Skip to the content
Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

The Snap of the Venus Flytrap

5th grade nonfiction passage about carnivorous plants: 213 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction carnivorous plants 213 words

The Snap of the Venus Flytrap

Most plants are happy to sit still and drink in sunlight, but the Venus flytrap has a surprising trick. It catches and eats insects. In nature it grows only in a small part of the southeastern United States, in wet, boggy ground.

Bog soil is poor in some of the nutrients that plants need, especially nitrogen. Plants that grow there must find another way to get what the soil lacks. The flytrap solves the problem with its leaves. The end of each leaf is shaped like a pair of jaws with stiff little bristles along the edges.

Inside each trap are tiny trigger hairs. When an insect walks in and touches a hair once, nothing happens. If it brushes a hair a second time within a short while, the trap snaps shut. This double check keeps the plant from wasting energy on a raindrop or a bit of falling dust.

The bristles lock together like fingers, making a cage. Then the plant gives off juices that slowly break down the soft parts of the insect. After several days, the trap opens again and the leftover shell blows away.

A flytrap still makes food with sunlight like other green plants. The insects are more like a vitamin that helps it grow in difficult ground.

Questions

  1. Where does the Venus flytrap grow in nature? in the text

  2. Which nutrient is missing from bog soil? in the text

  3. What happens when an insect touches a trigger hair twice? in the text

  4. Why must a trigger hair be touched two times? think about it

  5. What does the trap do after it closes around an insect? in the text

  6. Why does the writer compare insects to a vitamin? think about it

Words to know

boggy
soft, wet, and swampy
nitrogen
a nutrient that plants need to grow
bristles
short, stiff hairs
trigger
a part that sets something in motion when touched
juices
liquids made by a plant or animal
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 · 193 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.1

Most plants sit still and drink in sunlight. The Venus flytrap has a surprising trick. It catches and eats insects. In nature it grows in just a small part of the southeastern United States. It lives in wet, boggy ground.

Bog soil lacks some nutrients that plants need. One is nitrogen. Plants there must find another way to get what the soil does not have. The flytrap uses its leaves. The end of each leaf looks like a pair of jaws. It has stiff little bristles along the edges.

Inside each trap are tiny trigger hairs. If an insect touches a hair one time, nothing happens. If it touches a hair a second time soon after, the trap snaps shut. This keeps the plant from wasting energy on a raindrop or some dust.

The bristles lock like fingers and make a cage. Then the plant gives off juices. The juices break down the soft parts of the insect. After several days, the trap opens. The leftover shell blows away.

A flytrap still makes food from sunlight, like other green plants. The insects are like a vitamin that helps it grow in hard ground.

▲ This passage · 213 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.3

Most plants are happy to sit still and drink in sunlight, but the Venus flytrap has a surprising trick. It catches and eats insects. In nature it grows only in a small part of the southeastern United States, in wet, boggy ground.

Bog soil is poor in some of the nutrients that plants need, especially nitrogen. Plants that grow there must find another way to get what the soil lacks. The flytrap solves the problem with its leaves. The end of each leaf is shaped like a pair of jaws with stiff little bristles along the edges.

Inside each trap are tiny trigger hairs. When an insect walks in and touches a hair once, nothing happens. If it brushes a hair a second time within a short while, the trap snaps shut. This double check keeps the plant from wasting energy on a raindrop or a bit of falling dust.

The bristles lock together like fingers, making a cage. Then the plant gives off juices that slowly break down the soft parts of the insect. After several days, the trap opens again and the leftover shell blows away.

A flytrap still makes food with sunlight like other green plants. The insects are more like a vitamin that helps it grow in difficult ground.

■ Harder · 215 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.1

Most plants are content to sit motionless and absorb sunlight, but the Venus flytrap has a remarkable trick: it captures and consumes insects. In the wild it grows only in a small corner of the southeastern United States, in wet, boggy ground.

Bog soil is deficient in certain nutrients that plants need, particularly nitrogen, so the plants that grow there must find another way to obtain what the soil cannot provide. The flytrap solves this problem with its leaves. The tip of each leaf is shaped like a pair of jaws, with stiff little bristles lining the edges.

Inside every trap are tiny trigger hairs. When an insect wanders in and brushes a hair once, nothing happens, but if it touches a hair a second time within a short interval, the trap snaps shut. This double check prevents the plant from squandering energy on a raindrop or a speck of falling dust.

The bristles then interlock like fingers, forming a cage. Next, the plant releases juices that slowly dissolve the soft parts of the insect. After several days the trap opens again, and the leftover shell is blown away.

A flytrap still manufactures food from sunlight like any other green plant. The insects are comparable to a vitamin that helps it survive in difficult ground.

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 boggy, nitrogen, bristles, trigger and juices 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 Snap of the Venus Flytrap"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 213 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.3. 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.