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How Soap Cleans

5th grade nonfiction passage about soap and germs: 213 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction soap and germs 213 words

How Soap Cleans

Water by itself is not very good at cleaning greasy hands. If you rinse butter off your fingers with plain water, the grease just slides around. That is because oil and water do not mix. Soap solves this problem, and it does so with a clever trick built into its tiny pieces.

Every soap molecule has two ends. One end loves water, and the other end loves oil and grease. When you rub soap on your hands, the oil-loving ends dig into the grease and dirt. The water-loving ends stick out toward the water around them. Soon the grease is surrounded by soap molecules and broken into very small droplets.

These droplets are now wrapped in a coat that water can grab. When you rinse your hands, the water carries the soap, the grease, and the dirt down the drain. Germs are often stuck to dirt and oil, so they go down the drain too. Some germs also have an oily outer layer that soap can pull apart.

That is why doctors suggest washing your hands for about twenty seconds. Rubbing helps the soap reach every spot, including under your nails and between your fingers. A song that lasts twenty seconds is a fun way to keep track of the time.

Questions

  1. Why does plain water have trouble cleaning grease? in the text

  2. What do the two ends of a soap molecule love? in the text

  3. What happens to grease when it is surrounded by soap molecules? in the text

  4. Why do germs go down the drain with the soap and water? think about it

  5. Why is rubbing your hands together important when washing? think about it

Words to know

grease
a thick, oily substance
molecule
a very tiny piece of a substance
droplets
very small drops of liquid
germs
tiny living things that can make people sick
rinse
to wash off with clean water
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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 · 186 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.4

Water alone is not good at cleaning greasy hands. Rinse butter off your fingers with plain water, and the grease just slides around. That is because oil and water do not mix. Soap fixes this problem with a clever trick.

Every soap molecule has two ends. One end loves water. The other end loves oil and grease. When you rub soap on your hands, the oil-loving ends dig into the grease and dirt. The water-loving ends stick out toward the water. Soon the grease is circled by soap and broken into tiny droplets.

Water can grab these droplets now. When you rinse, the water carries the soap, the grease, and the dirt down the drain. Germs are often stuck to dirt and oil, so they go down the drain too. Some germs have an oily outer layer that soap can pull apart.

That is why doctors say to wash your hands for about twenty seconds. Rubbing helps the soap reach every spot. Wash under your nails and between your fingers. A song that lasts twenty seconds is a fun way to count the time.

▲ This passage · 213 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5

Water by itself is not very good at cleaning greasy hands. If you rinse butter off your fingers with plain water, the grease just slides around. That is because oil and water do not mix. Soap solves this problem, and it does so with a clever trick built into its tiny pieces.

Every soap molecule has two ends. One end loves water, and the other end loves oil and grease. When you rub soap on your hands, the oil-loving ends dig into the grease and dirt. The water-loving ends stick out toward the water around them. Soon the grease is surrounded by soap molecules and broken into very small droplets.

These droplets are now wrapped in a coat that water can grab. When you rinse your hands, the water carries the soap, the grease, and the dirt down the drain. Germs are often stuck to dirt and oil, so they go down the drain too. Some germs also have an oily outer layer that soap can pull apart.

That is why doctors suggest washing your hands for about twenty seconds. Rubbing helps the soap reach every spot, including under your nails and between your fingers. A song that lasts twenty seconds is a fun way to keep track of the time.

■ Harder · 220 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.5

Water by itself performs poorly when it is asked to clean greasy hands. If you rinse butter from your fingers with plain water, the grease merely slides around, because oil and water refuse to mix. Soap overcomes this difficulty with a clever trick that is built into its microscopic pieces.

Every soap molecule has two distinct ends. One end is attracted to water, while the other end is attracted to oil and grease. When you rub soap on your hands, the oil-loving ends burrow into the grease and dirt, and the water-loving ends stick outward toward the surrounding water. Before long, the grease is encircled by soap molecules and broken into extremely small droplets.

These droplets are now wrapped in a coating that water is able to grab. When you rinse your hands, the water carries the soap, the grease, and the dirt down the drain. Germs are frequently stuck to dirt and oil, so they are washed away as well. Certain germs even have an oily outer layer that soap can pull apart.

That is why doctors recommend washing your hands for approximately twenty seconds. Rubbing helps the soap reach every spot, including beneath your nails and between your fingers. Humming a song that lasts twenty seconds is an enjoyable way to keep track of the time.

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 grease, molecule, droplets, germs and rinse 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 4 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 "How Soap Cleans"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 213 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.0. 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 five. 3 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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