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Rub Your Hands: Where Does the Warmth Come From?

3rd grade nonfiction passage about friction making heat: 177 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

3rd grade nonfiction friction making heat 177 words

Rub Your Hands: Where Does the Warmth Come From?

On a cold day, what do you do to warm your hands? Many people rub them together. After a few seconds, your palms feel toasty. There is no fire and no heater. So where does the warmth come from?

It comes from motion. Everything is made of tiny bits too small to see, and they are always jiggling. When something is hot, its tiny bits jiggle fast. When it is cool, they jiggle slowly.

When you rub your hands, the skin of one hand drags across the skin of the other. That rubbing is friction. Friction makes the tiny bits jiggle faster, and so your hands get warmer.

You can feel this in other places too. A bike tire gets a little warm after a long ride on the road. A wooden block gets warm when you sand it with paper. Even a playground slide can feel warm after many kids slide down.

The harder and faster you rub, the more heat you make. But go gently. If you rub too long, your skin can get sore.

Questions

  1. What do many people do to warm their hands on a cold day? in the text

  2. What are all things made of? in the text

  3. How do the tiny bits jiggle when something is hot? in the text

  4. What do we call the rubbing of your hands? in the text

  5. Why do your hands get warmer when you rub them faster? think about it

  6. What can happen if you rub your skin too long? in the text

Words to know

friction
the rubbing of two things against each other
palm
the inside part of your hand
toasty
nice and warm
jiggle
to move quickly up and down or side to side
gently
in a soft, careful way
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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 · 150 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.8

On a cold day, what do you do to warm your hands? Many people rub them together. Soon your palms feel toasty. There is no fire and no heater. Where does the warmth come from?

It comes from motion. Everything is made of tiny bits. You cannot see them. They are always jiggling. When a thing is hot, the bits jiggle fast. When it is cool, they jiggle slowly.

When you rub your hands, one hand drags on the other. This rubbing is friction. Friction makes the tiny bits jiggle faster. Your hands get warmer.

You can feel this in other places. A bike tire gets a little warm after a ride. A wood block gets warm when you sand it. A slide can feel warm after many kids slide down.

Rub harder and faster to make more heat. But go gently. Too much rubbing can make your skin sore.

▲ This passage · 177 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.8

On a cold day, what do you do to warm your hands? Many people rub them together. After a few seconds, your palms feel toasty. There is no fire and no heater. So where does the warmth come from?

It comes from motion. Everything is made of tiny bits too small to see, and they are always jiggling. When something is hot, its tiny bits jiggle fast. When it is cool, they jiggle slowly.

When you rub your hands, the skin of one hand drags across the skin of the other. That rubbing is friction. Friction makes the tiny bits jiggle faster, and so your hands get warmer.

You can feel this in other places too. A bike tire gets a little warm after a long ride on the road. A wooden block gets warm when you sand it with paper. Even a playground slide can feel warm after many kids slide down.

The harder and faster you rub, the more heat you make. But go gently. If you rub too long, your skin can get sore.

■ Harder · 200 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.6

On a bitterly cold day, what do you do to warm up your hands? Many people rub them briskly together. After only a few seconds, your palms feel pleasantly toasty. There is no fire and no heater nearby, so where does all that warmth come from?

The answer is motion. Everything around us is made of tiny bits that are far too small to see, and these bits are constantly jiggling. When an object is hot, its tiny bits jiggle quickly. When it is cool, they jiggle much more slowly.

As you rub your hands together, the skin of one hand drags across the skin of the other. This rubbing is called friction. Friction makes the tiny bits jiggle faster, and that is why your hands grow warmer.

You can feel the same effect in other places. A bike tire becomes slightly warm after a long ride on the road. A wooden block heats up when you sand it with paper. Even a playground slide can feel warm after many children have slid down it.

The harder and faster you rub, the more heat you create. Even so, be gentle, because rubbing for too long can leave your skin sore.

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 friction, palm, toasty, jiggle and gently 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 "Rub Your Hands: Where Does the Warmth Come From?"?

It was written for 3rd grade. It has 177 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 2.8. 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 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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