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The Octopus and Its Color-Changing Skin

5th grade nonfiction passage about octopus camouflage: 207 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction octopus camouflage 207 words

The Octopus and Its Color-Changing Skin

An octopus has no shell, no bones and no spines. It is soft all over, so it needs other ways to stay safe. One of its best tools is its skin.

The skin is covered with thousands of tiny sacs of color called chromatophores. Each sac is circled by small muscles. When the muscles pull, the sac stretches wide and the color shows. When they relax, the sac shrinks and the color fades. The octopus controls this with its nerves, so a change can happen in a blink.

By stretching different sacs at once, the octopus can match the browns of a rock or the greens of seaweed. Other cells in its skin reflect light and add shine. The octopus can also raise small bumps on its skin to look rough like coral.

Color helps in more than one way. An octopus can hide from a hungry fish, and it can sneak up on a crab. Some octopuses flash bright patterns to startle an enemy, then change to blend in again.

Scientists are still learning how an octopus knows what to copy. Its eyes see well, but they do not see color the way ours do. How it matches its background so well is still a puzzle.

Questions

  1. What are chromatophores? in the text

  2. How does an octopus make a color show? in the text

  3. What can an octopus do to look rough like coral? in the text

  4. Why does an octopus need other ways to stay safe? think about it

  5. Name two ways color helps an octopus? in the text

  6. What is still a puzzle for scientists? think about it

Words to know

spines
sharp, stiff points on an animal's body
chromatophores
tiny sacs of color in the skin
relax
to loosen up
reflect
to bounce light back
startle
to surprise and scare for a moment
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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 · 166 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.5

An octopus has no shell, no bones and no spines. It is soft all over. It needs other ways to stay safe. One of its best tools is its skin.

The skin is full of tiny sacs of color called chromatophores. Small muscles circle each sac. When the muscles pull, the sac stretches wide and the color shows. When they relax, the sac shrinks and the color fades. The octopus controls this with its nerves, so a change is very fast.

By stretching different sacs, the octopus can match a brown rock or green seaweed. Other cells in its skin reflect light. The octopus can also raise small bumps to look rough like coral.

Color helps in more than one way. An octopus can hide from a fish, and it can sneak up on a crab. Some octopuses flash bright patterns to startle an enemy and then blend in again.

Scientists are still learning how an octopus knows what to copy. It is still a puzzle.

▲ This passage · 207 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4

An octopus has no shell, no bones and no spines. It is soft all over, so it needs other ways to stay safe. One of its best tools is its skin.

The skin is covered with thousands of tiny sacs of color called chromatophores. Each sac is circled by small muscles. When the muscles pull, the sac stretches wide and the color shows. When they relax, the sac shrinks and the color fades. The octopus controls this with its nerves, so a change can happen in a blink.

By stretching different sacs at once, the octopus can match the browns of a rock or the greens of seaweed. Other cells in its skin reflect light and add shine. The octopus can also raise small bumps on its skin to look rough like coral.

Color helps in more than one way. An octopus can hide from a hungry fish, and it can sneak up on a crab. Some octopuses flash bright patterns to startle an enemy, then change to blend in again.

Scientists are still learning how an octopus knows what to copy. Its eyes see well, but they do not see color the way ours do. How it matches its background so well is still a puzzle.

■ Harder · 226 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.2

An octopus possesses no shell, no bones and no spines. It is soft from head to arm tip, so it must rely on other ways of staying safe. One of its finest tools is its skin.

The skin is studded with thousands of tiny sacs of color called chromatophores. Each sac is encircled by small muscles. When the muscles pull, the sac stretches wide and the color becomes visible. When they relax, the sac shrinks and the color fades. The octopus directs this process through its nerves, so a change can happen in the blink of an eye.

By stretching different sacs at the same moment, the octopus can match the browns of a rock or the greens of seaweed. Other cells in its skin reflect light and add a shimmer. The octopus can also raise small bumps on its skin so that it looks rough like coral.

Color helps in more than one way. An octopus can hide from a hungry fish, and it can creep up on a crab without being noticed. Some octopuses flash bright patterns to startle an enemy, then change quickly to blend in again.

Scientists are still working out how an octopus knows what to copy. Its eyes see well, but they do not perceive color the way ours do. How it matches its background so accurately remains a puzzle.

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 spines, chromatophores, relax, reflect and startle 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 "The Octopus and Its Color-Changing Skin"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 207 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 4.0. 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 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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