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Why a Sealed Jar Keeps Peaches Fresh

5th grade nonfiction passage about canning food: 242 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction canning food 242 words

Why a Sealed Jar Keeps Peaches Fresh

In summer, ripe peaches are sweet and juicy, but they do not last long. Left on a counter, they soften and spoil in days. Long ago, people wanted a way to enjoy summer fruit in the middle of winter. One answer was canning, which means sealing food in a jar or can after heating it.

Food spoils because of tiny living things such as germs and molds. They ride in on the food, and they also float in the air. Given time, warmth and moisture, they multiply and break food down. To keep fruit safe, a canner must stop these tiny living things twice.

First comes heat. The sealed jars are heated in boiling water for a set time, which kills most of the germs inside. Heat also pushes air out of the jar. Second comes the seal. As the jar cools, the air inside shrinks and pulls the lid down tight, and sometimes you hear a pop as the lid snaps into place. A tight lid keeps new germs out, so the peaches can stay good for a long time on a shelf.

Canning must be done by following careful rules, because a mistake can let harmful germs survive. That is why a young cook should only help with an adult. Today, factories use the same idea on a giant scale to put food into metal cans, so soup, beans and fruit are ready to eat whenever someone opens the lid.

Questions

  1. What does canning mean? in the text

  2. What causes food to spoil? in the text

  3. What does boiling the sealed jars do? in the text

  4. What pulls the lid down tight as the jar cools? in the text

  5. Why does a tight lid help the peaches last? think about it

  6. Why should a young cook only help with canning alongside an adult? think about it

Words to know

canning
sealing food in jars or cans after heating it so it keeps
spoil
to go bad so that it cannot be eaten
germs
tiny living things that can make food bad or people sick
multiply
to grow quickly in number
seal
a tight closing that lets nothing in or out
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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 · 223 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.6

In summer, ripe peaches are sweet and juicy. But they do not last long. On a counter, they soften and spoil in days. Long ago, people wanted summer fruit in the middle of winter. One answer was canning. Canning means sealing food in a jar or can after heating it.

Food spoils because of tiny living things such as germs and molds. They ride in on the food. They also float in the air. With time, warmth and moisture, they multiply and break the food down. To keep fruit safe, a canner must stop these tiny living things twice.

First comes heat. The sealed jars are heated in boiling water for a set time. This kills most of the germs inside. The heat also pushes air out of the jar. Second comes the seal. As the jar cools, the air inside shrinks. It pulls the lid down tight. Sometimes you hear a pop as the lid snaps down. A tight lid keeps new germs out. The peaches can stay good on a shelf for a long time.

Canning has careful rules. A mistake can let harmful germs live. So a young cook should only help with an adult. Today, factories use the same idea to put food into metal cans. Soup, beans and fruit are ready to eat when someone opens the lid.

▲ This passage · 242 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5

In summer, ripe peaches are sweet and juicy, but they do not last long. Left on a counter, they soften and spoil in days. Long ago, people wanted a way to enjoy summer fruit in the middle of winter. One answer was canning, which means sealing food in a jar or can after heating it.

Food spoils because of tiny living things such as germs and molds. They ride in on the food, and they also float in the air. Given time, warmth and moisture, they multiply and break food down. To keep fruit safe, a canner must stop these tiny living things twice.

First comes heat. The sealed jars are heated in boiling water for a set time, which kills most of the germs inside. Heat also pushes air out of the jar. Second comes the seal. As the jar cools, the air inside shrinks and pulls the lid down tight, and sometimes you hear a pop as the lid snaps into place. A tight lid keeps new germs out, so the peaches can stay good for a long time on a shelf.

Canning must be done by following careful rules, because a mistake can let harmful germs survive. That is why a young cook should only help with an adult. Today, factories use the same idea on a giant scale to put food into metal cans, so soup, beans and fruit are ready to eat whenever someone opens the lid.

■ Harder · 260 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.5

During the summer, ripe peaches are sweet and juicy, but they do not stay that way for long. Left on a kitchen counter, they soften and spoil within a few days. Long ago, people longed to enjoy summer fruit in the depths of winter. One solution was canning, which means sealing food in a jar or can after heating it.

Food spoils because of microscopic living things such as germs and molds. They arrive on the food itself, and they also drift through the air. Given enough time, warmth and moisture, they multiply and break the food down. To keep fruit safe, a canner must defeat these tiny organisms in two separate ways.

The first is heat. The sealed jars are heated in boiling water for a specific length of time, which kills most of the germs inside. The heat also forces air out of the jar. The second is the seal. As the jar cools, the air inside contracts and pulls the lid down tightly, and sometimes you can hear a pop as the lid snaps into place. A tight lid prevents new germs from entering, so the peaches may remain good on a shelf for a very long time.

Canning must be carried out by following careful rules, because a single mistake can allow harmful germs to survive. For that reason, a young cook should help only alongside an adult. Today, factories apply the same principle on an enormous scale to fill metal cans, so soup, beans and fruit are ready to eat whenever someone opens the lid.

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 canning, spoil, germs, multiply and seal 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 "Why a Sealed Jar Keeps Peaches Fresh"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 242 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.0. 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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