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Why Your Nose Stops Noticing the Smell

6th grade nonfiction passage about smell and getting used to it: 254 words, seven questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

6th grade nonfiction smell and getting used to it 254 words

Why Your Nose Stops Noticing the Smell

Walk into a bakery and the smell of warm bread hits you at once. Stay for ten minutes, and the smell seems to fade, even though the ovens are still running. Someone who has just stepped in from the street will still notice it right away. Your nose has not broken. It has done something sensible.

High inside your nose is a small patch of tissue lined with smell receptors. A receptor is a tiny part that reacts to certain chemicals floating in the air. When you breathe in, the chemicals land on the patch, the receptors react, and nerves carry a message to the brain, which works out what the smell is.

If the same chemicals keep arriving, the messages change. The receptors respond less strongly, and the brain starts to treat the smell as background, much as you stop hearing a refrigerator humming. Scientists call this adaptation. It frees your attention for things that are new, such as a new smell, a voice, or a sudden movement.

Adaptation is also the reason that people often cannot smell their own home or their own soap. Others notice these smells at once, while the people who live with them have long since tuned them out. A short break in fresh air lets the sense recover, so the smell seems strong again when you return.

This tuning out has limits. A strong smell that appears suddenly, such as smoke, is a warning, and a person who notices one should tell a grown-up right away.

Questions

  1. Why does the smell of bread seem to fade after ten minutes in a bakery? in the text

  2. What is a smell receptor? in the text

  3. Where are the smell receptors found? in the text

  4. What do scientists call the process of getting used to a smell? in the text

  5. Why does a person who just walked in from the street still notice the bread smell? think about it

  6. Why is adaptation useful? think about it

  7. Why is a sudden strong smell, such as smoke, something to report? think about it

Words to know

receptors
tiny parts that react to certain things around us
chemicals
the basic substances that everything is made of
adaptation
a change that makes something less noticed after a while
tissue
the soft material that body parts are made of
background
things around you that you stop paying attention to
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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 · 220 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.5

Walk into a bakery and the smell of warm bread hits you. Stay ten minutes, and the smell seems to fade. But the ovens are still on. A person who just came in from the street still smells it right away. Your nose is not broken. It is doing something smart.

High inside your nose is a small patch of tissue with smell receptors. A receptor is a tiny part that reacts to certain chemicals in the air. You breathe in. The chemicals land on the patch. The receptors react. Nerves send a message to the brain. The brain finds out what the smell is.

If the same chemicals keep coming, the messages change. The receptors react less. The brain treats the smell like background. It is like when you stop hearing a fridge hum. Scientists call this adaptation. It frees your mind for new things, like a new smell, a voice, or a sudden move.

This is why people often cannot smell their own home or soap. Visitors notice it fast. The people who live there stopped noticing long ago. A short break in fresh air helps the sense recover. Then the smell seems strong again.

There is a limit. A strong smell that shows up suddenly, such as smoke, is a warning. Tell a grown-up right away.

▲ This passage · 254 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.1

Walk into a bakery and the smell of warm bread hits you at once. Stay for ten minutes, and the smell seems to fade, even though the ovens are still running. Someone who has just stepped in from the street will still notice it right away. Your nose has not broken. It has done something sensible.

High inside your nose is a small patch of tissue lined with smell receptors. A receptor is a tiny part that reacts to certain chemicals floating in the air. When you breathe in, the chemicals land on the patch, the receptors react, and nerves carry a message to the brain, which works out what the smell is.

If the same chemicals keep arriving, the messages change. The receptors respond less strongly, and the brain starts to treat the smell as background, much as you stop hearing a refrigerator humming. Scientists call this adaptation. It frees your attention for things that are new, such as a new smell, a voice, or a sudden movement.

Adaptation is also the reason that people often cannot smell their own home or their own soap. Others notice these smells at once, while the people who live with them have long since tuned them out. A short break in fresh air lets the sense recover, so the smell seems strong again when you return.

This tuning out has limits. A strong smell that appears suddenly, such as smoke, is a warning, and a person who notices one should tell a grown-up right away.

■ Harder · 261 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.1

Step into a bakery and the aroma of warm bread strikes you immediately. Remain there for ten minutes, however, and the scent seems to fade, even though the ovens continue to run. Someone who has only just arrived from the street will still detect it at once. Your nose has not malfunctioned. It has done something perfectly sensible.

High inside your nose lies a small patch of tissue lined with smell receptors. A receptor is a minuscule structure that reacts to particular chemicals drifting through the air. When you inhale, the chemicals settle on the patch, the receptors respond, and nerves carry a message to the brain, which then works out what the smell is.

If the same chemicals keep arriving, the messages gradually change. The receptors respond less strongly, and the brain begins to treat the smell as background, in much the same way that you stop noticing a refrigerator humming. Scientists call this process adaptation. It frees your attention for things that are new, such as an unfamiliar smell, a voice, or a sudden movement.

Adaptation is also the reason that people frequently cannot smell their own home or their own soap. Visitors detect these odors instantly, while the people who live with them tuned them out long ago. A brief break in fresh air allows the sense to recover, so the smell seems strong again upon your return.

This tuning out has its limits. A powerful smell that appears suddenly, such as smoke, is a warning, and anyone who notices one should tell a grown-up right away.

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 receptors, chemicals, adaptation, tissue and background 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 3 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 "Why Your Nose Stops Noticing the Smell"?

It was written for 6th grade. It has 254 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 6.1. 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 seven. 4 ask for something the text says directly and 3 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 3 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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