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A Butterscotch Sky Over Mars

6th grade nonfiction passage about sky colors on mars: 239 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

6th grade nonfiction sky colors on mars 239 words

A Butterscotch Sky Over Mars

Photos sent home by robot rovers show something strange about Mars. At midday the sky looks a dusty butterscotch color, a bit like weak tea with milk in it. Near sunset, the patch of sky around the sun glows a cool blue. On Earth, the colors are the other way around. We have a blue sky at noon and red or orange skies at sunset.

The difference comes from what is floating in the air. Earth's sky is filled with tiny gas molecules. They scatter blue light in every direction, so blue light reaches your eyes from all parts of the sky. At sunset, sunlight has to cross much more air before it reaches you. Most of the blue is scattered away on the long trip, and the reds and oranges are left.

Mars has a very thin atmosphere, but the winds there lift fine, rusty dust off the ground. The dust hangs in the air and changes how light behaves. It blocks much of the blue light across the sky, so the daytime sky looks tan and golden. Some blue light does slip past the dust and spreads in a small glow right around the sun. Near sunset, that glow is the part that stands out.

A visitor on Mars would see a sky unlike any on Earth. It would be a good reminder that the color of a sky depends on what the air is made of.

Questions

  1. What color is the sky on Mars at midday? in the text

  2. What color glows around the sun near sunset on Mars? in the text

  3. What do the winds on Mars lift into the air? in the text

  4. Why does Earth's daytime sky look blue? in the text

  5. Why do sunsets on Earth look red and orange? think about it

  6. What does the passage suggest decides the color of a planet's sky? think about it

Words to know

scatter
to send in many different directions
molecules
extremely small bits that make up a gas or other matter
atmosphere
the layer of gas around a planet
rusty
reddish brown, like old iron
midday
the middle of the day, around noon
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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 · 176 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.3

Robot rovers on Mars send home photos. The photos show a strange sky. At noon, the sky looks tan, like butterscotch. Near sunset, the sky around the sun glows blue. On Earth, it is the other way around. Our sky is blue at noon. Our sunsets are red or orange.

The air is different on each planet. Earth's air has tiny gas molecules. They scatter blue light all over the sky. That is why we see blue. At sunset, the sun's light must cross a lot more air. The blue is scattered away. The reds and oranges are left.

Mars has very thin air. But winds lift fine, rusty dust off the ground. The dust hangs in the air. It blocks much of the blue light. So the day sky looks tan and gold. A little blue light slips past the dust. It makes a small glow around the sun. At sunset, that glow stands out.

The sky on Mars is not like ours. The color of a sky depends on what is in the air.

▲ This passage · 239 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.5

Photos sent home by robot rovers show something strange about Mars. At midday the sky looks a dusty butterscotch color, a bit like weak tea with milk in it. Near sunset, the patch of sky around the sun glows a cool blue. On Earth, the colors are the other way around. We have a blue sky at noon and red or orange skies at sunset.

The difference comes from what is floating in the air. Earth's sky is filled with tiny gas molecules. They scatter blue light in every direction, so blue light reaches your eyes from all parts of the sky. At sunset, sunlight has to cross much more air before it reaches you. Most of the blue is scattered away on the long trip, and the reds and oranges are left.

Mars has a very thin atmosphere, but the winds there lift fine, rusty dust off the ground. The dust hangs in the air and changes how light behaves. It blocks much of the blue light across the sky, so the daytime sky looks tan and golden. Some blue light does slip past the dust and spreads in a small glow right around the sun. Near sunset, that glow is the part that stands out.

A visitor on Mars would see a sky unlike any on Earth. It would be a good reminder that the color of a sky depends on what the air is made of.

■ Harder · 251 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.8

Photographs transmitted by robotic rovers reveal something peculiar about Mars. At midday the sky takes on a dusty butterscotch hue, rather like weak tea with a splash of milk. Close to sunset, however, the region surrounding the sun glows a cool, pale blue. On Earth the arrangement is reversed: we enjoy a blue sky at noon and fiery red or orange skies as the sun goes down.

The explanation lies in whatever is suspended in each planet's air. Earth's sky is full of tiny gas molecules, and they scatter blue light in every direction, so blue reaches your eyes from nearly every part of the heavens. At sunset, sunlight must travel through a far thicker stretch of air before it arrives. Most of the blue is scattered away during that long journey, which leaves the reds and oranges behind.

Mars has a remarkably thin atmosphere, yet its winds regularly lift fine, rusty dust from the ground. That dust lingers aloft and alters the way light behaves. It blocks a large share of the blue light across the sky, so the daytime sky appears tan and golden. A little blue light does slip past the dust and spreads into a small glow immediately around the sun, and near sunset that glow is the feature that stands out most.

A traveler standing on Mars would see a sky unlike any on Earth, and it would serve as a vivid reminder that a sky's color depends entirely on what the air is made of.

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 scatter, molecules, atmosphere, rusty and midday 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 "A Butterscotch Sky Over Mars"?

It was written for 6th grade. It has 239 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 4.5. 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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