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The Pretzel Cart Break-Even Day

6th grade nonfiction passage about break-even and profit: 202 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

6th grade nonfiction break-even and profit 202 words

The Pretzel Cart Break-Even Day

Rosa rents a pretzel cart every Saturday at the farmers market. The rent is 60 dollars. Each pretzel costs her 1 dollar to make, and she sells it for 3 dollars. That means every sale leaves her 2 dollars after she pays for the ingredients.

The rent is a fixed cost, because she owes the same 60 dollars whether she sells nothing or sells a hundred pretzels. The ingredients are a variable cost, because they rise with every pretzel she makes. Business owners keep the two kinds apart because they behave differently.

Rosa wants to know her break-even point, the number of sales where she has earned back all of her costs and has neither lost money nor made any. To find it, she divides the fixed cost by the 2 dollars each pretzel leaves her. Sixty divided by 2 is 30. If she sells exactly 30 pretzels, she breaks even.

What happens if she sells fewer? With 20 pretzels, she brings in 60 dollars, spends 20 on ingredients, and still owes 60 in rent, so she loses 20 dollars. What if she sells more? With 50 pretzels, she brings in 150 dollars, spends 50 on ingredients, and pays 60 in rent, so she keeps a profit of 40 dollars. Every pretzel after the thirtieth adds 2 dollars to her profit.

Questions

  1. How much does Rosa pay in rent for the cart? in the text

  2. How much does each pretzel leave her after the ingredients? in the text

  3. Why is the rent called a fixed cost? in the text

  4. How does Rosa find her break-even point? in the text

  5. What happens if Rosa sells only 20 pretzels? think about it

  6. Why does each pretzel after the thirtieth add profit? think about it

Words to know

fixed
staying the same and not changing
variable
able to change, such as a cost that grows with sales
ingredients
the foods that are mixed together to make a recipe
profit
the money left over after all costs are paid
break-even
the point where money earned equals money spent
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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 · 164 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.7

Rosa rents a pretzel cart every Saturday at the farmers market. The rent is 60 dollars. Each pretzel costs her 1 dollar to make. She sells it for 3 dollars. So each sale leaves her 2 dollars after the ingredients.

The rent is a fixed cost. She owes 60 dollars if she sells none or sells a hundred. The ingredients are a variable cost. They grow with each pretzel she makes. Owners keep the two apart because they act in different ways.

Rosa wants her break-even point. This is the number of sales where she has paid back all her costs. She has not lost money or made money. She divides 60 by 2 and gets 30. If she sells 30 pretzels, she breaks even.

What if she sells 20? She gets 60 dollars. She spends 20 on ingredients. She still owes 60 in rent. She loses 20 dollars. What if she sells 50? She gets 150 dollars. She spends 50 on ingredients and 60 on rent. She keeps 40 dollars as profit. Each pretzel after the thirtieth adds 2 dollars of profit.

▲ This passage · 202 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.8

Rosa rents a pretzel cart every Saturday at the farmers market. The rent is 60 dollars. Each pretzel costs her 1 dollar to make, and she sells it for 3 dollars. That means every sale leaves her 2 dollars after she pays for the ingredients.

The rent is a fixed cost, because she owes the same 60 dollars whether she sells nothing or sells a hundred pretzels. The ingredients are a variable cost, because they rise with every pretzel she makes. Business owners keep the two kinds apart because they behave differently.

Rosa wants to know her break-even point, the number of sales where she has earned back all of her costs and has neither lost money nor made any. To find it, she divides the fixed cost by the 2 dollars each pretzel leaves her. Sixty divided by 2 is 30. If she sells exactly 30 pretzels, she breaks even.

What happens if she sells fewer? With 20 pretzels, she brings in 60 dollars, spends 20 on ingredients, and still owes 60 in rent, so she loses 20 dollars. What if she sells more? With 50 pretzels, she brings in 150 dollars, spends 50 on ingredients, and pays 60 in rent, so she keeps a profit of 40 dollars. Every pretzel after the thirtieth adds 2 dollars to her profit.

■ Harder · 230 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.7

Rosa rents a pretzel cart every Saturday at the farmers market, and the rent comes to 60 dollars. Each pretzel costs her 1 dollar to prepare, and she sells it for 3 dollars. In other words, every sale leaves her with 2 dollars once the ingredients have been paid for.

The rent is a fixed cost, because she owes the same 60 dollars whether she sells nothing at all or sells a hundred pretzels. The ingredients, on the other hand, are a variable cost, since they increase with every pretzel she makes. Business owners keep the two kinds of cost separate because they behave so differently from one another.

Rosa would like to know her break-even point, which is the number of sales at which she has recovered all of her costs and has neither lost money nor gained any. To calculate it, she divides the fixed cost by the 2 dollars that each pretzel leaves her. Sixty divided by 2 equals 30, so if she sells exactly 30 pretzels, she breaks even.

Consider what happens if she sells fewer. With 20 pretzels, she takes in 60 dollars, spends 20 on ingredients, and still owes 60 in rent, which means she loses 20 dollars. Consider also what happens if she sells more. With 50 pretzels, she takes in 150 dollars, spends 50 on ingredients, and pays 60 in rent, leaving her with a profit of 40 dollars. Every pretzel beyond the thirtieth adds another 2 dollars to her profit.

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 fixed, variable, ingredients, profit and break-even 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 "The Pretzel Cart Break-Even Day"?

It was written for 6th grade. It has 202 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.8. 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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