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Honey Keeps for Ages, but Not for Babies

5th grade nonfiction passage about honey and food safety: 228 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction honey and food safety 228 words

Honey Keeps for Ages, but Not for Babies

A jar of honey can sit in the cupboard for a very long time and still be good to eat. Most foods spoil when germs and molds grow in them. Honey is different, and its secret is in how it is made.

Honey is mostly sugar and very little water. Germs need water to grow, and in honey the sugar holds on to nearly all of the water, leaving almost none for them. Honey is also a little acidic, which makes it an even harder place for germs to live. And bees add a special ingredient, an enzyme, while they turn nectar into honey. It helps make honey safe to keep. Sealed in a jar, honey stays good for a very long time.

There is one important rule, though. Honey should never be given to a baby younger than one year old. Honey can hold tiny spores from a kind of bacteria. For older children and adults, the spores pass through without any trouble. A baby's gut is still growing, and it is not ready to deal with them. They could grow and make the baby very sick.

So honey is a wonderful food for a toast or a cup of tea, as long as everyone eating it is old enough. If you have a baby brother or sister, remember to keep the honey out of their reach.

Questions

  1. Why does honey hardly ever spoil? in the text

  2. What do bees add to nectar while they make honey? in the text

  3. How does being a little acidic help honey stay good? in the text

  4. Who should never be given honey? in the text

  5. Why are older children and adults safe from the spores in honey? think about it

  6. Why does the writer say to keep honey out of a baby's reach? think about it

Words to know

spoil
to go bad so that it is not safe to eat
nectar
the sweet liquid inside flowers
acidic
having a sour, sharp quality
spores
tiny seeds that grow into bacteria or molds
sealed
closed up tightly so nothing gets in
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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 · 204 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.7

A jar of honey can sit in the cupboard for a long time. It is still good to eat. Most foods spoil when germs and mold grow in them. Honey is different. Its secret is in how it is made.

Honey is mostly sugar. It has very little water. Germs need water to grow. In honey, the sugar holds on to almost all of the water. Not much is left for germs. Honey is also a little acidic. That makes it a hard place for germs to live. Bees also add an enzyme as they turn nectar into honey. It helps make honey safe to keep. In a sealed jar, honey stays good for a very long time.

There is one big rule. Never give honey to a baby younger than one year old. Honey can hold tiny spores from a kind of bacteria. Older children and adults are fine. The spores pass through. A baby's gut is still growing. It is not ready for them. They could grow and make the baby very sick.

Honey is great on toast or in tea, if everyone eating it is old enough. If you have a baby brother or sister, keep the honey out of reach.

▲ This passage · 228 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.3

A jar of honey can sit in the cupboard for a very long time and still be good to eat. Most foods spoil when germs and molds grow in them. Honey is different, and its secret is in how it is made.

Honey is mostly sugar and very little water. Germs need water to grow, and in honey the sugar holds on to nearly all of the water, leaving almost none for them. Honey is also a little acidic, which makes it an even harder place for germs to live. And bees add a special ingredient, an enzyme, while they turn nectar into honey. It helps make honey safe to keep. Sealed in a jar, honey stays good for a very long time.

There is one important rule, though. Honey should never be given to a baby younger than one year old. Honey can hold tiny spores from a kind of bacteria. For older children and adults, the spores pass through without any trouble. A baby's gut is still growing, and it is not ready to deal with them. They could grow and make the baby very sick.

So honey is a wonderful food for a toast or a cup of tea, as long as everyone eating it is old enough. If you have a baby brother or sister, remember to keep the honey out of their reach.

■ Harder · 250 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.7

A jar of honey can sit undisturbed in the cupboard for a remarkably long time and still be perfectly good to eat. Most foods spoil when germs and molds begin to grow in them. Honey, however, is different, and its secret lies in the way it is made.

Honey consists mostly of sugar and very little water. Germs require water in order to grow, and in honey the sugar clings to nearly all of the water, leaving almost none available for them. Honey is also slightly acidic, which makes it an even harder place for germs to survive. In addition, bees contribute a special ingredient, an enzyme, as they transform nectar into honey, and it helps make honey safe to store. When it is sealed inside a jar, honey stays good for a very long time.

There is, however, one important rule. Honey should never be given to a baby who is younger than one year old. Honey can contain tiny spores from a particular kind of bacteria. For older children and adults, the spores simply pass through without causing any trouble. A baby's gut is still developing, and it is not yet prepared to cope with them. They could grow and make the baby seriously sick.

Honey is therefore a wonderful food for spreading on toast or stirring into a cup of tea, provided that everyone eating it is old enough. If you have a baby brother or sister, remember to keep the honey well out of their reach.

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 spoil, nectar, acidic, spores and sealed 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 "Honey Keeps for Ages, but Not for Babies"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 228 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.3. 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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