one ant cannot?
Words to know
colony: a large group of animals that live together
queen: the ant that lays the eggs for the colony
worker: an ant that does the daily jobs of the colony
scent: a smell
tunnels: long paths dug underground
Free at teach.peabody.kids/passages/3/ants-work-as-a-team
Share
One passage, three levels
The same topic and facts written three ways, so a mixed class can read and talk about one text. Each group’s sheet shows only a shape; the key says which is which.
● Easier · 132 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.3
An ant is tiny. But ants do big things together. Most ants live in a group called a colony. A colony can have a few dozen ants. Or it can have millions.
Each ant has a job. The queen lays eggs. Worker ants are all females. They find food, dig tunnels, and care for the young. Some ants guard the nest.
How does an ant show the others where food is? It leaves a trail of scent, or smell, on the ground. Other ants follow it. They add their own scent when they carry food home. A strong trail leads many ants to the food.
Ants can carry things much heavier than they are. A colony can move a big crumb. One ant could never lift it. Scientists like to study ants.
▲ This passage · 141 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.6
An ant is tiny, but ants do big things together. Most ants live in a group called a colony. A colony may have a few dozen ants or millions of them.
Each ant has a job. The queen lays the eggs. Worker ants, which are all females, look for food, build tunnels, and care for the young. Some ants guard the nest.
How does an ant tell the others where food is? It leaves a trail of scent, or smell, on the ground. Other ants follow the trail, and they add their own scent when they carry food home. A strong trail leads many ants to the food.
Ants can carry things much heavier than themselves. Working as a team, a colony can move a big crumb that one ant could never lift. That is why scientists like to study them.
■ Harder · 156 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.2
An ant may be tiny, but ants accomplish enormous things when they cooperate. Most ants live in a group known as a colony, which might contain a few dozen ants or as many as millions.
Every ant has a particular job. The queen is responsible for laying the eggs, while the worker ants, which are all females, search for food, construct tunnels, and look after the young. Certain ants stand guard over the nest.
How does one ant tell the others where food can be found? It leaves a trail of scent, or smell, along the ground. Other ants follow the trail and add their own scent as they carry food home, so a strong trail guides many ants to the food.
Ants can carry objects far heavier than themselves. Working as a team, a colony can move a large crumb that a single ant could never lift, which is one reason scientists enjoy studying them.
An ant is tiny. But ants do big things together. Most ants live in a group called a colony. A colony can have a few dozen ants. Or it can have millions.
Each ant has a job. The queen lays eggs. Worker ants are all females. They find food, dig tunnels, and care for the young. Some ants guard the nest.
How does an ant show the others where food is? It leaves a trail of scent, or smell, on the ground. Other ants follow it. They add their own scent when they carry food home. A strong trail leads many ants to the food.
Ants can carry things much heavier than they are. A colony can move a big crumb. One ant could never lift it. Scientists like to study ants.
Questions
What is a colony?
Which ant lays eggs?
What do worker ants do?
How does an ant show the others where food is?
Why does a strong trail lead many ants to food?
Why can a colony move a crumb that one ant can not?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________▲
Ants Work as a Team
An ant is tiny, but ants do big things together. Most ants live in a group called a colony. A colony may have a few dozen ants or millions of them.
Each ant has a job. The queen lays the eggs. Worker ants, which are all females, look for food, build tunnels, and care for the young. Some ants guard the nest.
How does an ant tell the others where food is? It leaves a trail of scent, or smell, on the ground. Other ants follow the trail, and they add their own scent when they carry food home. A strong trail leads many ants to the food.
Ants can carry things much heavier than themselves. Working as a team, a colony can move a big crumb that one ant could never lift. That is why scientists like to study them.
Questions
What is a colony?
Which ant lays the eggs?
What jobs do worker ants do?
How does an ant tell the others where food is?
Why does a strong trail lead many ants to the food?
Why can a colony move a crumb that one ant cannot?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________■
Ants Work as a Team
An ant may be tiny, but ants accomplish enormous things when they cooperate. Most ants live in a group known as a colony, which might contain a few dozen ants or as many as millions.
Every ant has a particular job. The queen is responsible for laying the eggs, while the worker ants, which are all females, search for food, construct tunnels, and look after the young. Certain ants stand guard over the nest.
How does one ant tell the others where food can be found? It leaves a trail of scent, or smell, along the ground. Other ants follow the trail and add their own scent as they carry food home, so a strong trail guides many ants to the food.
Ants can carry objects far heavier than themselves. Working as a team, a colony can move a large crumb that a single ant could never lift, which is one reason scientists enjoy studying them.
Questions
What is a colony?
Which ant is responsible for laying the eggs?
What jobs do the worker ants do?
How does an ant tell the others where food can be found?
Why does a strong trail guide many ants to the food?
Why can a colony move a crumb that a single ant cannot?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Answer key: Ants Work as a Team
● Easier (Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.3)
A group of ants that live together.
The queen.
They find food, dig tunnels, and care for the young.
It leaves a scent trail on the ground.
Each ant that carries food home adds more scent.
Many ants work together.
▲ This passage (Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.6)
A group of ants that live together.
The queen.
They look for food, build tunnels, and care for the young.
It leaves a scent trail on the ground.
Each ant that carries food home adds more scent, so the trail gets stronger.
Many ants work together as a team.
■ Harder (Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.2)
A group of ants that live together.
The queen.
They search for food, construct tunnels, and look after the young.
It leaves a scent trail along the ground.
Each ant carrying food home adds more scent, so the trail grows stronger.
Many ants cooperate as a team.
Free at teach.peabody.kids
How to use it
Press Read it big (or B) to put the text on the projector, or Full screen (F) to fill the whole screen.
Ask the questions one at a time and use Show answer when the class has decided. A shows or hides every answer.
Print student copy for the class, or Print with answers for yourself.
Ideas for class
Before reading, put colony, queen, worker, scent and tunnels on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the text will be about.
Read it aloud once while students follow along, then have them reread it alone or with a partner. At a calm 100 words a minute it takes about 1 minute to read aloud.
Use the Read it big button (or B) to put the text on the projector, and Show answer on one question at a time so the class commits to an answer first.
Question 5 asks the reader to infer. Ask students to point to the words in the passage that led them to their answer.
Ask students to write one question the passage did not answer, then look for the answer in a book or on a classroom screen.
Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.
It was written for 3rd grade. It has 141 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 2.6. That is a formula's estimate from sentence length and syllables, and it is not a Lexile or a guided reading level, so check it against your students.
What do the questions ask?
There are six. 4 ask for something the text says directly and 2 ask the reader to work something out from clues. Each has an answer in the key, and the answers are written as a teacher would accept them, not as the only possible wording.
How long does it take to read?
About 1 minute read aloud at 100 words a minute. For a one-minute fluency check, paste it into the fluency timer and use the word count.
Can I print it?
Yes. Print student copy gives the passage, the questions with lines to write on, and the word meanings. Print with answers gives the same page with the answers filled in. Both are made in your browser.
Is this passage from a published book?
No. It was written for Peabody Teach, so there is no book to buy and no login to read it.
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