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Jobs in an Ant Colony

3rd grade nonfiction passage about ant colony teamwork: 185 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

3rd grade nonfiction ant colony teamwork 185 words

Jobs in an Ant Colony

A single ant is very small, but a group of ants can do big things. Ants live together in a home called a colony. Each ant has a job, and the colony works well because everyone does a part.

Every colony has at least one queen. The queen lays the eggs. She is usually bigger than the other ants, and she stays safe inside the nest.

Most of the ants in the colony are workers. Some workers take care of the eggs and the young ants. Some dig tunnels and keep the nest clean. Others go outside to look for food.

When a worker finds food, it leaves a trail of scent on the ground as it walks home. The scent is a smell that ants can follow. Other ants sniff out the trail and walk the same path to the food. Soon a long line of ants is carrying crumbs back to the nest.

Some ants also guard the entrance to the nest and warn the others of danger.

An ant on its own can do little. Together, ants make a busy, safe home.

Questions

  1. What is an ant home called? in the text

  2. What is the job of the queen? in the text

  3. What do some workers do inside the nest? in the text

  4. How does a worker show other ants where the food is? in the text

  5. Why do ants walk in a long line to the food? think about it

  6. What is the main idea of this passage? 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
tunnels
long passages dug under the ground
scent
a smell
guard
to watch over something to keep it safe
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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 · 159 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.1

One ant is very small. But a group of ants can do big things. Ants live in a home called a colony. Each ant has a job. The colony works well because every ant does its part.

Every colony has a queen. The queen lays the eggs. She is bigger than the other ants. She stays safe in the nest.

Most ants are workers. Some workers care for the eggs and young ants. Some dig tunnels and keep the nest clean. Others go outside to find food.

A worker finds food. She leaves a trail of scent on the ground as she walks home. A scent is a smell. Other ants sniff the trail. They walk the same path to the food. Soon a long line of ants carries crumbs to the nest.

Some ants guard the door of the nest. They warn the others of danger.

One ant can do little. Together, ants make a busy, safe home.

▲ This passage · 185 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.1

A single ant is very small, but a group of ants can do big things. Ants live together in a home called a colony. Each ant has a job, and the colony works well because everyone does a part.

Every colony has at least one queen. The queen lays the eggs. She is usually bigger than the other ants, and she stays safe inside the nest.

Most of the ants in the colony are workers. Some workers take care of the eggs and the young ants. Some dig tunnels and keep the nest clean. Others go outside to look for food.

When a worker finds food, it leaves a trail of scent on the ground as it walks home. The scent is a smell that ants can follow. Other ants sniff out the trail and walk the same path to the food. Soon a long line of ants is carrying crumbs back to the nest.

Some ants also guard the entrance to the nest and warn the others of danger.

An ant on its own can do little. Together, ants make a busy, safe home.

■ Harder · 208 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.8

A single ant is extremely small, yet a group of ants can accomplish remarkable things. Ants live together in a home known as a colony, and each ant has a particular job. The colony thrives because every member contributes its share of the work.

Every colony has at least one queen, whose responsibility is to lay the eggs. She is usually larger than the other ants, and she remains safely inside the nest.

Most of the ants in a colony are workers. Some workers look after the eggs and the young ants, while others dig tunnels and keep the nest clean. Still others travel outside the nest in search of food.

When a worker discovers food, she leaves a trail of scent on the ground as she walks back home. A scent is a smell that other ants can follow. The other ants sniff out the trail and travel along the same path to the food, and soon a long line of ants is carrying crumbs back to the nest.

Certain ants also guard the entrance to the nest and warn the rest of the colony when there is danger.

An ant on its own can accomplish very little, but together, ants build a busy and secure home.

Download as one PDF

How to use it

  1. Press Read it big (or B) to put the text on the projector, or Full screen (F) to fill the whole screen.
  2. Ask the questions one at a time and use Show answer when the class has decided. A shows or hides every answer.
  3. Print student copy for the class, or Print with answers for yourself.

Ideas for class

  • Before reading, put colony, queen, tunnels, scent and guard 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 2 minutes 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.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "Jobs in an Ant Colony"?

It was written for 3rd grade. It has 185 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 3.1. 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 2 minutes 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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