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Dung Beetles Follow the Milky Way

4th grade nonfiction passage about how beetles find their way: 215 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

4th grade nonfiction how beetles find their way 215 words

Dung Beetles Follow the Milky Way

Some dung beetles have a smelly job and a smart way of doing it. They shape a ball out of animal dung and roll it away. The ball is food, and it is also a home for their young.

There is a problem, though. Other beetles want the ball too. A beetle that wanders in circles will soon meet a thief. So it rolls its ball in a straight line, and the straight path takes it away from the crowd quickly.

How does a beetle stay on course in the dark? Many dung beetles work at night. Scientists wanted to find out. They noticed that on clear nights the beetles rolled straight, even when there was no moon. On cloudy nights, they rolled in loops.

The scientists tested their idea in a planetarium, a room that shows the night sky on a dome. When the dome showed the stars, the beetles went straight. When it showed only a few bright stars, they did less well. The beetles seemed to use the long, pale band of light called the Milky Way.

In another test, the scientists placed tiny cardboard hats over the beetles' eyes. With their view of the sky blocked, the beetles wandered. They were the first animals known to steer by the Milky Way.

Questions

  1. What do dung beetles do with the dung? in the text

  2. Why does a beetle roll its ball in a straight line? in the text

  3. What did scientists notice on clear nights without a moon? in the text

  4. What did the scientists use to show the sky indoors? in the text

  5. What happened when the beetles wore tiny cardboard hats? in the text

  6. Why did the beetles roll in loops on cloudy nights? think about it

Words to know

dung
the waste that an animal leaves behind
planetarium
a building with a dome that shows the night sky
steer
to guide where something goes
wanders
walks around with no clear path
scientists
people who study how the world works
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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 · 161 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.9

Some dung beetles have a smelly job. They shape a ball out of animal dung and roll it away. The ball is food. It is also a home for their young.

There is a problem. Other beetles want the ball too. A beetle that walks in circles will meet a thief. So it rolls its ball in a straight line. That takes it away from the crowd fast.

How does a beetle stay on course in the dark? Many dung beetles work at night. Scientists wanted to know. On clear nights, the beetles rolled straight, even with no moon. On cloudy nights, they rolled in loops.

The scientists tried a planetarium. It shows the night sky on a dome. When the dome showed the stars, the beetles went straight. The beetles seemed to use the long, pale band of light called the Milky Way.

Next, the scientists put tiny cardboard hats on the beetles. With the sky blocked, the beetles wandered.

▲ This passage · 215 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.2

Some dung beetles have a smelly job and a smart way of doing it. They shape a ball out of animal dung and roll it away. The ball is food, and it is also a home for their young.

There is a problem, though. Other beetles want the ball too. A beetle that wanders in circles will soon meet a thief. So it rolls its ball in a straight line, and the straight path takes it away from the crowd quickly.

How does a beetle stay on course in the dark? Many dung beetles work at night. Scientists wanted to find out. They noticed that on clear nights the beetles rolled straight, even when there was no moon. On cloudy nights, they rolled in loops.

The scientists tested their idea in a planetarium, a room that shows the night sky on a dome. When the dome showed the stars, the beetles went straight. When it showed only a few bright stars, they did less well. The beetles seemed to use the long, pale band of light called the Milky Way.

In another test, the scientists placed tiny cardboard hats over the beetles' eyes. With their view of the sky blocked, the beetles wandered. They were the first animals known to steer by the Milky Way.

■ Harder · 220 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.1

Certain dung beetles have an unpleasant job and an ingenious way of doing it. They mold a ball out of animal dung and roll it away, and the ball serves both as food and as a nursery for their young.

Unfortunately, other beetles covet the ball as well. A beetle that wanders in circles will soon encounter a thief, so it rolls its ball along a straight line, which carries it quickly away from the crowd.

How does a beetle maintain its course in the dark? Many dung beetles work at night, and scientists were determined to discover the answer. They observed that on clear nights the beetles rolled straight even when there was no moon, whereas on cloudy nights they rolled in loops.

The scientists then tested their idea in a planetarium, a room that projects the night sky onto a dome. When the dome displayed the stars, the beetles traveled straight, but when it displayed only a few bright stars, they performed less well. The beetles appeared to rely on the long, pale band of light known as the Milky Way.

In a further experiment, the scientists placed tiny cardboard hats over the beetles' eyes. With their view of the sky blocked, the beetles wandered aimlessly. They were the first animals known to steer by the Milky Way.

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 dung, planetarium, steer, wanders and scientists 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 "Dung Beetles Follow the Milky Way"?

It was written for 4th grade. It has 215 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 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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