Skip to the content
Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

Why Orion Rules Only the Winter Sky

5th grade nonfiction passage about seasons and constellations: 223 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction seasons and constellations 223 words

Why Orion Rules Only the Winter Sky

If you look south on a cold winter evening, you may spot three bright stars in a short, straight row. They make the belt of Orion, a famous group of stars. But go outside on a warm summer evening and look for Orion, and you will not find it. The stars have not gone anywhere. Earth has moved.

Earth travels around the sun once every year. The stars stay in place, but our view of them changes as we go. At night, we face away from the sun, so we see the part of the sky that is opposite to it. In winter, that part of the sky holds Orion. For people in the northern half of the world, it climbs into view in the evening and stays up for much of the night.

By summer, Earth is on the other side of the sun. Now Orion lies in the same direction as the sun. It rises and sets with the sun during the day, and the bright sunlight hides it from us completely. Other groups of stars take its place in the night sky, such as the Summer Triangle.

This is why each season has its own stars. If you watch the sky through the year, you can see Earth's journey around the sun, one new group of stars at a time.

Questions

  1. What three stars make the belt of Orion? in the text

  2. Why can you not find Orion on a summer evening? in the text

  3. How often does Earth travel around the sun? in the text

  4. Do the stars move away in the summer? think about it

  5. Which part of the sky do we see at night? in the text

  6. How can watching the stars through the year show Earth's journey? think about it

Words to know

belt
a band or line, like the one you wear around your waist
famous
known by many people
direction
the way something points or moves
season
one of the four parts of the year, such as winter
journey
a long trip from one place to another
Share

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 · 159 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.3

Look south on a cold winter evening. You may see three bright stars in a short, straight row. They make the belt of Orion. But on a warm summer evening, you will not find Orion. The stars did not go away. Earth moved.

Earth goes around the sun once a year. The stars stay in place, but our view of them changes. At night, we face away from the sun. So we see the part of the sky that is opposite the sun. In winter, that part holds Orion. For people in the northern half of the world, Orion climbs up in the evening and stays up for much of the night.

By summer, Earth is on the other side of the sun. Now Orion is in the same direction as the sun. It is up during the day. Bright sunlight hides it. Other stars take its place at night.

This is why each season has its own stars.

▲ This passage · 223 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.3

If you look south on a cold winter evening, you may spot three bright stars in a short, straight row. They make the belt of Orion, a famous group of stars. But go outside on a warm summer evening and look for Orion, and you will not find it. The stars have not gone anywhere. Earth has moved.

Earth travels around the sun once every year. The stars stay in place, but our view of them changes as we go. At night, we face away from the sun, so we see the part of the sky that is opposite to it. In winter, that part of the sky holds Orion. For people in the northern half of the world, it climbs into view in the evening and stays up for much of the night.

By summer, Earth is on the other side of the sun. Now Orion lies in the same direction as the sun. It rises and sets with the sun during the day, and the bright sunlight hides it from us completely. Other groups of stars take its place in the night sky, such as the Summer Triangle.

This is why each season has its own stars. If you watch the sky through the year, you can see Earth's journey around the sun, one new group of stars at a time.

■ Harder · 235 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.9

If you gaze toward the south on a cold winter evening, you may notice three brilliant stars arranged in a short, straight row. Together they form the belt of Orion, one of the most recognizable star groups in the sky. Yet if you search for Orion on a warm summer evening, you will come up empty-handed. The stars have not disappeared. It is Earth that has moved.

Earth travels around the sun once every year, and although the stars remain fixed in place, our view of them gradually changes as we go. At night we face away from the sun, so we see the part of the sky that lies opposite to it. In winter, that region of the sky contains Orion. For people in the northern half of the world, the constellation climbs into view in the evening and remains overhead for much of the night.

By summer, Earth has arrived on the other side of the sun, and Orion now lies in the same direction as the sun itself. It rises and sets during the daytime, and the glare of sunlight conceals it entirely. Other star groups, such as the Summer Triangle, take its place in the night sky.

That is why every season has its own stars. If you watch the sky throughout the year, you can follow Earth's journey around the sun, one new group of stars at a 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 belt, famous, direction, season and journey 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 "Why Orion Rules Only the Winter Sky"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 223 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 4.3. 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.

Nothing you do here is sent to us. No sign-in, no ads.