Skip to the content
Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

Scooping a Handful of Dust From Bennu

6th grade nonfiction passage about collecting an asteroid sample: 240 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

6th grade nonfiction collecting an asteroid sample 240 words

Scooping a Handful of Dust From Bennu

Most of what we know about asteroids comes from looking at them from far away. A few missions have done much better. They have brought home tiny pieces of an asteroid for scientists to study right here on Earth. One of them was a spacecraft named OSIRIS-REx, and its target was an asteroid called Bennu.

Bennu is a dark, rocky object shaped a bit like a spinning top. It is not one solid boulder. It is more like a pile of rubble held together by its own weak gravity. Its gravity is so weak that a spacecraft cannot land on it the way a plane lands on a runway. The craft had to move in very slowly and touch the surface for just a few seconds.

Here is how the collection worked. The spacecraft stretched out a long arm with a round collector on the end. When the collector touched Bennu in 2020, it released a puff of gas. The gas stirred up dust and small pebbles, which were swept into the collector. Then the spacecraft backed away.

The sample was sealed in a capsule. In 2023, the capsule separated from the spacecraft and fell through the sky with a parachute. It landed safely in a desert, and scientists collected it right away.

Bennu is made of material left over from the time when the planets were forming. Studying its grains in laboratories gives clues about how the solar system began.

Questions

  1. What was the name of the spacecraft that visited Bennu? in the text

  2. What is Bennu like? in the text

  3. Why could the spacecraft not land on Bennu like a plane on a runway? think about it

  4. How did the collector gather dust and pebbles? in the text

  5. How did the sample come back to Earth? in the text

  6. Why do scientists study the grains from Bennu? think about it

Words to know

asteroid
a small rocky object that circles the sun
rubble
a heap of broken rocks and pieces
capsule
a small container built to carry things
collector
a tool that gathers things
sealed
closed up tightly so nothing gets in or out
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 · 219 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.7

We learn most about asteroids by looking from far away. A few missions did better. They brought home tiny pieces of an asteroid. Scientists could study them on Earth. One mission used a spacecraft named OSIRIS-REx. It went to an asteroid named Bennu.

Bennu is dark and rocky. It looks a bit like a spinning top. It is not one big boulder. It is more like a pile of rubble. Its own gravity holds it together, but the gravity is weak. A spacecraft cannot land on it like a plane on a runway. The craft had to move in very slowly. It touched the surface for just a few seconds.

Here is how it worked. The spacecraft had a long arm with a round collector on the end. In 2020, the collector touched Bennu. It let out a puff of gas. The gas stirred up dust and small pebbles. They went into the collector. Then the spacecraft backed away.

The sample was sealed in a capsule. In 2023, the capsule left the spacecraft. It fell through the sky on a parachute. It landed safely in a desert. Scientists picked it up right away.

Bennu is made of leftover material from when the planets were forming. Scientists study its grains in labs. They give clues about how the solar system began.

▲ This passage · 240 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.9

Most of what we know about asteroids comes from looking at them from far away. A few missions have done much better. They have brought home tiny pieces of an asteroid for scientists to study right here on Earth. One of them was a spacecraft named OSIRIS-REx, and its target was an asteroid called Bennu.

Bennu is a dark, rocky object shaped a bit like a spinning top. It is not one solid boulder. It is more like a pile of rubble held together by its own weak gravity. Its gravity is so weak that a spacecraft cannot land on it the way a plane lands on a runway. The craft had to move in very slowly and touch the surface for just a few seconds.

Here is how the collection worked. The spacecraft stretched out a long arm with a round collector on the end. When the collector touched Bennu in 2020, it released a puff of gas. The gas stirred up dust and small pebbles, which were swept into the collector. Then the spacecraft backed away.

The sample was sealed in a capsule. In 2023, the capsule separated from the spacecraft and fell through the sky with a parachute. It landed safely in a desert, and scientists collected it right away.

Bennu is made of material left over from the time when the planets were forming. Studying its grains in laboratories gives clues about how the solar system began.

■ Harder · 251 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.4

Most of what we know about asteroids has been gathered by observing them from a great distance. A handful of missions have accomplished something far more ambitious. They have carried tiny fragments of an asteroid back to Earth so that scientists can examine them in laboratories. One such mission used a spacecraft called OSIRIS-REx, and its target was an asteroid named Bennu.

Bennu is a dark, rocky object shaped somewhat like a spinning top. It is not a single solid boulder but rather a loose heap of rubble held together by its own feeble gravity. That gravity is so weak that a spacecraft cannot settle onto it the way an airplane settles onto a runway. Instead, the craft had to creep in very slowly and brush the surface for only a few seconds.

The collection worked in the following way. The spacecraft extended a long arm with a round collector at the end of it. When the collector touched Bennu in 2020, it released a puff of gas. The gas stirred up dust and small pebbles, which were swept into the collector. Then the spacecraft retreated.

The sample was sealed inside a capsule. In 2023, the capsule separated from the spacecraft and drifted down through the sky beneath a parachute. It landed safely in a desert, where scientists gathered it up without delay.

Bennu consists of material left over from the era when the planets were forming, so studying its grains in laboratories provides valuable clues about how the solar system began.

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 asteroid, rubble, capsule, collector and sealed 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 3 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 "Scooping a Handful of Dust From Bennu"?

It was written for 6th grade. It has 240 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.9. 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.