Skip to the content
Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

Why a Bruise Changes Colors Like Paint

5th grade nonfiction passage about bruises and healing: 218 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction bruises and healing 218 words

Why a Bruise Changes Colors Like Paint

You bump your leg on a table, and a day later there is a dark mark on your skin. The mark is called a bruise. Over the next few days it seems to paint itself in new colors. Why does that happen?

A bruise starts when a hard knock breaks some tiny blood vessels under the skin. The skin itself stays closed, so the blood has nowhere to go. It leaks into the space around the vessels and gets trapped there. Through your skin, that blood looks red, purple, or bluish at first.

Your body then goes to work cleaning up. Special cells find the trapped blood and break it down. Blood gets its red color from a substance called hemoglobin, and as it breaks apart, it turns into other substances. Some of those look greenish, and others look yellow or brown. That is why an older bruise changes color before it fades away. Most bruises disappear in a week or two.

You can help a fresh bump by holding a cold pack, wrapped in a cloth, on it for a short time. The cold keeps less blood from leaking out. If a bruise is very painful, or if you find big bruises and do not remember a bump, tell a grown-up so a doctor can check.

Questions

  1. What causes a bruise to form? in the text

  2. Why can the blood not escape from the skin when you get a bruise? in the text

  3. What gives blood its red color? in the text

  4. Why does an older bruise look green or yellow instead of purple? think about it

  5. How long do most bruises take to disappear? in the text

  6. Why should you tell a grown-up about big bruises you cannot explain? think about it

Words to know

bruise
a dark mark on the skin after a hard bump
trapped
caught in a spot and not able to get out
hemoglobin
the red substance in blood that carries air
substance
a kind of material or stuff
cloth
a piece of soft fabric
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 · 181 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.2

You bump your leg on a table. A day later, you see a dark mark. It is called a bruise. In a few days it changes colors. Why?

A bruise starts with a hard knock. The knock breaks tiny blood vessels under the skin. The skin stays closed, so the blood has nowhere to go. It leaks out and gets trapped. Through the skin, that blood looks red, purple, or blue at first.

Then your body cleans up. Special cells find the blood and break it down. Blood is red because of hemoglobin. As it breaks apart, it turns into other things. Some look green. Others look yellow or brown. That is why an old bruise changes color before it fades. Most bruises are gone in a week or two.

You can help a new bump. Hold a cold pack wrapped in a cloth on it for a short time. The cold keeps less blood from leaking. If a bruise hurts a lot, tell a grown-up. Tell a grown-up about big bruises when you do not remember a bump.

▲ This passage · 218 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.8

You bump your leg on a table, and a day later there is a dark mark on your skin. The mark is called a bruise. Over the next few days it seems to paint itself in new colors. Why does that happen?

A bruise starts when a hard knock breaks some tiny blood vessels under the skin. The skin itself stays closed, so the blood has nowhere to go. It leaks into the space around the vessels and gets trapped there. Through your skin, that blood looks red, purple, or bluish at first.

Your body then goes to work cleaning up. Special cells find the trapped blood and break it down. Blood gets its red color from a substance called hemoglobin, and as it breaks apart, it turns into other substances. Some of those look greenish, and others look yellow or brown. That is why an older bruise changes color before it fades away. Most bruises disappear in a week or two.

You can help a fresh bump by holding a cold pack, wrapped in a cloth, on it for a short time. The cold keeps less blood from leaking out. If a bruise is very painful, or if you find big bruises and do not remember a bump, tell a grown-up so a doctor can check.

■ Harder · 232 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.3

Suppose you bang your leg against a table, and a day later a dark mark appears on your skin. That mark is called a bruise, and over the following days it seems to repaint itself in a series of new colors. What is going on beneath the surface?

A bruise begins when a hard knock ruptures some tiny blood vessels under the skin. Because the skin itself remains closed, the blood has nowhere to escape. It seeps into the space around the vessels and becomes trapped there. Seen through your skin, that blood looks red, purple, or bluish at first.

Your body then sets about cleaning up the mess. Specialized cells locate the trapped blood and break it down. Blood gets its red color from a substance called hemoglobin, and as that substance falls apart, it turns into other substances. Some of them appear greenish, while others appear yellow or brown. That explains why an older bruise changes color before it finally fades away. Most bruises disappear within a week or two.

You can help a fresh bump by holding a cold pack, wrapped in a cloth, against it for a short while. The cold reduces the amount of blood that leaks out. If a bruise is extremely painful, or if you discover large bruises and cannot remember bumping into anything, tell a grown-up so that a doctor can examine them.

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 bruise, trapped, hemoglobin, substance and cloth 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 a Bruise Changes Colors Like Paint"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 218 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 3.8. 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.