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How a Hummingbird Sleeps Through Cold Nights

5th grade nonfiction passage about hummingbird torpor: 205 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction hummingbird torpor 205 words

How a Hummingbird Sleeps Through Cold Nights

A hummingbird has a problem. Its body is tiny, and it burns energy at a great rate. Its wings beat so fast that they blur, and its heart races. All of this needs fuel, mostly the sugary nectar from flowers.

During the day this is easy, since flowers are everywhere. At night, though, the bird cannot feed. A hummingbird that stayed fully awake and warm all night might run out of energy before morning.

So on cold nights, many hummingbirds go into a deep rest called torpor. In torpor, the bird's body temperature drops far below its normal level. Its heart beats much more slowly, and it breathes slowly too. It hardly moves, and it uses only a small part of the energy it would burn while awake. A bird in torpor may hang from a branch, looking almost lifeless.

In the morning, the bird shivers its flight muscles to warm up. Soon its body is back to normal, and it flies off to find nectar.

Torpor is a trade. The bird is slow and easy to catch while it rests, but it saves the energy it needs to survive until sunrise. It is one clever way a very small animal copes with the cold.

Questions

  1. What does a hummingbird eat for fuel? in the text

  2. Why can a hummingbird not feed at night? think about it

  3. What happens to a hummingbird's body in torpor? in the text

  4. How does the bird warm up in the morning? in the text

  5. Why does the passage call torpor a trade? think about it

  6. Why does a hummingbird burn energy so fast? in the text

Words to know

nectar
the sweet liquid inside flowers
torpor
a deep rest where the body slows way down
energy
the power an animal needs to move and live
lifeless
looking as if it were not alive
copes
deals with a hard problem
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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 · 149 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.2

A hummingbird is very small. It burns a lot of energy. Its wings beat so fast that they blur, and its heart races. It needs fuel, mostly sweet nectar from flowers.

In the day, this is easy. Flowers are everywhere. At night, the bird cannot feed. If it stayed awake and warm all night, it might run out of energy before morning.

So on cold nights, many hummingbirds go into a deep rest called torpor. The bird's body gets much cooler. Its heart and breathing slow down. It hardly moves. It uses only a small part of the energy it would use while awake.

In the morning, the bird shivers its flight muscles to warm up. Then it flies off to find nectar.

Torpor is a trade. The bird is slow and easy to catch while it rests. But it saves the energy it needs to live until sunrise.

▲ This passage · 205 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.2

A hummingbird has a problem. Its body is tiny, and it burns energy at a great rate. Its wings beat so fast that they blur, and its heart races. All of this needs fuel, mostly the sugary nectar from flowers.

During the day this is easy, since flowers are everywhere. At night, though, the bird cannot feed. A hummingbird that stayed fully awake and warm all night might run out of energy before morning.

So on cold nights, many hummingbirds go into a deep rest called torpor. In torpor, the bird's body temperature drops far below its normal level. Its heart beats much more slowly, and it breathes slowly too. It hardly moves, and it uses only a small part of the energy it would burn while awake. A bird in torpor may hang from a branch, looking almost lifeless.

In the morning, the bird shivers its flight muscles to warm up. Soon its body is back to normal, and it flies off to find nectar.

Torpor is a trade. The bird is slow and easy to catch while it rests, but it saves the energy it needs to survive until sunrise. It is one clever way a very small animal copes with the cold.

■ Harder · 226 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.9

A hummingbird faces a serious problem. Its body is tiny, yet it burns energy at an astonishing rate. Its wings beat so quickly that they blur, and its heart races as though it were running a marathon. All of this activity demands fuel, which comes mostly from the sugary nectar inside flowers.

During the day, finding fuel is easy, since flowers grow almost everywhere. At night, however, the bird cannot feed. A hummingbird that remained fully awake and warm through the dark hours might exhaust its energy before morning arrived.

So on cold nights, many hummingbirds sink into a deep rest known as torpor. In torpor, the bird's body temperature falls far below its normal level, its heart beats much more slowly, and its breathing slows as well. It hardly moves, and it consumes only a small fraction of the energy it would burn while awake. A bird in torpor may hang from a branch, looking almost lifeless.

When morning comes, the bird shivers its flight muscles to warm itself. Soon its body is back to normal, and it darts off to search for nectar.

Torpor is a careful trade. The bird is slow and easy to catch while it rests, but it saves the energy it needs to survive until sunrise. It is one clever way that a very small animal copes with the cold.

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 nectar, torpor, energy, lifeless and copes 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 2 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 a Hummingbird Sleeps Through Cold Nights"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 205 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.2. 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. 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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