3rd grade nonfiction passage about how bees make honey: 143 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.
3rd gradenonfictionhow bees make honey143 words
Bees Fan Their Wings to Thicken Honey
A honey bee visits flower after flower, drinking a sweet juice called nectar. She keeps it in a second stomach that is just for nectar. When she is full, she flies home to the hive.
Back at the hive, she hands the nectar to another bee. That bee works on it and hands it to the next. Each bee adds something that helps turn the nectar into honey.
Then the thin, runny nectar is spread into little wax cells. Here is the clever part. Many bees stand near the cells and fan their wings. The breeze they make carries off the extra water. The nectar gets thick and sticky.
When it is ready, the bees cover each cell with a lid of wax. The honey is safe inside. It will be food for the bees when winter comes and no flowers are blooming.
Questions
What is nectar? in the text
Where does a bee store nectar while she flies home? in the text
What do the bees put the nectar into at the hive? in the text
Why do the bees fan their wings? in the text
What do the bees do when the honey is ready? in the text
Why is it important for the bees to save honey? think about it
Words to know
nectar
the sweet juice inside a flower
hive
the home where a group of bees lives
cells
the tiny wax rooms in a hive
blooming
having flowers open
Name ____________________________ Date ______________
Bees Fan Their Wings to Thicken Honey
3rd grade reading passage
A honey bee visits flower after flower, drinking a sweet juice called nectar. She keeps it in a second stomach that is just for nectar. When she is full, she flies home to the hive.
Back at the hive, she hands the nectar to another bee. That bee works on it and hands it to the next. Each bee adds something that helps turn the nectar into honey.
Then the thin, runny nectar is spread into little wax cells. Here is the clever part. Many bees stand near the cells and fan their wings. The breeze they make carries off the extra water. The nectar gets thick and sticky.
When it is ready, the bees cover each cell with a lid of wax. The honey is safe inside. It will be food for the bees when winter comes and no flowers are blooming.
Questions
What is nectar?
Where does a bee store nectar while she flies home?
What do the bees put the nectar into at the hive?
Why do the bees fan their wings?
What do the bees do when the honey is ready?
Why is it important for the bees to save honey?
Words to know
nectar: the sweet juice inside a flower
hive: the home where a group of bees lives
cells: the tiny wax rooms in a hive
blooming: having flowers open
Free at teach.peabody.kids/passages/3/bees-fan-wings-to-thicken-honey
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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 · 104 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.2
A bee visits many flowers. She sips a sweet juice called nectar. She keeps it in her honey stomach. Then she flies home to the hive.
At the hive, she gives the nectar to another bee. That bee passes it on too. Each bee helps change the nectar into honey.
The bees put the runny nectar into little wax cells. Then many bees fan their wings. The moving air dries out the extra water. The nectar gets thick.
Last, the bees cover each cell with wax. The honey is safe inside. It is food for the bees in winter, when no flowers are out.
▲ This passage · 143 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.2
A honey bee visits flower after flower, drinking a sweet juice called nectar. She keeps it in a second stomach that is just for nectar. When she is full, she flies home to the hive.
Back at the hive, she hands the nectar to another bee. That bee works on it and hands it to the next. Each bee adds something that helps turn the nectar into honey.
Then the thin, runny nectar is spread into little wax cells. Here is the clever part. Many bees stand near the cells and fan their wings. The breeze they make carries off the extra water. The nectar gets thick and sticky.
When it is ready, the bees cover each cell with a lid of wax. The honey is safe inside. It will be food for the bees when winter comes and no flowers are blooming.
■ Harder · 149 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.8
A honey bee travels from one flower to the next, sipping a sweet liquid called nectar. She stores the nectar in a special honey stomach, and when it is full, she carries it back to the hive.
Inside the hive, she hands the nectar to another worker, which chews on it for a while and passes it along again. Every bee in the chain adds something that helps change the nectar into honey.
Next, the bees spread the thin, runny nectar into tiny wax cells. Here is the clever part. Crowds of bees stand beside the cells and fan their wings, and the moving air dries out the extra water until the nectar turns thick and sticky.
When the honey is ready, the bees seal every cell with a lid of wax. The honey stays safe inside, waiting to feed the colony through winter, when no flowers are blooming.
A bee visits many flowers. She sips a sweet juice called nectar. She keeps it in her honey stomach. Then she flies home to the hive.
At the hive, she gives the nectar to another bee. That bee passes it on too. Each bee helps change the nectar into honey.
The bees put the runny nectar into little wax cells. Then many bees fan their wings. The moving air dries out the extra water. The nectar gets thick.
Last, the bees cover each cell with wax. The honey is safe inside. It is food for the bees in winter, when no flowers are out.
Questions
What is nectar?
Where does the bee keep nectar on her way home?
Where do the bees put the nectar?
Why do the bees fan their wings?
What do the bees put on each cell when the honey is ready?
Why do the bees save honey?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________▲
Bees Fan Their Wings to Thicken Honey
A honey bee visits flower after flower, drinking a sweet juice called nectar. She keeps it in a second stomach that is just for nectar. When she is full, she flies home to the hive.
Back at the hive, she hands the nectar to another bee. That bee works on it and hands it to the next. Each bee adds something that helps turn the nectar into honey.
Then the thin, runny nectar is spread into little wax cells. Here is the clever part. Many bees stand near the cells and fan their wings. The breeze they make carries off the extra water. The nectar gets thick and sticky.
When it is ready, the bees cover each cell with a lid of wax. The honey is safe inside. It will be food for the bees when winter comes and no flowers are blooming.
Questions
What is nectar?
Where does a bee store nectar while she flies home?
What do the bees put the nectar into at the hive?
Why do the bees fan their wings?
What do the bees do when the honey is ready?
Why is it important for the bees to save honey?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________■
Bees Fan Their Wings to Thicken Honey
A honey bee travels from one flower to the next, sipping a sweet liquid called nectar. She stores the nectar in a special honey stomach, and when it is full, she carries it back to the hive.
Inside the hive, she hands the nectar to another worker, which chews on it for a while and passes it along again. Every bee in the chain adds something that helps change the nectar into honey.
Next, the bees spread the thin, runny nectar into tiny wax cells. Here is the clever part. Crowds of bees stand beside the cells and fan their wings, and the moving air dries out the extra water until the nectar turns thick and sticky.
When the honey is ready, the bees seal every cell with a lid of wax. The honey stays safe inside, waiting to feed the colony through winter, when no flowers are blooming.
Questions
What is the sweet liquid that a honey bee sips from flowers?
Where does a bee store nectar on her trip home?
Where do the bees spread the runny nectar at the hive?
What does the moving air from the fanning wings do to the nectar?
How do the bees seal the honey once it is ready?
Why is it so important for the colony to keep honey stored away?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Answer key: Bees Fan Their Wings to Thicken Honey
● Easier (Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.2)
A sweet juice from flowers.
In her honey stomach.
In little wax cells.
The moving air dries out extra water.
A lid of wax.
It is food for winter, when no flowers are out.
▲ This passage (Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.2)
A sweet juice that bees sip from flowers.
In her honey stomach.
Little wax cells.
The breeze they make carries off the extra water.
They cover each cell with a lid of wax.
They need it for food in winter, when no flowers are blooming.
■ Harder (Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.8)
Nectar.
In a special honey stomach.
Into tiny wax cells.
It dries out the extra water, so the nectar turns thick and sticky.
They put a lid of wax over every cell.
It feeds the bees in winter, when no flowers are blooming.
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 nectar, hive, cells and blooming 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 6 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.
What reading level is "Bees Fan Their Wings to Thicken Honey"?
It was written for 3rd grade. It has 143 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 3.2. 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. 5 ask for something the text says directly and 1 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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