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Tomato Flowers Wait for a Buzz

6th grade nonfiction passage about buzz pollination of tomatoes: 217 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

6th grade nonfiction buzz pollination of tomatoes 217 words

Tomato Flowers Wait for a Buzz

A tomato flower is built in a way that makes pollination tricky. Its yellow petals hang downward, and the pollen is held inside a small cone in the middle. The pollen does not simply fall out. It stays locked in tiny pockets until something shakes it loose.

Outdoors, wind can do some of the shaking, and so can bumblebees. A bumblebee grabs the flower with its jaws and legs, then vibrates its flight muscles very fast without flapping its wings. The flower shakes, and a puff of pollen drops out onto the bee. When the bee visits the next flower, some of that pollen lands where it can start a new tomato. Scientists call this buzz pollination.

Honeybees are good at many flowers, but they are not good at this one, because they do not shake it the same way. For that reason, growers who raise tomatoes in greenhouses often bring in boxes of bumblebees. Inside the closed building there is little wind, so the bees do the job that the breeze would do outdoors.

Before bees were used, workers went from plant to plant with handheld wands that vibrated the flowers. It took many hours of work. Bumblebees do it faster, and they get something in return, because they carry pollen home to feed their young.

Questions

  1. Where is the pollen held in a tomato flower? in the text

  2. How does a bumblebee shake the pollen loose? in the text

  3. What do scientists call this kind of pollination? in the text

  4. Why are honeybees not good at pollinating tomato flowers? think about it

  5. Why do greenhouse growers bring in bumblebees? think about it

  6. What did workers use before bees were brought in? in the text

Words to know

pollen
the fine yellow powder that flowers make
pollination
moving pollen so that a flower can make fruit
vibrates
shakes back and forth very quickly
greenhouses
glass buildings where plants grow indoors
growers
people who raise plants for food
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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 · 188 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.5

A tomato flower is tricky to pollinate. Its yellow petals hang down. The pollen is held inside a small cone in the middle. The pollen does not just fall out. It stays locked in tiny pockets until something shakes it loose.

Outdoors, wind can do some of the shaking. So can bumblebees. A bumblebee grabs the flower and shakes its flight muscles very fast. It does not flap its wings. The flower shakes, and a puff of pollen drops onto the bee. At the next flower, some of the pollen lands where it can start a new tomato. Scientists call this buzz pollination.

Honeybees are good at many flowers, but not this one. They do not shake it the same way. So growers who raise tomatoes in greenhouses often bring in boxes of bumblebees. A closed building has little wind. The bees do the job that the wind would do outdoors.

Before bees were used, workers went from plant to plant. They used handheld wands that shook the flowers. It took many hours. Bumblebees are faster. They get something too. They carry pollen home to feed their young.

▲ This passage · 217 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.2

A tomato flower is built in a way that makes pollination tricky. Its yellow petals hang downward, and the pollen is held inside a small cone in the middle. The pollen does not simply fall out. It stays locked in tiny pockets until something shakes it loose.

Outdoors, wind can do some of the shaking, and so can bumblebees. A bumblebee grabs the flower with its jaws and legs, then vibrates its flight muscles very fast without flapping its wings. The flower shakes, and a puff of pollen drops out onto the bee. When the bee visits the next flower, some of that pollen lands where it can start a new tomato. Scientists call this buzz pollination.

Honeybees are good at many flowers, but they are not good at this one, because they do not shake it the same way. For that reason, growers who raise tomatoes in greenhouses often bring in boxes of bumblebees. Inside the closed building there is little wind, so the bees do the job that the breeze would do outdoors.

Before bees were used, workers went from plant to plant with handheld wands that vibrated the flowers. It took many hours of work. Bumblebees do it faster, and they get something in return, because they carry pollen home to feed their young.

■ Harder · 235 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.6

A tomato flower is constructed in such a way that pollination becomes surprisingly difficult. Its yellow petals curve downward, and the pollen is enclosed within a small cone at the center. The pollen does not simply tumble out. It remains locked inside tiny pockets until something shakes it free.

Outdoors, the wind can accomplish some of this shaking, and bumblebees can accomplish more. A bumblebee clasps the flower with its jaws and legs and then vibrates its flight muscles extremely rapidly without flapping its wings. The flower trembles, and a small cloud of pollen drops onto the bee. When the bee visits the next blossom, some of that pollen lands where it can begin the development of a new tomato. Scientists refer to this as buzz pollination.

Honeybees are skillful at many kinds of flowers, but they are poor at this one, since they do not shake it in the same manner. Consequently, growers who raise tomatoes in greenhouses frequently bring in boxes of bumblebees. Inside the sealed building there is scarcely any wind, so the bees perform the task that a breeze would perform outdoors.

Before bees were put to work, laborers moved from plant to plant carrying handheld wands that vibrated the flowers, and the work consumed many hours. Bumblebees complete it much faster, and they receive something in return, because they carry the pollen back to their nest to feed their young.

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 pollen, pollination, vibrates, greenhouses and growers 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 "Tomato Flowers Wait for a Buzz"?

It was written for 6th grade. It has 217 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 6.2. 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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