Comprehension and Fluency

Name

Read the passage. Use the reread strategy to help you

understand new facts or difficult explanations.

The Disappearance of Bees

Take a walk outside in nature. You may see bees buzzing.
11 Did you know there is concern for bees now? People are worried
23 because the number of honeybees has been decreasing. And no
33 one knows why.

36 What Is Happening and Why

41 Studies show that bee colonies
46 are starting to vanish. People
51 noticed that large groups of bees
57 living together had fewer bees.
62 This problem is called Colony
67 Collapse Disorder.
69 The cause is still unclear. Plant
75 sprays may have a role in making
82 the bees sick. New unknown
Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education

87 germs, tiny living things that cause

93 disease, might harm bees. A lack of food and water stresses bees.
105 Crowded hives with too many bees also cause problems.

114 Why We Need Bees

118 Bees play an important part in growing new plants. They carry
129 a substance called pollen to parts of a plant’s flower, or from
141 plant to plant. This helps the plants make fruits and seeds. The
153 seeds can grow into new plants.

Practice • Grade 3 • Unit 6 • Week 4 283

 Comprehension and Fluency
Name

This same process, or series of actions, helps a number of

plants, called crops, produce food to eat. Apples, carrots, and
many other foods require bees to grow. Fewer bees mean fewer
of these crops.
Think of bees the next time you go buy food at a store.
Without bees, farmers would have less food to sell to the stores.
Buyers would have fewer crops to buy. They might cost more.
Bees make honey, too. Honeybees take sweet fluid called
nectar from plants. They use
this liquid to make honey in
their hives. People collect honey.
Honey can become scarce, or
hard to find, without honeybees.
You can help the bees in
your garden, though! Do not
States affected by
put chemicals on your plants Colony Collapse Disorder
that could harm the bees. You
The map shows states affected by
will be happy you didn’t. Colony Collapse Disorder, as
reported in 2010 by the
Congressional Research Service.

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education

284 Practice • Grade 3 • Unit 6 • Week 4

 Comprehension: Compare and Contrast and Fluency

Name

A. Reread the passage and answer the questions.

1. How are the things mentioned in paragraph 3 alike? Circle the

letter of the best answer.

a. They are all sprayed on food.

b. They are all possible reasons that bees are disappearing.

c. They are all helping the bees.

2. How are the things mentioned in paragraph 3 different? Circle the

letter of the best answer.

a. They are different problems that harm bees in different ways.

b. They are different ways to help bees.

c. They are different ways of getting the bees sick.

3. How are pollen and nectar alike? Circle the letter of the best answer.

a. They are both used to make foods sweeter.

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education

b. They are both used to produce more flowers.

c. They are both substances carried by bees that benefit people.

B. Work with a partner. Read the passage aloud. Pay attention

to phrasing. Stop after one minute. Fill out the chart.

Number of Words Correct

Words Read – Errors = Score
First Read – =
Second Read – =

Read the directions. Pair students to answer the questions using basic
and content vocabulary. Then have them share their answers with Practice • Grade 3 • Unit 6 • Week 4 285
the group.
 Genre/Text Feature
Name

Why Are Mosquitoes

Important?
Most people don’t like Wetland Food Chain
mosquitoes. Their itchy bites are Large birds
very annoying. But mosquitoes
are important insects. Lots of other Frogs

animals need them for food. For

example, dragonflies eat mosquitoes.
Without mosquitoes, dragonflies
could not eat. And if there were not Dragonflies
enough dragonflies, frogs and birds
would not have enough food. Mosquitoes
Humans might not like mosquitoes.
Dragonflies need mosquitoes, frogs need
But other animals need them. dragonflies, and birds need frogs.
U006_W004_003A_118999

Answer the questions about the text.

1. Expository text tells about a science topic. What is the topic

of this expository text?

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education

 

2. What text feature is included?

 

3. Look at the diagram. What animal eats frogs?

  

4. Why are mosquitoes important?

 
Read the directions. Pair students to answer the questions
286  Practice • Grade 3 • Unit 6 • Week 4 using basic and content vocabulary. Then have them share
their answers with the group.