3rd grade nonfiction passage about dew and condensation: 155 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.
3rd gradenonfictiondew and condensation155 words
Where Does Morning Dew on a Spider Web Come From?
On a cool morning, a spider web can look like a necklace of tiny glass beads. The beads are drops of dew. Where did they come from?
The answer is in the air. Air always holds some water in the form of an invisible gas called vapor. Warm air can hold more vapor than cold air.
During a clear night, the ground, the grass and the webs lose their warmth. They become cooler than the air around them. When the warm air touches a cool surface, it cools down too. The vapor in it cannot stay a gas anymore. It turns back into tiny drops of liquid water. This change is called condensation.
The drops gather on the thin strands of the web, and they grow bigger. By morning, they sparkle in the light.
Then the sun warms the air. The drops dry up and turn back into vapor, and the web looks plain again.
Questions
What do the beads on a spider web look like? in the text
What is vapor? in the text
What happens to the ground and the web during a clear night? in the text
What is it called when vapor turns into drops of water? in the text
Why does the dew disappear after sunrise? think about it
Why does dew form on cool surfaces and not on warm ones? think about it
Words to know
dew
tiny drops of water that form outside overnight
vapor
water that is a gas in the air
condensation
the change from a gas into liquid drops
strands
thin threads or lines
invisible
too small or clear to be seen
Name ____________________________ Date ______________
Where Does Morning Dew on a Spider Web Come From?
3rd grade reading passage
On a cool morning, a spider web can look like a necklace of tiny glass beads. The beads are drops of dew. Where did they come from?
The answer is in the air. Air always holds some water in the form of an invisible gas called vapor. Warm air can hold more vapor than cold air.
During a clear night, the ground, the grass and the webs lose their warmth. They become cooler than the air around them. When the warm air touches a cool surface, it cools down too. The vapor in it cannot stay a gas anymore. It turns back into tiny drops of liquid water. This change is called condensation.
The drops gather on the thin strands of the web, and they grow bigger. By morning, they sparkle in the light.
Then the sun warms the air. The drops dry up and turn back into vapor, and the web looks plain again.
Questions
What do the beads on a spider web look like?
What is vapor?
What happens to the ground and the web during a clear night?
What is it called when vapor turns into drops of water?
Why does the dew disappear after sunrise?
Why does dew form on cool surfaces and not on warm ones?
Words to know
dew: tiny drops of water that form outside overnight
vapor: water that is a gas in the air
condensation: the change from a gas into liquid drops
strands: thin threads or lines
invisible: too small or clear to be seen
Free at teach.peabody.kids/passages/3/morning-dew-on-a-spider-web
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
On a cool morning, a spider web can look like a string of tiny glass beads. The beads are drops of dew. Where do they come from?
They come from the air. Air has some water in it. It is a gas that you cannot see. It is called vapor. Warm air holds more vapor than cold air.
At night, the ground, the grass and the webs lose their warmth. They get cooler than the air. Warm air touches a cool web and cools down. Now the vapor cannot stay a gas. It turns into tiny drops of water. This is called condensation.
The drops gather on the thin web. They grow bigger. By morning, they sparkle.
Then the sun warms the air. The drops dry up and turn back into vapor.
▲ This passage · 155 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.7
On a cool morning, a spider web can look like a necklace of tiny glass beads. The beads are drops of dew. Where did they come from?
The answer is in the air. Air always holds some water in the form of an invisible gas called vapor. Warm air can hold more vapor than cold air.
During a clear night, the ground, the grass and the webs lose their warmth. They become cooler than the air around them. When the warm air touches a cool surface, it cools down too. The vapor in it cannot stay a gas anymore. It turns back into tiny drops of liquid water. This change is called condensation.
The drops gather on the thin strands of the web, and they grow bigger. By morning, they sparkle in the light.
Then the sun warms the air. The drops dry up and turn back into vapor, and the web looks plain again.
■ Harder · 169 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7
On a cool morning, a spider web can resemble a necklace of tiny glass beads, and those beads are really drops of dew. Where do they come from?
The answer lies in the air around us. Air always holds some water in the form of an invisible gas that is called vapor, and warm air is able to hold considerably more vapor than cold air.
During a clear night, the ground, the grass and the webs lose their warmth, so they become cooler than the surrounding air. When warm air touches a cool surface, it cools down as well, and the vapor in it can no longer remain a gas. It changes back into tiny drops of liquid water, and this change is known as condensation.
The drops collect on the thin strands of the web and gradually grow larger, until by morning they sparkle in the light.
Once the sun warms the air, the drops dry up and become vapor again, and the web looks plain once more.
On a cool morning, a spider web can look like a string of tiny glass beads. The beads are drops of dew. Where do they come from?
They come from the air. Air has some water in it. It is a gas that you cannot see. It is called vapor. Warm air holds more vapor than cold air.
At night, the ground, the grass and the webs lose their warmth. They get cooler than the air. Warm air touches a cool web and cools down. Now the vapor cannot stay a gas. It turns into tiny drops of water. This is called condensation.
The drops gather on the thin web. They grow bigger. By morning, they sparkle.
Then the sun warms the air. The drops dry up and turn back into vapor.
Questions
What do the beads on a web look like?
What is vapor?
What happens to the ground and the web at night?
What is it called when vapor turns into drops?
Why does the dew go away after sunrise?
Why does dew form on cool things and not warm ones?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________▲
Where Does Morning Dew on a Spider Web Come From?
On a cool morning, a spider web can look like a necklace of tiny glass beads. The beads are drops of dew. Where did they come from?
The answer is in the air. Air always holds some water in the form of an invisible gas called vapor. Warm air can hold more vapor than cold air.
During a clear night, the ground, the grass and the webs lose their warmth. They become cooler than the air around them. When the warm air touches a cool surface, it cools down too. The vapor in it cannot stay a gas anymore. It turns back into tiny drops of liquid water. This change is called condensation.
The drops gather on the thin strands of the web, and they grow bigger. By morning, they sparkle in the light.
Then the sun warms the air. The drops dry up and turn back into vapor, and the web looks plain again.
Questions
What do the beads on a spider web look like?
What is vapor?
What happens to the ground and the web during a clear night?
What is it called when vapor turns into drops of water?
Why does the dew disappear after sunrise?
Why does dew form on cool surfaces and not on warm ones?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________■
Where Does Morning Dew on a Spider Web Come From?
On a cool morning, a spider web can resemble a necklace of tiny glass beads, and those beads are really drops of dew. Where do they come from?
The answer lies in the air around us. Air always holds some water in the form of an invisible gas that is called vapor, and warm air is able to hold considerably more vapor than cold air.
During a clear night, the ground, the grass and the webs lose their warmth, so they become cooler than the surrounding air. When warm air touches a cool surface, it cools down as well, and the vapor in it can no longer remain a gas. It changes back into tiny drops of liquid water, and this change is known as condensation.
The drops collect on the thin strands of the web and gradually grow larger, until by morning they sparkle in the light.
Once the sun warms the air, the drops dry up and become vapor again, and the web looks plain once more.
Questions
What does a web covered in dew resemble?
What is vapor?
What happens to the ground, grass and webs during a clear night?
What is the change from vapor to liquid drops called?
Why does the dew vanish once the sun has risen?
Why does dew form on cool surfaces rather than warm ones?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Answer key: Where Does Morning Dew on a Spider Web Come From?
● Easier (Flesch-Kincaid grade 1)
Tiny glass beads, which are drops of dew.
Water in the air as a gas you cannot see.
They lose their warmth and get cooler than the air.
Condensation.
The sun warms the air, and the drops turn back into vapor.
Warm air cools when it touches something cool, so the vapor turns into drops.
▲ This passage (Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.7)
A necklace of tiny glass beads, which are drops of dew.
Water in the air in the form of an invisible gas.
They lose their warmth and become cooler than the air.
Condensation.
The sun warms the air, and the drops turn back into vapor.
Warm air cools when it touches something cool, so its vapor turns into drops.
■ Harder (Flesch-Kincaid grade 7)
A necklace of tiny glass beads.
Water in the air in the form of an invisible gas.
They lose their warmth and become cooler than the air.
Condensation.
The sun warms the air, and the drops change back into vapor.
Warm air cools down when it touches a cool surface, so its vapor turns into drops.
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 dew, vapor, condensation, strands and invisible 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.
What reading level is "Where Does Morning Dew on a Spider Web Come From?"?
It was written for 3rd grade. It has 155 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 2.7. 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?
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