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Honey Keeps for Years Because It Is Thirsty

6th grade nonfiction passage about why honey does not spoil: 214 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

6th grade nonfiction why honey does not spoil 214 words

Honey Keeps for Years Because It Is Thirsty

Honey is one of the few foods that can sit in a cupboard for a very long time without spoiling. A jar opened years ago can still be safe to eat, which surprises many people. The secret is in what honey is made of.

Honey is mostly sugar, with only a small amount of water. Germs that spoil food, such as bacteria and molds, need water to grow. In honey the sugar holds on to the water so tightly that very little is left for them to use. A germ that lands in honey tends to dry out and stop growing.

Bees help, too. When they turn nectar into honey, they fan it with their wings so extra water evaporates, and they add a substance from their bodies that changes the nectar. Then they seal the finished honey inside wax cells.

Honey does change with age. It may darken, or form crystals that make it look cloudy and grainy. That is only the sugar settling into solid grains, and warming the jar gently in a bowl of warm water makes the honey smooth again. The one important rule is to keep the lid on tight. Honey soaks up water from damp air, and if it takes in too much, it can begin to ferment.

Questions

  1. What is honey mostly made of? in the text

  2. What do bacteria and molds need in order to grow? in the text

  3. How do bees help the nectar become honey? in the text

  4. Why does a germ that lands in honey usually stop growing? think about it

  5. What is the cloudy, grainy look of old honey? in the text

  6. Why should the lid stay on tight? think about it

Words to know

spoiling
going bad so that food is not safe to eat
nectar
the sweet liquid inside flowers
evaporates
turns from liquid into a gas that floats away
crystals
tiny hard grains with a regular shape
ferment
to change as tiny living things break down its sugar
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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 · 170 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.4

Honey can sit in a cupboard for a very long time. It does not spoil. A jar opened years ago can still be safe to eat. Why? It all comes down to what honey is made of.

Honey is mostly sugar. It has only a little water. Germs like bacteria and molds need water to grow. In honey, the sugar holds the water so tightly that the germs cannot get any. A germ that lands in honey dries out and stops growing.

Bees help too. They turn nectar into honey. They fan it with their wings, and extra water goes into the air. They also add something from their bodies. Then they seal the honey in wax cells.

Honey does change with age. It can get darker. It can turn cloudy and grainy. This is only sugar forming grains. A bowl of warm water makes the honey smooth again. Keep the lid on tight. Honey takes in water from damp air. If it gets too much water, it can ferment.

▲ This passage · 214 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.5

Honey is one of the few foods that can sit in a cupboard for a very long time without spoiling. A jar opened years ago can still be safe to eat, which surprises many people. The secret is in what honey is made of.

Honey is mostly sugar, with only a small amount of water. Germs that spoil food, such as bacteria and molds, need water to grow. In honey the sugar holds on to the water so tightly that very little is left for them to use. A germ that lands in honey tends to dry out and stop growing.

Bees help, too. When they turn nectar into honey, they fan it with their wings so extra water evaporates, and they add a substance from their bodies that changes the nectar. Then they seal the finished honey inside wax cells.

Honey does change with age. It may darken, or form crystals that make it look cloudy and grainy. That is only the sugar settling into solid grains, and warming the jar gently in a bowl of warm water makes the honey smooth again. The one important rule is to keep the lid on tight. Honey soaks up water from damp air, and if it takes in too much, it can begin to ferment.

■ Harder · 245 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.2

Honey is among the very few foods that can remain in a cupboard for an extraordinarily long time without spoiling. A jar that was opened years ago may still be perfectly safe to eat, a fact that surprises a great many people. The explanation lies in the way honey is made and what it contains.

Honey is composed mostly of sugar, with only a small amount of water mixed in. The germs that ruin food, such as bacteria and molds, must have water in order to grow. In honey, the sugar clings to the water so tightly that almost none is available to them. Any germ that happens to land in honey tends to dry out and stop growing altogether.

The bees contribute to this as well. While they transform nectar into honey, they fan it vigorously with their wings so that the extra water evaporates, and they add a substance from their own bodies that chemically changes the nectar. Afterward they seal the finished honey inside cells made of wax.

Honey does change as it ages. It may grow darker, or form crystals that leave it looking cloudy and grainy. This is merely the sugar settling into solid grains, and gently warming the jar in a bowl of warm water makes the honey smooth again. The single essential rule is to keep the lid on tight, because honey absorbs water from damp air, and if it absorbs too much, it can begin to ferment.

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 spoiling, nectar, evaporates, crystals and ferment 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 "Honey Keeps for Years Because It Is Thirsty"?

It was written for 6th grade. It has 214 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.5. 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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