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The Journey of Milk From Cow to Carton

5th grade nonfiction passage about pasteurized milk: 225 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction pasteurized milk 225 words

The Journey of Milk From Cow to Carton

Milk starts out inside a dairy cow, but by the time it lands in your cereal bowl, it has traveled through several careful steps. Each one has a job to do.

First, the cows are milked, often by machines that are gentle and clean. The milk goes straight into a cold tank so that it stays fresh. Warm milk is a good place for germs to grow, so cooling it quickly matters a great deal. A tanker truck then carries the cold milk to a dairy plant.

At the plant, workers test the milk to see that it is safe. Next comes the step called pasteurization. The milk is heated to a certain temperature and held there for a set amount of time. The heat kills harmful germs that might be in the milk, and then the milk is cooled right away. The process is named for Louis Pasteur, a French scientist who showed long ago that heat could stop germs from spoiling food and drinks.

Pasteurized milk is not completely free of every living thing, so it must still be kept cold. That is why a carton belongs in the refrigerator and not in a lunch box all day. Before pasteurization became common, milk could carry germs that made people sick. Today, this careful trip keeps a cold glass of milk safe to drink.

Questions

  1. Where does the milk go right after the cows are milked? in the text

  2. What carries the milk to the dairy plant? in the text

  3. What does pasteurization do to harmful germs? in the text

  4. Who is pasteurization named for? in the text

  5. Why is it important to cool milk quickly after milking? think about it

  6. Why must pasteurized milk still be kept in the refrigerator? think about it

Words to know

dairy
a farm or business that makes milk and foods made from milk
pasteurization
heating a food or drink to kill germs and then cooling it
tanker
a large truck with a tank for carrying liquids
temperature
how hot or cold something is
refrigerator
a kitchen machine that keeps food cold
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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 · 207 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.8

Milk starts inside a dairy cow. By the time it lands in your cereal bowl, it has gone through several careful steps. Each step has a job to do.

First, the cows are milked. Machines that are gentle and clean often do this. The milk goes straight into a cold tank so it stays fresh. Warm milk is a good place for germs to grow. So cooling it fast matters a great deal. Then a tanker truck carries the cold milk to a dairy plant.

At the plant, workers test the milk to see that it is safe. Next comes pasteurization. The milk is heated to a set temperature and held there for a set time. The heat kills harmful germs that might be in the milk. Then the milk is cooled right away. The process is named for Louis Pasteur. He was a French scientist. Long ago he showed that heat could stop germs from spoiling food and drinks.

Pasteurized milk still has some living things in it. So it must be kept cold. That is why a carton belongs in the refrigerator. Before pasteurization, milk could carry germs that made people sick. Today, this careful trip keeps a cold glass of milk safe to drink.

▲ This passage · 225 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.4

Milk starts out inside a dairy cow, but by the time it lands in your cereal bowl, it has traveled through several careful steps. Each one has a job to do.

First, the cows are milked, often by machines that are gentle and clean. The milk goes straight into a cold tank so that it stays fresh. Warm milk is a good place for germs to grow, so cooling it quickly matters a great deal. A tanker truck then carries the cold milk to a dairy plant.

At the plant, workers test the milk to see that it is safe. Next comes the step called pasteurization. The milk is heated to a certain temperature and held there for a set amount of time. The heat kills harmful germs that might be in the milk, and then the milk is cooled right away. The process is named for Louis Pasteur, a French scientist who showed long ago that heat could stop germs from spoiling food and drinks.

Pasteurized milk is not completely free of every living thing, so it must still be kept cold. That is why a carton belongs in the refrigerator and not in a lunch box all day. Before pasteurization became common, milk could carry germs that made people sick. Today, this careful trip keeps a cold glass of milk safe to drink.

■ Harder · 230 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.2

Milk begins its life inside a dairy cow, but by the time it arrives in your cereal bowl, it has traveled through several carefully managed steps, and each one serves an important purpose.

First, the cows are milked, frequently by machines that are both gentle and sanitary. The milk flows directly into a cold tank so that it remains fresh. Warm milk is an ideal environment for germs to multiply, so cooling it promptly matters enormously. A tanker truck then transports the chilled milk to a dairy plant.

At the plant, workers test the milk to confirm that it is safe. Next comes the step known as pasteurization. The milk is heated to a specific temperature and held there for a set period of time. The heat destroys harmful germs that might be present in the milk, and the milk is then cooled immediately. The process is named for Louis Pasteur, a French scientist who demonstrated long ago that heat could prevent germs from spoiling food and drinks.

Pasteurized milk is not entirely free of every living organism, so it must still be kept cold. That is precisely why a carton belongs in the refrigerator rather than in a lunch box all day. Before pasteurization became widespread, milk could carry germs that made people ill. Today, this careful journey ensures that a cold glass of milk is safe to drink.

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 dairy, pasteurization, tanker, temperature and refrigerator 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 "The Journey of Milk From Cow to Carton"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 225 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.4. 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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