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Solids, Liquids, and Gases

3rd grade nonfiction passage about matter: 151 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

3rd grade nonfiction matter 151 words

Solids, Liquids, and Gases

Everything around you is made of matter. Matter is anything that takes up space and has mass. It comes in three main forms: solid, liquid, and gas.

A solid keeps its own shape. A rock, a pencil, and an ice cube are solids. You can pick them up, and they do not change shape.

A liquid has no shape of its own. It takes the shape of whatever holds it. Water poured into a cup looks like the cup. Pour it into a bowl, and it looks like the bowl.

A gas has no shape either, and it spreads out to fill any space. The air in a balloon is a gas. It fills the whole balloon.

Water can be all three. When it gets cold enough, it freezes into ice, which is a solid. When it gets hot enough, it boils and turns into water vapor, which is a gas.

Questions

  1. What is matter? in the text

  2. What are the three main forms of matter? in the text

  3. How is a solid different from a liquid? in the text

  4. Why does the air in a balloon fill the whole balloon? in the text

  5. What happens to water when it gets cold enough? in the text

  6. Milk is poured from a carton into a glass. Is milk a solid, a liquid, or a gas? How do you know? think about it

Words to know

matter
anything that takes up space and has mass
solid
matter that keeps its own shape
liquid
matter that flows and takes the shape of its container
gas
matter that spreads out to fill any space
freezes
turns from a liquid into a solid because it is very cold

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 matter, solid, liquid, gas and freezes 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 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.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "Solids, Liquids, and Gases"?

It was written for 3rd grade. It has 151 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 2.4. 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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