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Lettuce That Grows Without Dirt

5th grade nonfiction passage about hydroponic farming: 244 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction hydroponic farming 244 words

Lettuce That Grows Without Dirt

Picture a farm with no tractor, no mud and no fields. Instead, you walk into a bright room that is lined with tall shelves. Each shelf is full of lettuce, and the roots hang in water instead of soil. This is a hydroponic farm, and the word hydroponic means working with water.

Why does it work? Plants do not really need soil itself. They need water, light, air and a set of nutrients, which are the minerals that act as plant food. In a field, soil holds the nutrients and the roots take them in. On a hydroponic farm, the grower mixes the nutrients right into the water. The roots can drink them up directly.

There are some clear problems with farming in an ordinary field. Rain may be too heavy or may not come at all. Winter freezes the ground. A hydroponic farm solves these problems by keeping its crops indoors, where growers control the light and the warmth. Rows of special lamps take the place of the sun.

These farms often use less water than a field, because the water runs in a loop and gets used again. They can also be built inside a city, close to the people who will eat the lettuce. That means the greens do not have to travel far to reach a store.

Hydroponics works best for small, quick crops such as lettuce, herbs and some berries. Wheat and corn are still grown in big fields.

Questions

  1. What does the word hydroponic mean? in the text

  2. What do plants need besides water? in the text

  3. How do the roots get nutrients on a hydroponic farm? in the text

  4. What takes the place of the sun in a hydroponic room? in the text

  5. Why can a hydroponic farm grow food in winter? think about it

  6. Why does the author say wheat and corn are still grown in fields? think about it

Words to know

hydroponic
grown in water with plant food instead of in soil
nutrients
substances that plants and animals need to grow
minerals
natural materials found in soil and rock that living things need
indoors
inside a building
loop
a path that goes around and comes back to its start
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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 · 209 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.5

Picture a farm with no tractor, no mud and no fields. You walk into a bright room with tall shelves. Each shelf is full of lettuce. The roots hang in water, not soil. This is a hydroponic farm. Hydroponic means working with water.

How does it work? Plants do not need soil itself. They need water, light, air and nutrients. Nutrients are minerals that act as plant food. In a field, soil holds the nutrients. The roots take them in. On a hydroponic farm, the grower mixes the nutrients into the water. The roots drink them up.

Field farming has some problems. Rain may be too heavy, or it may not come. Winter freezes the ground. A hydroponic farm keeps its plants indoors. The grower controls the light and the warmth. Rows of special lamps take the place of the sun.

These farms often use less water than a field. The water runs in a loop and gets used again. They can also be built inside a city, close to the people who will eat the lettuce. The greens do not have to travel far.

Hydroponics works best for small, quick crops. Lettuce, herbs and some berries grow well this way. Wheat and corn still grow in big fields.

▲ This passage · 244 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.2

Picture a farm with no tractor, no mud and no fields. Instead, you walk into a bright room that is lined with tall shelves. Each shelf is full of lettuce, and the roots hang in water instead of soil. This is a hydroponic farm, and the word hydroponic means working with water.

Why does it work? Plants do not really need soil itself. They need water, light, air and a set of nutrients, which are the minerals that act as plant food. In a field, soil holds the nutrients and the roots take them in. On a hydroponic farm, the grower mixes the nutrients right into the water. The roots can drink them up directly.

There are some clear problems with farming in an ordinary field. Rain may be too heavy or may not come at all. Winter freezes the ground. A hydroponic farm solves these problems by keeping its crops indoors, where growers control the light and the warmth. Rows of special lamps take the place of the sun.

These farms often use less water than a field, because the water runs in a loop and gets used again. They can also be built inside a city, close to the people who will eat the lettuce. That means the greens do not have to travel far to reach a store.

Hydroponics works best for small, quick crops such as lettuce, herbs and some berries. Wheat and corn are still grown in big fields.

■ Harder · 251 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.1

Imagine a farm without a single tractor, patch of mud or open field. Instead, you step into a brightly lit room lined with towering shelves. Each shelf is crowded with lettuce, and the roots dangle in water rather than soil. This is a hydroponic farm, and the word hydroponic literally means working with water.

Why does this succeed? Plants do not truly require soil itself. What they need is water, light, air and a collection of nutrients, which are the minerals that serve as plant food. In an ordinary field, the soil holds those nutrients and the roots absorb them. On a hydroponic farm, the grower dissolves the nutrients directly into the water, so the roots can drink them up without any digging.

Conventional field farming faces several obvious difficulties. Rain may fall too heavily or fail to arrive, and winter freezes the ground solid. A hydroponic farm avoids these problems by keeping its crops indoors, where growers control both the light and the warmth. Rows of special lamps substitute for the sun.

Such farms frequently use less water than a field, since the water circulates in a loop and is used over and over. They can also be built within a city, close to the people who will eventually eat the lettuce, which means the greens do not have to travel far to reach a store.

Hydroponics works best for small, fast-growing crops such as lettuce, herbs and certain berries. Wheat and corn are still grown in vast fields.

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 hydroponic, nutrients, minerals, indoors and loop 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 "Lettuce That Grows Without Dirt"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 244 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 4.2. 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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