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The Sugar That Grows Underground

6th grade nonfiction passage about where sugar comes from: 222 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

6th grade nonfiction where sugar comes from 222 words

The Sugar That Grows Underground

Many people think all sugar comes from sugarcane, a tall grass that grows in warm places. Sugarcane is one source, but a large share of the world's sugar comes from a very different plant, the sugar beet. A sugar beet is a pale, fat root, shaped a bit like a turnip, that grows buried in cool-climate fields.

Both plants store sugar, but they store it in different places. Sugarcane keeps it in its thick stems, while the beet packs it into the root. Each plant is grown where its weather suits it. Cane needs warmth all year, and beets do well in cooler regions that would be too cold for cane.

Turning the plant into sugar follows similar steps. In a beet factory, the roots are washed and cut into thin strips. The strips are soaked in hot water, which pulls the sugar out and leaves the pulp behind. The sweet juice is cleaned and then boiled until much of the water is gone. As it thickens, sugar crystals form and are spun out of the syrup.

Here is the surprising part. Once the sugar has been refined, a spoonful from a beet and a spoonful from cane look the same, taste the same and behave the same in a recipe. The pulp left over is often fed to farm animals.

Questions

  1. Where does a sugar beet store its sugar? in the text

  2. Where does sugarcane store its sugar? in the text

  3. Why are beets grown in places where cane is not? think about it

  4. How is the sugar pulled out of the beet strips? in the text

  5. What happens as the cleaned juice is boiled and thickens? in the text

  6. Why does it not matter in a recipe which plant the sugar came from? think about it

Words to know

sugarcane
a tall tropical grass with sweet stems
climate
the usual weather of a place over many years
pulp
the soft, wet leftovers of crushed plants
refined
cleaned and made pure
syrup
a thick, sweet liquid
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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 · 190 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.2

Many people think all sugar comes from sugarcane. Sugarcane is a tall grass that grows in warm places. But much of the world's sugar comes from a different plant, the sugar beet. A sugar beet is a pale, fat root. It looks a bit like a turnip. It grows in the ground in cool places.

Both plants store sugar, but in different places. Sugarcane keeps it in its thick stems. The beet keeps it in the root. Cane needs warm weather all year. Beets do well where it is too cold for cane.

Making sugar from the plants is much the same. In a beet factory, the roots are washed and cut into thin strips. The strips are soaked in hot water. The water pulls out the sugar and leaves the pulp. The sweet juice is cleaned. Then it is boiled until most of the water is gone. As it thickens, sugar crystals form.

Here is the surprise. Pure sugar from a beet and pure sugar from cane look the same. They taste the same. They work the same in a recipe. The pulp is often fed to farm animals.

▲ This passage · 222 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.2

Many people think all sugar comes from sugarcane, a tall grass that grows in warm places. Sugarcane is one source, but a large share of the world's sugar comes from a very different plant, the sugar beet. A sugar beet is a pale, fat root, shaped a bit like a turnip, that grows buried in cool-climate fields.

Both plants store sugar, but they store it in different places. Sugarcane keeps it in its thick stems, while the beet packs it into the root. Each plant is grown where its weather suits it. Cane needs warmth all year, and beets do well in cooler regions that would be too cold for cane.

Turning the plant into sugar follows similar steps. In a beet factory, the roots are washed and cut into thin strips. The strips are soaked in hot water, which pulls the sugar out and leaves the pulp behind. The sweet juice is cleaned and then boiled until much of the water is gone. As it thickens, sugar crystals form and are spun out of the syrup.

Here is the surprising part. Once the sugar has been refined, a spoonful from a beet and a spoonful from cane look the same, taste the same and behave the same in a recipe. The pulp left over is often fed to farm animals.

■ Harder · 237 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.5

A great many people assume that all sugar comes from sugarcane, a tall grass that thrives in warm regions. Sugarcane is certainly one important source, but an enormous share of the world's sugar is produced from an entirely different plant, the sugar beet. A sugar beet is a pale, swollen root, somewhat similar in shape to a turnip, that grows buried in the fields of cooler climates.

Both plants store sugar, but they keep it in different places. Sugarcane holds its sugar in thick stems, whereas the beet packs it into the root. Each crop is grown where the weather suits it best. Cane requires warmth throughout the year, while beets flourish in cooler regions that would be far too cold for cane.

Turning either plant into sugar involves broadly similar steps. In a beet factory, the roots are washed and sliced into thin strips. The strips are soaked in hot water, which draws the sugar out and leaves the fibrous pulp behind. The sweet juice is then cleaned and boiled until much of its water has evaporated. As the syrup thickens, sugar crystals begin to form, and they are spun out of the liquid.

Here is the surprising part. Once the sugar has been refined, a spoonful from a beet and a spoonful from cane look identical, taste identical and behave identically in a recipe. The leftover pulp is frequently given to farm animals as feed.

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 sugarcane, climate, pulp, refined and syrup 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 "The Sugar That Grows Underground"?

It was written for 6th grade. It has 222 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.2. 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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