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Why We Have Leap Years

5th grade nonfiction passage about calendars and leap years: 209 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction calendars and leap years 209 words

Why We Have Leap Years

A year is the time it takes Earth to travel once around the sun. Most people say that a year has 365 days, but the real trip takes a little longer. It takes about 365 days and 6 hours. Those extra hours may seem small, yet they add up quickly.

Imagine that a calendar ignored the extra six hours. After four years, the calendar would be about one whole day behind the sun. After a hundred years, it would be behind by almost a month. Eventually, summer holidays would fall in the middle of winter, and farmers would plant crops at the wrong time.

To keep the calendar on track, people add one extra day every four years. That day is February 29, and a year that includes it is called a leap year. Leap years have 366 days instead of 365. The extra day makes up for the four sets of six hours that were left over.

The rule has a small adjustment, too. Years that end in two zeros, like 1900, are not leap years unless they can be divided evenly by 400. That is why the year 2000 was a leap year, while 1900 was not. A child born on February 29 has a birthday only once every four years, and some of them call themselves leaplings.

Questions

  1. What is a year? in the text

  2. About how long does Earth's trip around the sun really take? in the text

  3. How many days does a leap year have? in the text

  4. What would happen to the calendar if people never added a leap day? think about it

  5. Why does a person born on February 29 have a birthday only every four years? think about it

Words to know

calendar
a chart that shows the days, weeks, and months of a year
ignored
paid no attention to
eventually
after a long time
adjustment
a small change that makes something work better
leaplings
people born on February 29
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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 · 199 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.8

A year is the time it takes Earth to go once around the sun. Most people say a year has 365 days. But the real trip takes a little longer. It takes about 365 days and 6 hours. Those extra hours seem small. Yet they add up fast.

Say a calendar ignored the extra six hours. After four years, it would be about one whole day behind the sun. After a hundred years, it would be almost a month behind. In time, summer holidays would fall in winter. Farmers would plant crops at the wrong time.

To keep the calendar right, people add one extra day every four years. That day is February 29. A year with that day is called a leap year. A leap year has 366 days, not 365. The extra day makes up for the four sets of six hours that were left over.

The rule has one more part. Years that end in two zeros, like 1900, are not leap years. The exception is a year that can be divided evenly by 400. That is why 2000 was a leap year and 1900 was not. A child born on February 29 has a birthday only once every four years. Some of them call themselves leaplings.

▲ This passage · 209 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.1

A year is the time it takes Earth to travel once around the sun. Most people say that a year has 365 days, but the real trip takes a little longer. It takes about 365 days and 6 hours. Those extra hours may seem small, yet they add up quickly.

Imagine that a calendar ignored the extra six hours. After four years, the calendar would be about one whole day behind the sun. After a hundred years, it would be behind by almost a month. Eventually, summer holidays would fall in the middle of winter, and farmers would plant crops at the wrong time.

To keep the calendar on track, people add one extra day every four years. That day is February 29, and a year that includes it is called a leap year. Leap years have 366 days instead of 365. The extra day makes up for the four sets of six hours that were left over.

The rule has a small adjustment, too. Years that end in two zeros, like 1900, are not leap years unless they can be divided evenly by 400. That is why the year 2000 was a leap year, while 1900 was not. A child born on February 29 has a birthday only once every four years, and some of them call themselves leaplings.

■ Harder · 220 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.8

A year is defined as the length of time it takes Earth to travel once around the sun. Most people say that a year contains 365 days, but the actual journey lasts slightly longer, approximately 365 days and 6 hours. Those additional hours may appear insignificant, yet they accumulate remarkably quickly.

Imagine that a calendar disregarded the extra six hours. After four years, the calendar would be roughly one entire day behind the sun, and after a hundred years it would be behind by nearly a month. Eventually, summer holidays would occur in the middle of winter, and farmers would be planting their crops at entirely the wrong time.

To keep the calendar synchronized, people insert one additional day every four years. That day is February 29, and any year that includes it is called a leap year. Leap years contain 366 days rather than 365, and the extra day compensates for the four sets of six hours that were left over.

The rule includes a small refinement as well. Years that end in two zeros, such as 1900, are not leap years unless they can be divided evenly by 400. That explains why the year 2000 was a leap year, while 1900 was not. A child born on February 29 celebrates a birthday on that date only once every four years, and some of these children cheerfully call themselves leaplings.

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 calendar, ignored, eventually, adjustment and leaplings 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 We Have Leap Years"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 209 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.1. 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 five. 3 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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